Cycling with Truus, Choosing between Am Kloster or De IJskuip

Source Tubantia

It's just starting to get used to it, every Saturday such a nice bike ride by Truus Wijnen in the newspaper, and then it's over again. This is the last of eight summer bike rides through the eastern Netherlands. A route of 45 kilometers in the area of Denekamp, with a mandatory break halfway.

Denekamp. The twinny-load generation - 55-plussers with a platinum ANWB subscription - know the village from the past. As a busy border town where freight traffic to Berlin thundered through. Since the construction of the A1 and the ring road, it has become a lot quieter. In terms of car traffic, that is. Because the number of two-wheelers has increased exponentially. This is partly due to Actief Twente, a company at the roundabout in Beuningen that rents out vehicles with which you can cross through the area. Scooters, Solexes, fat bikes, steps, choppers. You see groups of people everywhere riding around on exotic means of transport. This Sunday afternoon we get on our own, regular bike.

Dinkelland highway

You can park your car in the large, free parking lot at the Dorper Es swimming pool. A stone's throw from Huis Singraven and its watermill, but Truus sends us in the other direction. There is so much more beauty to see. The Almelo-Nordhorn Canal, for example. The only thing that still'sails\\\' between the reeds and the water lilies are ducks. The Dinkelland highway, a two-lane concrete cycle path, has been constructed next to the canal. And that is no unnecessary luxury on this Twente'route du soleil\\\'. At the photogenic sliding house we cross the canal towards Tilligte and Lattrop. Stretching our legs here with a half-litre of Paulaner Weizen is actually obligatory

Typical Twente villages with Saxon farms, hidden in the coulisse landscape. You see church towers and windmill sails sticking out above the corn. Attractive countryside to experience country life. At Cosmos Observatory and Erfgoed Bossem, for example, or in the Bergvennen nature reserve. In a flash we see the red shutters of Huis te Breckelenkamp between the trees. We leave the 17th-century manor to the left today.

Beer garden

The route takes us a good part through Germany. The highlight along the way is Kloster Frenswegen or actually the adjacent Cafe am Kloster. With a terrace like a Munich Biergarten. Stretching your legs here with a half liter of Paulaner Weizen is actually mandatory.

The Vecht is never far away. You cross it regularly. In Nordhorn, impressive villas have been built on the banks. You are cycling on sacred ground here. These are the country roads where Hennie Kuiper learned to pedal on a racing bike he built himself. That bike is still in the cycling museum at Erve Kuiper. You pass it. Here too, you have to get off, because at De IJskuip they sell, according to their own words, the best ice cream in Europe, made from creamy Jersey milk. Is that true? The long queue at the counter says enough.

This cycle route starts at swimming pool Dorper Esch. The junctions are: 17 > 12 > 14 > 10 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 6! > 2 > 1 > 84 > 74 > 85! > 83 > 9 > 13 > 12 > 23 and 17.

Tip 1: Sliding house

The Schuivenhuisje (also called Dinkelhuisje) is a weir that feeds the Almelo-Nordhorn canal with water from the Dinkel. It was built in 1887 when there was still shipping on the canal. The gates prevented the canal from drying up in the summer. When shipping disappeared in 1960, the weir lost its function.

Sliding house near Denekamp (C) Rob Wissink

Tip 2: House in Breckelenkamp

The country estate Het Huis te Breckelenkamp is a beautiful example of a 17th-century East Netherlands manor house. Het Huis is located in one of the most beautiful and peaceful areas of Twente, near the German border. After the Second World War it became a nationally known youth hostel. Today the house is still used for concerts and events.

Manor House in Breckelenkamp (C) Rob Wissink

Tip 3: Erve Kuiper

Educational family farm on the grounds of the parental home of Olympic and world champion cyclist Hennie Kuiper. A museum has been set up in one of the stables, highlighting his sporting career. You can also visit the dairy and calving stables, the lovely outdoor playground and the ice cream parlour De IJskuip, a household name in the region.

The Ice Cream Tub in Denekamp. In the photo from left to right: Emiel, Erik, Hermien, Andy, Lauren and Roy Kuiper. (C) Robin Hilberink

Tip 4: Cosmos Observatory

Cosmos Observatory (C) Reinier van Willigen

In Lattrop, in one of the darkest places in the Netherlands, you will find Cosmos Observatory. Here, astronomy has been cool for over 60 years and you can discover the sky up close. Visitors can look through telescopes, see live shows in the astrotheater and planetarium and enjoy the silence in dark Twente.