I live on the other side of the country but the
last ride through Limburg I posted on here would probably have been impossible last weekend as we too had some
major flooding in that area. Fortunately no deaths like in some of the surrounding countries, partially because the hills and mountains are not as tall, partially because the Netherlands has been working hard the past 25 years to give more (spillover) room to water in many areas. That's not to say the rest failed. We were lucky and were not prepared for intense rainfall either and it could have ended badly as well. Just goes to show we need to start doing something about our changing climate and our environment to adjust to the changes that are already here.
That being said, I took the K-M Graveller on a
gravel ride by
Bjornrides.cc between Breda and Tilburg.
Lots of forest paths, gravel roads, singletrack, some sand and a quick stop at a fake airport built by the Germans in WW2.
I crashed into a ditch near the beginning because I came in too hot on a much too narrow farmer's road and tumbled over at low speed. I hit the elevated middle section and couldn't steer over it. No real damage except for a bleeding spot on my knee but I could go on.
Halfway through after my lunch break I suddenly had a flat and just swapped with a spare inner tube I was carrying with me.
All in all a beautiful ride though but definitely not for anything much narrower than 38mm.
Forest roads. Nice and shady with the occasional pothole
Some actual gravel! Small rocks but still. Around Rotterdam where I live it's rare
Nice small lakes dot the area
Narrow roads, stinging-nettle and shorts are not the greatest combo
It's a fake plane! In WW2 the Germans had a fake airfield around here to confuse the Allied forces and prevent them from bombing the nearby military airfield. This up here is a modern day replica.
Swapping inner tubes to fix a flat and keep on going.
More narrow hard-packed sandy roads
Muddy forest roads are awesome but not great with tight fitting fenders.