How to NL

F 325

In late August 2016, I cycled along the F 325, also known as the RijnWaalpad, from Arnhem to Nijmegen for the first time. (Sorry, I am not as fit as I wish; I basically always catch the train between Arnhem and Nijmegen. I have cycled between Arnhem and Nijmegen before, but that was before the F 325 was built. After this trip, I can see myself cycling between Arnhem and Nijmegen more often.) I was not aiming at documenting my experience of the F 325, so most of the photos I have taken are not what they want to showcase. Anyway, here is my experience of trying to follow F 325 without looking at a map. (Spoiler: I succeeded, but not totally along the intended way. See also Bicycle Dutch's 2015 review of F 325.)

The official route map of F 325 can be found here. Their electronic map is often buggy (and also not totally correct), so I'm also including my rough map of F 325 southbound here; it is rough because I used Google Maps' 'Add biking route' function, and Google Map is not accurate at some places. Also included are the location of the photos, chronologically from north to south. You might want to open the map in a separate window/tab.

I started at the eastern Arnhem branch of the F 325, crossing the John Frost Bridge, famous for its role in the Battle of Arnhem during World War II. The first F 325 sign I saw was south of the river. (Unlike at the western Arnhem branch, where the first F 325 sign is north of the river near the railway station.) Both branches are familiar territory to me; beyond that, not so much.

It was lovely along the way to Arnhem South, and the F 325 route was well-signposted. This was the first major unfamiliar crossing. The photo faces back north. For both north- and south-bound on the F 325, you first encounter shark's teeth (a give-way line) telling you to give way to cyclists coming from your left on the first traversing bicycle path. Then you have shark's teeth telling you to give way to cars coming from your left. Then you have shark's teeth telling you to give way to cars coming from you right. Then there is no shark's teeth with the following traversing bicycle path; you just have to know that you have to give way to your right, whenever there is no giveway sign for both of you. (Consistency! people...) I suggest making all vehicles give-way to F 325.

I then encountered these folks just north of where the Linge is crossed. They were dressed up as local evacuees during World War II. One of the ladies told me that, after the failure of Operation Market Garden, the Linge separated the Allies to the south, and the Germans to the north. Irish Guards defended the area south of the Linge. That little bridge is now called the Irish Guards Bridge. (Also, I didn't know that the Nijmeegse Fiets4daagse was happening that day.)

Two views of the bridge itself.

The history in English.

Further along, F 325 next to A 325. It was not close enough to be annoying.

This dog-leg crossing at Bemmelseweg was underwhelming.

The Betuweroute above.

Sorry, I didn't take any photos of the A 15 underpass, which is what they want to showcase, with lightings that you can change with their app. Anyway, this photo is taken just south of the A 15 underpass, facing back north. Now you know that the height restriction is 2.2m.

Just before the turn into Ressenseweg. Signs like these started to appear from about here. [The purple signs, and the F1 designation have been ruled illegal by the Nationale Bewegwijzeringsdienst, in 2015.] This is the lovely section at the village of Ressen. (The problematic crossing shown in the Bicycle Dutch video is right in front of here.)

Right turn into Slenkweg. So far signs for F 325 were good.

Cinema. With rows and rows of bicycle racks.

Pleasant lake view. The houses of Nijmegen Lent are in front of us. I saw no signs which say F 325 from Lent onwards. There were not many RijnWaalpad signs from Lent onwards. I had to use my intuitions until I saw Nijmegen Lent station. (The F 325 was officially opened in July 2015! It is now more than one year since!)

The sidestreet in the foreground is Frankrijkstraat. I totally missed the fact (there were no signs) that the next street, Vrouwe Udasingel, was the branching point for the western Nijmegen branch of F 325 (which I intended to take). Unknowingly, I went straightahead to the eastern Nijmegen branch of F 325.

I followed the red asphalt, turning right into Laauwikstraat. Going west along Laauwikstraat, I was surprised that I was sharing the narrow street with cars, and buses (albeit if they were going reasonably slow). This photograph is taken facing back east; this is the Lentseveld bus stop. Unbeknown to me (there were no signs), F 325 had turned left/south just before the bus stop. I think many non-locals who wanted to continue on the eastern Nijmegen branch would have missed that turn-off. As for me, I continued my way west, with no direction signs whatsoever.

Continuing west, I reached Nijmegen Lent train station. Back in familiar territory. I knew that I had to turn left/south to cross the Nijmegen Railway Bridge. At the junction, there were Rijnwaalpad signs. Looking for their sign back to Arnhem, I was surprised that the sign to Arnhem pointed to the west, rather than to the east, the way I came from. Anyway, I knew the way from here onwards.

A section of the long row of parked bicycles on the Nijmegen Railway Bridge. There were many more under the railway bridge (there are stairs leading down to ground level). People were sunning themselves and swimming at the riverfront beaches.

Destination. One of the bicycle garages at Nijmegen train station. The signs say: Fietstransferium, bicycle storage, no mopeds, e-bicycle charging spots, oversized bicycles, 1097 free spaces.

OK, so I have been complaining. But this is already many many times better than nearly all other countries. There is room for improvement, especially at the Nijmegen-end of the F 325 (a lot more signage please!), especially given that Nijmegen has just won the award of Cycling City of the Netherlands 2016. I hope that they can further improve the F 325 in time for Velo-city 2017 in Arnhem–Nijmegen.

The northbound routes of F 325 are basically the same as the southbound routes, except that for both the Arnhem and Nijmegen eastern branches, F 325 runs next to the opposite side of the road/motorway/bridge. How F 325 enters and exits the northern end of the Waal Bridge in Nijmegen (the eastern Nijmegen branch) is more convoluted than most maps suggest. See that area in OpenStreetMap (see how the blue route goes onto and from the bridge).

Follow ups

Weeks later, I went back to the Nijmegen junction of F 325 to see whether there were signs that I missed. So I have missed these signs. I totally did not see them. The purple signs were ruled illegal by the Nationale Bewegwijzeringsdienst in 2015; I understand if you want to have one purple sign to stand out amongst the usual red signs, but to have nearly all signs in purple, I just totally failed to see them as I cycled pass.

I also went back and had a look at the Arnhem junction of F 325 more carefully. There were no indications of the junction southbound. In the northbound direction, the junction is indicated by two separate signs. The eastern Arnhem branch is indicated as Centrum, going straight ahead. (You cross Kronenburgdijk, and then continue straight ahead on the bicycle path on the eastern side of the A 325 motorway.) The western Arnhem branch is indicated as Station, turing left. (You cross Kronenburgdijk and turn left.)