Grupetto Sterrato gravel ride Breda to Merksplas Kolonie

79 km 110 m Medium

Route Description

This is the route I built for a social ride by Grupetto Sterrato. A group of nice and passionate gravel riders in the Netherlands and Belgium. A spontaneous idea in the community app-group led to a gravel ride starting from Kamu in Breda. Since I could not ride on the actual day of the social ride, my preview video is from the second time I tried the route after some changes here and there.

As said the route starts at Kamu in Breda and heads straight out of Breda into the Mastbos forest. From there you quickly head further south towards my favourite stretch in the Elsakker and on to Wortel. The part of the route between Elsakker and Wortel is the longest you’ll go without major gravel. The route in total is well over 50% unpaved, and most of the paved is in the city and this part of the route.

Once you head out of Wortel you quickly go to the gravel roads around Wortel-Kolonie and Merksplas-Kolonie. A really great area that makes the route as much fun as it is. It really is kilometers of gravel roads, one after another. Through forests and a bit of farmland.

Once this fun part is done and dusted the route takes unpaved farmroads towards Baarle-Nassau and then many more sandy roads towards Strijbeekse Heide. This part of the route was good to go when I tested and rode it. It’s also very sensitive to wet conditions. Some parts will get very muddy in longer periods of heavy rain. Equally they’re loose and sandy in long dry periods.

Once at Strijbeekse heide we’re close to home. The route goes via the Valkenberg Forest and some urban unpaved stretches in Bavel back towards Kamu, where you can eat and fill up again.

Tip: If you’re from the Netherlands or Belgium, consider following Grupetto Sterrato. They’re a fun group to join and ride gravel with!
Tip: Kamu bikes & coffee is a great place to start or finish this ride. A real cyclist place with good food and coffee.
Tip: If you’re from the Netherlands or Belgium, consider following Grupetto Sterrato. They’re a fun group to join!

Contributor

Vincent Neve

Since buying my first gravel bike in 2019 cycling has never been the same for me. The gravel bike quickly became my favorite bike that pushed my MTB and race bikes one place further back in the pecking order. I love how the gravel bike gives me the drive to explore. To set out for discovery of new routes and gravel roads, both in my backyard around Breda in the Netherlands and when traveling abroad with the family. Since that day in 2020 my time on bike and annual kilometers increased dramatically. Up to a point where I participated in my first ultra endurance events in 2025 where I finished FlatLands 300 and the Bright Midnight.

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