Go to content

Story Edwin de Haan & Diane Overwater

  • Lelystad

    a brilliant cycling city

Flevoland holds no secrets for the editor-in-chief of Fiets magazine : Edwin Haan. He visits the most beautiful places for his work, but just as much enjoys cycling on that new man-made land. 'You literally have space here, there is a lot of greenery and you can go in all directions with your bike.'

'When we step out of the door, we walk straight into the forest,' Edwin and his wife Diane Overwater tell us enthusiastically. They live on the outskirts of Lelystad, with the Oostvaardersplassen as their backyard. Diane: 'I never felt the need to move. Yes, we talked about living close to the beach once in a while, but the space in Flevoland wins out.'

Nice and quiet

Edwin was 5 years old when his parents traded Amsterdam for Lelystad in 1974. 'My father still worked in Amsterdam, so he had to travel back and forth,' he looks back. The pleasure of living won out over travel time. Lelystad was then a brand-new town, where plenty of single-family houses with spacious gardens were being built. 'This really is a brilliant city to grow up in,' says Edwin. 'You have beautiful, green neighbourhoods here with spacious gardens. The segregated cycle path network makes it super safe when your kids go to high school!'

After all these years on his road bike or mountain bike, Edwin knows every path by now. 'If I do a short round, I often choose the Oostvaardersplassen. Along the canal to Almere, I cycle sheltered among the woods. Ideal, because in the Netherlands there is almost always a south-westerly wind. On my mountain bike, I regularly ride the mountain bike course in Lelystad. Just a nice cross through the woods.'

Five forests to be precise, including climbs and slopes and where you cycle past a deer drinking site. 'The beauty of this route is that even when it is very dry, it is still fine to ride. Whereas other routes then suffer from a lot of loose sand, in Lelystad you can ride on the polder soil just fine,' says Edwin.

'You can look so far in Flevoland without seeing anything. Wonderful! If I see it's going to rain, I quickly take another road and cycle around the shower. That also makes for very nice photos: those dark clouds above that vast landscape.'

Cycling on the seabed

Diane: 'Do you know what is also fun? Gravel biking! My bike takes me where I want to go. Whether over grass, sand or gravel. The other day, for instance, I was at a very beautiful little pond in the Knarbos. This is one of those places that hardly anyone knows about, even though it is actually very close to the city. I was cycling as the sun was just setting. It was so beautiful that I stopped to take photos. So you can get a holiday feeling from just one ride.'

Edwin: 'In Flevoland, you can cycle on. We have space here. I unwind here.' He leaves the hustle and bustle of everyday life behind him on his bike, peering at the dot on the horizon. 'I still find the idea of cycling on the seabed special after all these years,' he concludes.

Want to know more about sports in Flevoland?

In Flevoland, you don't have to sit still. When it comes to sports, there is lots to do. Because Flevoland is a sporty province with lots of sports clubs. There's a great sport for everyone, no matter which municipality you live in.

This website uses cookies

This website uses cookies (Functional, Analytical, Marketing) which are necessary for the website to function as well as possible. By clicking accept, you indicate your agreement with this.