135 km Strade Bianche "Peel en Hei" 2021

Last update: Sunday, 12 September 2021 17:25

Via main roads with cycle path you leave from Heusden (near Asten) towards Asten and the Zuid-Willemsvaart. Then you follow the canal on a gravel road to Lierop. Then you go on paved roads to Lierop and to the hamlet of Moorsel. Just before the hamlet of Moorsel you change back to unpaved cycle paths across the Strabrechtse Heide and you pass many fens (typical for this area). Eventually you arrive at the concrete cycle path along the Provincial road Heeze - Someren.

After a few kilometers you go into the woods towards Sterksel on partly unpaved roads, and later towards nature reserve de Vroolijke Jager. Via unpaved roads and cycle paths you cycle along the Vroolijke Jager. Then you cycle on asphalted roads to camping de Somerweij. Via nature reserve het Keelven (Somerensche Heide) you cycle around the Keelveen, partly unpaved, partly paved. You pass forest café De Soete Inval Vennenhorst. Very briefly you follow the concrete cycle path along the road Heeze - Someren and then dive back into the Strabrechtse Heide on unpaved cycle paths. You cycle along the largest fen in the Netherlands (the Beuven).

After leaving the heath you go through forest area, partly unpaved and you go towards the Zuid-Willemsvaart. Near Someren you cross some busy roads and cross the viaduct over the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal. Then follows a few kilometers of gravel road along the eastern bank of the canal. Via the hamlet of Behelp you enter Heusden again. The second break place is the start/finish in Heusden.

The rest of the route again goes counterclockwise and you soon leave Heusden, you cycle on a narrow cycle path along a golf course and then through agricultural area to National Park de Groote Peel. Here you follow a gravel bike path on the edge of the nature reserve. You have now arrived in the province of Limburg and the route continues through Central Limburg. After passing the small village of Ospeldijk you cycle again along the Groote Peel. The route then goes towards the village of Meijel with some gravel roads in between.

At a roundabout where two main roads intersect, you cross the Noordervaart and soon you come back to a series of gravel roads along the Afwateringskanaal, nature reserve de Waterbloem, along nature reserve Brookberg, again a bit along the Afwateringskanaal, through the Heldense Bossen, and the Kesselse Bergen. You have now arrived at the easternmost part of the route near the village of Baarlo (you do not enter the village itself). The route now goes north of the village of Panningen, now much more through agricultural area and occasionally through nature reserve (Vlakbroek), but again an alternation of paved and gravel roads. Break place is after 111 km at mini-camping de Peelweide.

Then the route goes through nature reserves with gravel roads (nature reserves Marisberg, Kwakvors, Scherliet) and you cycle on a gravel road along the Deurne Canal. You will then arrive in peel village Neerkant where some gravel strips are still being looked up. Then you cycle on most paved roads to the finish in Heusden, with one more gravel strip on the edge of the Groote Peel.

48% of the route (which incidentally ends at 137 kilometers) consists of gravel paths and gravel roads, divided into 42 strips ranging in length from 150 meters to 5 km.