Ride Nijmegen – Arnhem on the F325

It is the third Wednesday of the month and that means that it is time again for another longer ride that I filmed before my surgery on March 14. This week, I have a ride on the F325 Cycle Route from Nijmegen to Arnhem which I filmed in December 2021. I have shown this ride before. First in 2015, when the route was opened and then in 2018, when I showed that the route was shortened thanks to a new underpass.

The F325 in Nijmegen-Lent, here at the green overpass. This part of Nijmegen is still very much under construction.

Even to this day there are a lot of building activities in the north of Nijmegen. That is because the part of the city, north of the river, is very much under construction and the route was almost one of the first things to be finished.

More building activities in the extreme north of Nijmegen. This was a bit unpleasant with the dirt and the big vehicles. This part of the route is closed from 25 April to 6 May 2022 so that the construction here can be finished. Naturally, there is a detour.

I captured some of the building activities when I filmed this ride. At the time the construction was a bit annoying, and safety was a bit at risk, but the path was still open. Now the construction of the houses has reached a stage that the entire route needs to be closed. From 25 April to 6 May there is a detour around the building site (and from 2 May to 25 May it is also closed at a different location.

I passed this young woman just north of Nijmegen and I didn’t expect to see her again…

but there she was, almost 5 minutes later! She had taken a shorter route than the main cycle route through the village of Ressen. Weird that that is even possible.

The detour takes people to Bemmel in a different way. In Bemmel there is one major change in the route. The priority at one crossing there has changed. Originally cycling had priority here, but there was much opposition to that design and the crossing has now been changed. Drivers now have priority again. I can understand why, I didn’t like this crossing at all in 2015. Because drivers could not see in advance what route a cyclist was going to take they were surprised by people crossing here. The route in the nearby village of Ressen is also a bit awkward. The route is diverted around the village even though there would be a shorter route through it. That becomes apparent in the video. I pass a young woman before I get to Ressen at 13:52 in the video. To my surprise I then have to give her priority when she is already on the main road to Bemmel, almost five minutes later! When I measured the route she must have taken, it turns out to be 158 metres shorter. It is rather strange that the main cycle route through the village is longer than another route you can take.

The shorter route through Ressen. 358 metres versus the 516 metres of the official route.

At this intersection in Bemmel (left) the priority was shifted to drivers. Not perfect for a main cycle route, but I do understand that this may be better at this location. People crossing the road now have to wait for a gap in traffic.

In 2015, drivers had to give priority to cyclists, who (from the drivers’ view point) ‘suddenly’ turned into their path. That was not an ideal situation either.

At the Arnhem end of the route the F325 forks into two alternatives. In 2015, I took the route through the centre. This time I took the shorter route to the station. Interestingly enough both rides were circa 51 minutes long, but that may be because I cycled a bit slower this time, due to my heart condition. That was also the reason for a first. I returned the OV-Fiets rental bike in Arnhem, because I noticed that it would not be a good idea to cycle all the way back to Nijmegen that day, where I had rented the bicycle. That costs €10 extra, but that day I had to listen to my body. Fortunately, my heart condition has been taken care of now with the surgery. All is going perfectly well and I will be able to cycle again in just a couple of days. I cannot wait!

I took the alternative route in Arnhem directly to the central station. This is a main road into the city with a special bus road for Arnhem’s trolley buses. Arnhem is the only Dutch city with trolley buses.

The ride from Nijmegen to Arnhem on the F325 main cycle route.