The trailhead is here: Google Maps of Parking lot
The trail is surprisingly nice, but it has the same "feel" as a Texas trail in that they wind the trail around so much (in order to fit a longer trail in a smaller place) that you are often riding within just a few feet of where you just rode a few minutes earlier. I rode a couple loops on the trail and took pictures the second time through:
This is the lookout point at the top of the "mountain":
Some old ladies were nice enough to take a picture for me (although it took about 7 times for the lady to figure out how to get the camera on the iphone to work)
The view of Northeast of Rotterdam and the zevenhuisplas lake:
Looking over the top of the "ski resort" towards downtown Rotterdam:
And looking a little off to the west of Rotterdam:
And looking back towards Zoetermeer:
There was a lot of really nice singletrack and quite a few short (but fairly intense) downhill sections where they have installed stair steps to prevent erosion. So you have to keep on your toes.
They even have some modern art (if you can call it that) mounted out along the trail:
This is (apparently) a replica of the top of the Matterhorn. Apparently it can be climbed inside or out. Below it is some sort of ropes course base camp:
And my ride for the day - my father in law's Cannondale. I really appreciated the fact that he loaned it to me (since I left my Ellsworth in Texas) but I should have approached the trail with a bit more caution. My Ellsworth descends like a (insert analogy to something that is very stable and very very fast and very very reliable) and so I attacked a downhill section too aggressively way too soon (before I was really "tuned" in to the new bike) and I cased it something fierce - I mean I did a full on faceplant where I was picking weeds out of my teeth, nearly broke my nose, trashed the visor on the helmet, and scratched up my forehead. It could have been really really bad if it weren't for the fact that the spot of earth that I attacked with my face was nicely covered in grass, stinging nettle and thistles. If it had been a rock garden, I would almost certainly be in the hospital doing reconstructive facial surgery right now. My neck is majorly tweaked and I feel like a major idiot for going at that downhill like I was on my own bike. Oh well, live and learn right?
This is the lookout point at the top of the "mountain":
Some old ladies were nice enough to take a picture for me (although it took about 7 times for the lady to figure out how to get the camera on the iphone to work)
The view of Northeast of Rotterdam and the zevenhuisplas lake:
Looking over the top of the "ski resort" towards downtown Rotterdam:
And looking a little off to the west of Rotterdam:
And looking back towards Zoetermeer:
There was a lot of really nice singletrack and quite a few short (but fairly intense) downhill sections where they have installed stair steps to prevent erosion. So you have to keep on your toes.
They even have some modern art (if you can call it that) mounted out along the trail:
This is (apparently) a replica of the top of the Matterhorn. Apparently it can be climbed inside or out. Below it is some sort of ropes course base camp:
And my ride for the day - my father in law's Cannondale. I really appreciated the fact that he loaned it to me (since I left my Ellsworth in Texas) but I should have approached the trail with a bit more caution. My Ellsworth descends like a (insert analogy to something that is very stable and very very fast and very very reliable) and so I attacked a downhill section too aggressively way too soon (before I was really "tuned" in to the new bike) and I cased it something fierce - I mean I did a full on faceplant where I was picking weeds out of my teeth, nearly broke my nose, trashed the visor on the helmet, and scratched up my forehead. It could have been really really bad if it weren't for the fact that the spot of earth that I attacked with my face was nicely covered in grass, stinging nettle and thistles. If it had been a rock garden, I would almost certainly be in the hospital doing reconstructive facial surgery right now. My neck is majorly tweaked and I feel like a major idiot for going at that downhill like I was on my own bike. Oh well, live and learn right?
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