For our 12 provinces, 12 months, 12 parks series cooperation with Landal We have landed in beautiful Noord-Brabant in February 2024! To be exact, at Landal Klein Oisterwijk. We are going to explore the beautiful gravel routes in Noord-Brabant. Explorer Andrea went on a trip for us, together with Aniek, Manon and Leandra. Do you want to read about her gravel adventure in the Brabant countryside?
text and photos: Andrea Lodder
It's nice to come in
In the dark we drive down the long street where Landal Klein Oisterwijk is located. I have to admit, I still have trouble pronouncing ‘Oisterwijk’. Around 8:30 PM we are in front of the park gate. In the past you had to go to the reception for a key and a parking ticket. Now Landal has an app that allows you to drive into the park. You can enter your booking, hold your phone against the scanner and the gate opens. It’s nice to be able to just walk in, especially if you arrive later in the evening. We can drive straight to our house, which is at the very back of the park and park the car in front of the door. That’s nice! Just like the gate, you can also access the house via the Landal app on your phone. The nice thing is that everyone can access the house via the digital key, which is ideal!
Gravel routes in North Brabant
This weekend we are in Oisterwijk in Brabant, a village northeast of Tilburg. From here you can go in many directions, both on the road bike, gravel bike and mountain bike. There is something to be found for all disciplines here. For the gravel bike we chose this weekend and will go exploring the farmers’ country roads and gravel paths in the surrounding nature reserves. For tomorrow I have created a gravel route in Komoot and clicked on as many brown lines as possible. To be honest, in this environment you should especially make good use of the nature reserves where cycling is allowed. Oisterwijk has a lot of forests and ponds, but in many places cycling is not allowed. Therefore, for a gravel route we are heading to Loonse and Drunense Dunes and we drive through the Kampina nature reserve. But first, time for a cup of tea to make the girls’ weekend a fun start!
Landal Klein Oisterwijk as an ideal base
After a good breakfast in our spacious house, we hop on the bike for a route of just under a hundred kilometers. It just stopped raining, so that’s a good thing. First we cross a small part of the Kampina natural area. Landal Klein Oisterwijk It is therefore located between this area and the Oisterwijk forests and meadows. Here you can enjoy hiking as well as cycling. But we are here for the most beautiful gravel routes in North Brabant! We soon find a few beautiful and especially quiet gravel sections that lead us to the De Loonse and Drunenense Dunes. You can certainly notice that this is a popular mountain biking spot, but with such a beautifully maintained mountain biking route, that is no surprise. Just be aware that for some parts of the route, a MTB vignette required is.
We will then drive a section of the route, which is really very cool! Beautiful curves, short climbs and technical sections with sand. Absolutely fun, and it’s a beautiful area! There aren’t very many gravel paths between the nature reserves, at least; Komoot has some trouble with that. Due to the large amount of rainfall over the past few weeks, many paths in the forests have also become flooded, which means you can’t get through without a swim certification A. As a result, we are also missing some beautiful stretches. But don’t worry, our coffee stop is almost here!
Fietscafé KAMU is the ideal stop
In the heart of Breda, we stop for a coffee – and cake – at fietscafé KAMU. A nice alternative place with a very high home-like atmosphere. It’s a combination of a small bike shop and a lunch room. Besides the coffee, they also make the most delicious sandwiches, and you can also enjoy reading a book on the comfortable sofa here. After we actually sat for a little too long and drank too many coffee drinks, we continue on our way. After all, we still have to drive a little bit back to Oisterwijk.
Via Gilze and Tilburg
Once we have left the city center in a zigzagging manner, we drive via Gilze and Tilburg back to the park. On this stretch of the route, we don’t encounter very many stretches of forest and gravel, so we have to make sure that we look for more off-road stretches for tomorrow’s route. Just before dark, we drive back to the park and, just as we are, we clean the bikes first before we head off to shower ourselves. Behind the cottage there is a small covered area with a bench where the bikes can be parked and where we can give them the necessary TLC. At night, you can also park the bikes here just fine, of course with a lock around the bike.
Nice accommodation
The cottage has an extensive kitchen with oven, electric hob and everything you need for a few days in the park. Tonight we choose the easy way with the orange delivery service. A large bowl of sushi is our reward. When our stomachs are full again, I take the laptop out for a quick look and start Komoot On. The weather for tomorrow looks less appealing, but nothing can stop us. After all, we love a little bit of mud! I got the tip to head a little more south, where according to the experts there will be more gravel to be found. After a few clicks on the map, a route of about fifty kilometers rolls out. Perfect for a rainy Sunday. But first, let’s get into our warm beds!
Rain is a blessing
Getting up with the sound of the rain on the roof is quite relaxing, but not when you have planned a bike ride. I said quite boldly that nothing is going to stop us, but I have to say that we are a little less in a hurry today to get on the bike. We will definitely take the time for the extensive Sunday morning breakfast. The weather radar says that it should be dry around half past eleven. A glance outside and we know that the weather radar is once again wrong. That means that the rain jackets can be taken out of the bag and we hop on the bike in the rain.
Wonderful gravel routes in North Brabant
The route starts off well with a long gravel path that runs right through the forest. We leave a single flooded path to the left and head towards the Oirschotse Heide. A large part of this area is used as a military training ground and there is also a long tank track through the area which is perfect for honing your technical skills. It has been raining all night, so as you might expect it is very wet and we have to dodge around the big puddles. I have to say that this makes it a lot more fun and we actually have quite a bit of fun when we have to drive through a deep puddle. Just like in the old days when you used to cycle through the puddles with your little bike and you got really wet. Delicious.
The hospitable North Brabant of Guus Meeuwis
The only downside is when you get a flat tire with this rainy weather and semi-wet conditions. We were so lucky. Until halfway through the route, one front tire was flat. As strong independent women like us, we take the wheel off the road and change the tires within five minutes. The downside is that you get really cold when you stop. There can only be one explanation: we have to find a coffee shop to warm up! A few kilometers later, we pass a typical Brabant tavern where we have to stop. We order a hot chocolate, pancakes and a Burgundian lunch and warm ourselves up nicely. The Brabant hospitality is also evident here. I can see why Guus Meeuwis has dedicated a song to this beautiful province. Besides the irresistible sausage rolls and Bossche balls, the surroundings here are very diverse and the people are extremely open and welcoming.
Direct home?
The most direct route back to the cottage is a little over twenty kilometers. In total, we end up covering about fifty kilometers. I approve of it, especially after it was actually a bit wetter than we had thought. We still had a nice ride, so the sense of satisfaction is definitely there! Riding with the wind against us takes us back to Oisterwijk. The advantage of the wind is that we get nice dry air, which saves a lot of hassle when we get back. That is one of the downsides of cycling in winter with bad weather, all the cleaning and the dirty clothes you get from it. Spring can’t come soon enough in my opinion.
Back just in time
We can still catch the final of the World Track Cycling Championships and see how Mathieu van der Poel extends his world title and our Achterhoek proud Joris Nieuwenhuis takes home the silver medal. A beautiful finale to an even more beautiful weekend! After a warm shower, it’s time to pack our bags and go through the house. We were there with four of us, but two more people could have joined us. The house has space for six people, which would also be fine! With nice weather, you can sit outside on the terrace at the garden table and inside there is more than enough space. As I already mentioned, you can park the car at the house, where there is space for three cars. All in all, this is a perfect place for a midweek or weekend getaway with your cycling friends or girlfriends where you absolutely won’t get bored.
0 responses
What a nice piece, it makes me really want to make it!
It's really fun and all in your own country too!