Over the coming period, in collaboration with our partner Shimano a number of beautiful routes for the keen road and gravel cyclist. The routes start from different places in the Netherlands and Belgium. The starting point is that you can cycle the route easily and that it gives a nice insight into the surroundings. Another common denominator? Start and finish at a Shimano Service Centre, where you can get a nice cup of coffee beforehand and have your bike checked. For our first adventure, we grabbed the gravel bike and went for a scenic route Graveling across the crown domain in Apeldoorn. Here's a hint: it doesn't get any prettier than this in the Netherlands.
Text: Sander Kolsloot - Photos: Ruben Hoogland and Sander Kolsloot
Beautiful Friday morning
It is Friday morning around 9 o'clock in the morning as we pull the car into the car park at Stappenbelt turn up in Apeldoorn. From the moment we leave Utrecht, the sun is already shining in our faces. It is going to be a beautiful day. Not only because of the weather, but also because of today's programme. Earlier in the week, I had already had some contact with Roelien from Stappenbelt Specialized Concept Store to announce our arrival. 'The coffee is ready in our lovely coffee corner' sounded cheerfully through the phone. Whether we already had an itinerary? Yes definitely!
Crown domain - what a beauty
Our route for today takes us through the crown estates of our royal family. Not always public, as King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima also need time with themselves in their backyards. But when the doors of the estates do open, the most beautiful dirt roads, climbs and gravel paths are there for the taking. Many also call this 'playing out the crown domain'. For our route, we first ride a bit on paved roads before diving into Willem's backyard. You can find the entire route with Komoot GPX at the bottom of the article!
Diluted group
As with everything, planning and realisation still sometimes differ. Great friend corona had a good time in our group and so we ended up with a group of three for coffee at Stappenbelt. The welcome is warm and the coffee corner looks atmospheric. A bit American diner style, which I can appreciate. In the shop itself, it is drooling for the bike lover. Beautiful road, gravel and mountain bikes. A single brand store though, so if you don't like Specialized, it might not be your place. Although you might change your mind.
Tips and tricks
What I like is the friendliness of owners Roelien and Gert. You notice in nothing that since July 2021 the business is also partly owned by dealer holding company Nieuwenhuijse. That's nice. Roelien and Gert both have a chat, make a cup of coffee and we are basically allowed to do as we please. Our route is checked again and we also get some questions 'whether we have everything with us'. On a sunny day like today, of course, that's no problem at all. In more unruly weather, a welcome addition. Then we can have the bike checked in the workshop. Nice.
Bike of the day
Before embarking on this adventure, we did have a small challenge. Neither Ruben nor I owned a gravel bike. In normal times, no problem at all. But now, we are talking about March 2022, those things are different. Combined also with our height (both over 1.90) this created an extra challenge. Some calling around here and there provided little solace. In the end, a good acquaintance helped us out very well. Via Gravel bike rental we were given two nice, solid Sensa Romagna gravel bikes with Shimano GRX groupset.
Off we go
To get to the beloved Crown Estate, it takes a little slalom through the city. We drive through the park where in 2016 I saw Tom Dumoulin and a then-unknown Primoz Roglic whiz by during the Giro d'Italia prologue. We turn and turn and suddenly see the Palace looming before us. Since you can't really cycle in the gardens, we drive around it on the left. That means we ride the first few kilometres on asphalt, but the scenery makes up for a lot. As we will see later, the gravel landscape more than makes up for a lot.
Right into the forest - beauty
While our Sigma Rox navigation, which we turned on the bike especially for this ride, tells us to turn right, a big smile comes to my face. Asphalt we are now definitely exchanging for dirt. And how! We first turn through a stretch of forest. The sun is already piercing through the trees, but for now we are still quite sheltered. The lighting allows us to take some nice photos. We have to be careful not to turn this into a photo ride in disguise, instead of a nice gravel route. After a few kilometres, the forest suddenly splits open to reveal a beautiful heathland plain. The sun shines brightly and it is insanely beautiful here. We stop for some pictures.
Long gravel road
This very long road, the court road, seems almost built for gravel lovers and to take pictures. We keep stopping and taking pictures. Sometimes to some grunting here and there, but good. It's kind of part of it. It is very wide here and, given the time of day, the heather is not yet in bloom. That makes for beautiful yellow and brown hues. At the end, we turn right and drive along the outskirts of Uddel towards Nunspeet. We ride through another beautiful stretch of forest just before Elspeet and then, about 24 kilometres into the route, we come across another beautiful double track. Before that, we stop briefly because a farmer has to herd his cows into the meadow. It doesn't get much more Dutch than this.
Sand. A lot of sand.
After Elspeet, it turns right into the sand. Literally. We have pretty good tyres, but this is really hard pounding through the loose sand. A few times I put my foot down, because there are little mini hills on the route that I don't always get down. Oh well. That gives another excuse to take more photos. It becomes like a long-playing record, the numbers of times I say, "how beautiful it is here. On the wide paths, we meet the occasional hiker. A friendly greeting and a chat does wonders for using these paths together. This segment near Vierhouten is pure enjoyment.
Direction Nunspeet
After playing in the beautiful sandpit around Vierhouten, we set off towards Nunspeet. We briefly incorporated the sponsor's headquarters into the route to say hello, refill the water bottles and also take a picture. The route here is a bit on tarmac and into the village you ride on a roundabout and cycle path. Don't panic: on the way back we pick up the route over unpaved terrain pretty quickly!
Back towards Apeldoorn
We turn left from Nunspeet over the level crossing and shoot into the forest there. Pretty soon the cycle path becomes unpaved again and it is once again enjoyable in these surroundings. We now cycle towards Vierhouten again and this stretch of heathland is at least as beautiful. The slope and therefore the viewpoints make it a valhalla for anyone with a bike, a camera and/or nature lovers. We pass the pyramids, which we actually don't even consciously see standing there. There is perhaps a kind of overkill.
Again through afforestation
Eventually, on the next ten kilometres, we pick up a lot of forestation. Not annoying of course, just the look and feel is really different. It now feels more like being in Sweden or Canada are, rather than the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The route keeps presenting us with new gems. The closer we get to our destination (read: starting point), the hillier it gets (or stays). Then you do notice that 85 kilometres on a gravel bike is something different from 85 kilometres on a road bike.
Palace gardens skipped
The final section alternates between denser forestation and sometimes more open terrain. The woods right against the palace garden offer a bit more shelter from sun in a hot summer. Good to remember if you want to do this route in the warmer months. We follow the edges of the palace garden, including the little climb to Hoog Soeren. The acid in the legs is felt a bit more than desired here. With about 5 kilometres to go, we ride out of the crown estate and arrive back in the inhabited world. What a pleasure it was to gravel over the crown domain.
Catching up, catching up, reminiscing
When we brake at Stappenbelt after more than 80 kilometres, owners Gert and Roelien are waiting for us again. We are full of stories and impressions. Actually, we are a bit tired too. That gravel biking isn't easy. The lunch we brought along goes down a treat. We need to recover, reminisce and catch up. Because during the ride we hardly talked about current affairs, except about the beautiful route and surroundings.
GRX Series Route
Would you also like to ride this insanely beautiful route one day? See the GPX and Komoot file below. You can download it in our Komoot account. Can't do that? Then please send a message. The route starts and finishes at Stappenbelt in Apeldoorn, a beautiful Shimano Service Centre. In our route, we also planned in the stop at the Shimano headquarters in Nunspeet. Fun for us, but probably not a highlight for you.
Information on the Crown Domain
The Palace Park and the forestries of Gortel, Hoog Soeren and Uddel together form Crown Estate Het Loo. Kroondomein Het Loo is the largest contiguous estate (10,500 ha) in the Netherlands and is characterised by a rich cultural history, great biological diversity and lots of scenic beauty. The area exudes tranquillity, beauty and harmony in a vast and large-scale landscape. In the centuries since Stadhouder Willem III purchased Het Oude Loo, the Crown Estate has developed enormously.
Royal property
After Stadholder William III's death, the estate passed into the hands of Prince William IV, putting it into royal possession. In that century, 1700s, the Palace fell into disrepair, partly also due to the French occupation. The palace even served as a field hospital. Kings William I, II and III restored the palace and the surrounding park after its decline in the previous century. The foundation for the current Crown Estate was laid by Queen Wilhelmina. She made the major land purchases of the Crown Domain and, together with the State Domain (Hoog Soeren and Het Loo), it was donated to the Dutch state in exchange for full use. Under Queens Wilhelmina and Juliana, management was carried out according to the German forestry method. Under Queen Beatrix, that was abandoned and more nature-following forest management is now practised. Whatever that may be. More info? The site of The Loo has all the information.
