Last year it was almost completely covered in clay and mud. Now one of the most beautiful, centuries-old cobblestone strips in the Netherlands has been restored to its former glory. Racing cyclists can let their kidneys rattle on the Knolweg near the Zeeland-Flemish village of De Clinge.
“It is terrible with a headwind, but with a tailwind it is wonderful. You fly over the cobblestones. Dokkeren in its purest form,” says cyclist and cycling journalist Bram de Vrind at Omroep Zeeland.
Together with Rens Muller of the bicycle magazine Bicycling, De Vrind initiated a petition last year that called for “preservation of this cultural cycling heritage in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen”. Until about forty years ago, cobblestone strips could still be found everywhere in the Netherlands. The website hetiskoers.nl writes about cobblestones “with holes in between that were large and deep enough to allow two wheels to disappear at the same time”.
But almost all those roads are asphalted or provided with ordinary paving stones. The Knolweg near De Clinge is an exception. Over the centuries, the cobblestone strip there had slowly become covered with clay – partly because the owner Staatsbosbeheer did not always consider maintenance “the highest priority”.
bumpy bumpy road
That changed with the petition last year. Staatsbosbeheer gave permission, the infrastructure branch of construction company Heijmans removed the clay at its own expense. The first cyclists and local residents witnessed how mayor Jan-Frans Mulder reopened the 600 meter long “bumpy bumpy road” yesterday by cutting a ribbon.
“We were afraid that he would be damaged, but this is the best scenario. He has come out of the mud masterfully,” De Vrind responds after a test drive. “It is beautifully preserved. So there was just a pearl of a cobblestone strip under the mud. There are a few holes in it, but that also makes it more interesting for us as cyclists. A little steering, a little maneuvering, that makes it beautiful!”
