Why I use fietshinder.be as a freelance project manager

Reading time: about 4 minutes

A colleague recently asked me, half-joking, what a cycling app could possibly have to do with project management. Honestly? More than I expected. Because if there's one thing I've learned in years of running freelance projects, it's this: a plan that ignores what's actually happening on the road isn't a plan. It's a wish.

My workday starts on the bike

I'm a freelance project manager, and I do a large share of my client visits by bike. Not out of principle — though I do enjoy cycling — but because in and around the city it's often simply the fastest and most predictable way to get somewhere. At least, it should be. Because anyone who cycles regularly in Flanders knows: there's always a worksite somewhere. A torn-up bike lane, a detour that sends you three streets out of your way, a bridge that happens to be closed this very week. One time arriving late to a kick-off because I rode straight into a closed towpath, and I knew: I'm going to plan this the way I plan everything else.

The discovery: fietshinder.be

That's how I ended up at fietshinder.be. The idea is beautifully simple. You upload your GPX route — the one for your ride to the client, the site or the meeting — and you immediately see on the map where to expect roadworks, detours and disruption. For all of Flanders and the Netherlands. Free. What I really appreciate: it doesn't just show "works somewhere nearby". It colours in your route. Red where you can't get through, orange where there's disruption but you can still pass, and the rest where you can ride on freely. You can even set when you're riding, and filter to show only the stretches where you genuinely can't get through.

What that has to do with good project management

And this is where it gets interesting, because I suddenly recognised my own profession in that little screen. A good project manager doesn't plan for the ideal situation. They plan for the real one. You account for risks before they hit, not after. You build in buffer where you know disruption is coming. You don't surprise your client with "sorry, I'm stuck" — you'd already routed around it before you left. fietshinder.be does for my bike rides exactly what I do for my projects: it makes the invisible visible, before it becomes a problem. Ten seconds of checking the route saves me a stressful ride, a late arrival, and that awkward first impression you spend the rest of the meeting working against.

My three reasons, briefly

First: reliability is my product. Clients hire a freelance project manager because they can count on you. Showing up on time is the smallest, but most visible proof of that. Second: it costs me nothing and saves me a lot. A few seconds before leaving versus a twenty-minute detour and a bad start. That's an easy calculation. Third: it fits how I think. Looking ahead, mapping out risks, having a plan B ready. Whether it's a project schedule or a bike lane in Ghent.

In closing

I'm not affiliated with them, I get nothing for this — I just think it's a smart, free little tool that does what it promises. And every morning it reminds me of something I always tell my clients too: the best plan is the one that accounts for what could go wrong. So next time you cycle to a client or a site: take a moment to load your route on fietshinder.be. Your future, un-stressed self will thank you.

Looking for a freelance project manager who thinks ahead? Get in touch and let's see what I can do for your project.