Cycling through flowering heather fields in the Netherlands

[Ep. 1006] Cycling to the heath of "de Kampina" Nature reserve in the province of Brabant to see the purple heather plants in bloom. These heather fields are located in the triangle formed by the cities of Eindhoven, Tilburg and 's-Hertogenbosch and are popular destination to cycle to.
More information in the blog post: bicycledutch.wordpress.com/?p...

[@dammitdan106]

Thanks for the reminder there are civilized people and civilized places where bicyclists are free to ride without fear of being slaughtered for sport. RIP Andreas Probst, Las Vegas NV, age 64.

[@Fjodor.Tabularasa]

I just read how he was murdered, mowed down, while riding his bicycle. By some children, in a car.
I am speechless.

[@Robin_Goodfellow]

Will ye go, Lassie, go
And we'll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All among the purple heather

[@judebrown4103]

How beautiful... I do get distracted from the natural beauty by looking at the wide variety of beautiful bicycles though!😂

[@rogink]

Thanks. This was so relaxing. You should flog these videos as 'mindfulness' or 'wellness' videos!

[@gytan2221]

I wish we have something like this in our country, how relaxing would that be

[@paolagrando5079]

So pretty. And I enjoyed the sound of the bike on a gravel road, too. 😊

[@justride9872]

So many cattle at the grass field at the bicycle track. Great view there

[@palantir135]

Loonse en Drunense duinen is also full of blooming heather.
Regie Hei also.

[@ricardosemino8133]

Lindo video un abrazo desde Perú

[@mariadej.torresdelatorre1345]

Beatiful!

[@hondaryder3779]

Prachtig gebied, probeer ook de Strabrechtse heide eens, m.n. De Hubertus bossen bij het kasteel van Heeze: één van de weinige bossen aangeplant voor recreatie in de omgeving.

[@Matt-ln1zl]

So idyllic

[@crashmatrix]

Man, I miss being out on the heath

[@hanneken4026]

Mooi gezicht!
De hei tussen Hilversum en Laren was 18 september al vrijwel helemaal uitgebloeid.

[@jannetteberends8730]

Op de grote stille heide…
Niet zo stil meer tegenwoordig.

[@guronanak9218]

Do you think road and hybrid bikes would be more popular in Holland if the terrain was not so flat?

[@MonsieurRaki]

There are also a lot of mountain bikes and racing bikes here, but for people who don't have those, they just use their regular bikes or e-bikes for a leisure ride in nature. People on mountain bikes and race bikes might prefere a less flat terrain, so they might bike in forests or bike routes with more steeper hills

[@FrietjeOorlog]

I noticed a weird thing when walking in the similar Loonse en Drunense Duinen; a majority of people were wearing helmets! Mostly elderly couples cycling. Presumably all Dutch, not foreign tourists. This is something I've never seen before, and I also don't see it in this video. So why this difference? I really have no idea. Is there an ANWB campaign or something?

[@markovermeer1394]

Helmets are now advised for elderly people with electric bikes: relatively many accidents.

[@Fjodor.Tabularasa]

In 2022 737 people died in traffic, of which 291 were cyclists. Compared to 2021 this is a 27% traffic death increase. Cyclists deaths in traffic increased by 84 compared to 2021.
Out of the 291 cyclists that died in traffic in 2022, 150 were above 75.
They mostly ride electric bicycles. So it seems some sobered up and started to wear helmets.
Personally I loath electric 'bicycles', especially when driven by old people. They often ride fast without caring about anyone.

[@hondaryder3779]

Mijn ouders dragen ze voortaan ook, 75 en 77 yo. Mensen fietsen gewoon op steeds latere leeftijd. Ps pa nog steeds op een traditionele Gazelle zonder ondersteuning met gepensioneerde maatjes waaronder een oud huisarts: ' houd je veel fitter'.

[@FrietjeOorlog]

@@markovermeer1394 All the more strange to see almost no helmets in this video, in the exact same setting and with the exact same demographic of cyclists.

[@rogink]

@@Fjodor.Tabularasa Curious and sad. But how would bike 'helmets' have saved those people?

[@bicicogito989]

The more E-peds that I see... the more that I loathe them.

[@Freddy65373]

The cycle paths in the woods are too narrow

[@diekssus7194]

I'd rather not pave paradise

[@erikloupias7642]

Must it be even bigger again? Than nature becomes smaller!😡

[@MarijnRoorda]

Yeah, these are the worst times for cycling through nature in the Netherlands. As a semi professional volunteer i drive 7 times a week on a Duofiets as shown @ 2:03 and with elderly people, and such bicycles take up the better part of the width of most cycling routes in the Netherlands. Makes me wish cycling routes would get widened but there is very little budget for that usually. Typically in the Netherlands, the elderly come out when the major holidays are over and kids and parents are hard at work or at school. And whilst the nature is very pretty, the constant effort of making room for the next wave of elderly people wobbling past my duofiets can take the fun of nature right out of it.