Holland Property Bike

Holland Property Bike is an annual cycling event for professionals at decision-making level of the real estate sector and forms part of the Holland Property Plaza network programme. The interest in this HPP cycle tour is growing each year and it is expected that we will be able to greet approximately 65 cyclists at the start of the 8th HPBike tour in 2019. HPBike 2019 will take place from 20-22 June.

Launched in 2012, the first Holland Property Bike cycling tour visited Rotterdam, Tilburg, Venlo and Cologne. Since then HPBike has visited Eindhoven, Maastricht, Aken, Zwolle, Enschede, Osnabruck, Utrecht, The Hague, Arnhem, Mönchengladbach, Apeldoorn, Almere, Lelystad and Groningen.

The start and finish for the 2019’s HPBike tour is in Nijmegen. HPBike will offer again an interesting programme and challenging routes, crossing the Provinces Gelderland, Noord Brabant and Germany. Showing the beautiful scenery of rivers, meadows, forests and national parks. This year HPBike will use Nijmegen as base camp and offer during the two cycling days various tracks, some of them with serious climbs and distances.  And for the less trained cyclist we offer easy going sportive tracks to enjoy the beautiful scenery of this part of the Netherlands.

Registration and hotel check-in starts on the 20^th of June around 17.00h in Berg en Dal (Nijmegen) Reception, welcome drinks and dinner starts around 19.30h. The last finish in Berg en Dal and farewell drinks are scheduled for Saturday 22 June around 17-18h.

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Report HPBike Tour 2018

 

Head wind or tail wind?

Anyone participating in the HPBike Tour for the past six years has already toured large parts of the country, from the hills in Limburg and vast polder landscapes to the forested regions of Apeldoorn, the dunes and the Achterhoek. The only region still missing on the list was the high north. It was therefore time for the participants to conquer the three northern provinces during the seventh edition of the HPBike Tour.

And so it was that more than 60 cyclists gathered in Sneek on the 14th of June, 2018, each of them in high spirits, seeing that there would not be a hill in sight many miles around. It was thought that the flat roads would be easy for everyone to navigate, regardless of their level of training. The days of cycling that lay ahead were therefore anticipated with considerable optimism.

Many kilometres

During dinner, many stories were told about the intensive levels of training to which the participants had subjected themselves. In-between the starter and the main course, the group received a brief training in ‘group cycling’. (We’ve been at it for years, but what exactly should we be doing?). The various group distances were announced just before dessert was served. Group 3, also known as the ‘Cappuccino Group’ for their additional coffee stops on any given day of cycling, were told that they would cover close to 100 kilometres a day. Group 2 were told to endure 150 kilometres a day. Leading the groups in terms of distance and their desire to go to the extreme, were the cyclists in group 1, with 170 kilometres. This announcement led to a wave of chatter among those present. A little too many kilometres, perhaps? Given the lack of mountains and hills in the north, the answer seemed to depend entirely what the wind would do. Wind….what wind? Facing a head wind would soon turn out to be something entirely different than having a tail wind.

Well-organised columns

Day 1 brought the generally anticipated calm weather conditions. The wind wasn’t too strong and came from the right direction. It didn’t take long for well-organised columns to form, during which the cyclists talked extensively and caught up on a variety of subjects. There was even time to take in the Frisian lakes, picturesque villages, extensive fields and, after lunch, the forested landscape of Drenthe. When the final destination of the day came into view in the form of the brand new Van der Valk hotel in Groningen, all thoughts of the day’s efforts soon evaporated. To everyone’s delight, drinks were served on the terrace, after which the participants enjoyed a wonderful evening programme in the city of Groningen. Bedtime was happily postponed by those who had not seen tomorrow’s weather forecast…

 Short turns leading the pack

Tour Day 2 already saw the cyclists gathering at the Grote Markt early in the morning. Group by group, they crossed the starting line, leaving the city and touring the farm-filled landscape en route to the Lauwermeer district. And that’s where the wind pounced. A very strong wind. A very strong head wind. Instantly the speed dropped, and the cyclists took much shorter turns leading the pack. Group 1 had no option but to shorten the route. Group 2 decided to make an additional coffee stop, and group 3 – in part due to punctures – only made it to the finish line as drinks were about to be served.

Having subdued many kilometres, all of the cyclists finally reached the finish line. The tour had been as tough as it had been a fantastic experience. And that’s how the 7th edition of HPBike will go down as a monumental, heroic tour. A new, exciting challenge awaits next year!

Report by Nienke Oosterbaan, Cycling guide HPBike