NDG

I will be in Amsterdam for 3 months in July, August and September.
Anybody with suggestions about interesting road cycling routes that allow escaping the city centre?
When road cycling, I will also obviously be interested to escape the heavily used bike lanes...

Also, any interesting day trip options using the train to go outside of the Amsterdam area?
Thanks

Machka 

I didn't enjoy cycling in Amsterdam, but there are decent paved bicycle paths out to IJmuiden, where the ferry docks, and also out toward Utrecht.

If you can locate a Tourist Information place, you can pick up maps of the area as well.

NDG

Thanks, I am curious to know what did you not like about riding around Amsterdam?

Machka 

Too busy. Too much chaos.

Not long before riding in Amsterdam, I had spent a few days riding in and around a city in Taiwan. At first that seemed like chaos, but there was a pattern and an effort not to hit each other. But Amsterdam just seemed like chaos. Maybe I needed to be there longer to figure out the pattern, I don't know. I was just relieved to be heading for Utrecht.

K.Katso

I live about 12km outside of Amsterdam. Let's separate "riding in Amsterdam" from "riding around Amsterdam."

ALL of the bike paths in Amsterdam are heavily used. Much of the population lives car-free or just takes the bike out of convenience. It's also very densely-populated and there are tram tracks throughout much of the city. It's a good place to ride for transportation, but a terrible place to ride for entertainment.

Now, riding outside of Amsterdam - you can go any direction out of the city and find wide open spaces. Most highways here in the Netherlands have a dedicated bike path running parallel to them. If they don't, there is a bike lane. Bikes have the right of way in almost all circumstances as well. You do have to watch out for the elderly and children, so it's best to have a bell on your bike (even my Pinarello has a bell for this reason).

I don't know what your riding ability is like, but there are several tourist attractions within what I would consider easy cycling distance.

Zaanse Schans - Zaanse Schans: windmills, crafts and museums, just outside Amsterdam!

National Park Hoge Veluwe - https://www.hogeveluwe.nl/en

Volendam - Volendam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monnickendam - Monnickendam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

National Park Utrechtse Heuvelrug - Nationaal Park Utrechtse Heuvelrug

If you want to go to the beach, you can easily ride to Zandvoort:

Zandvoort - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The rail network here is also pretty good, and you can take your bike on the train in certain cars. That puts a lot more things within reach. Head down to Maastricht for the day if you want to ride some hills - all of the climbs from the Amstel Gold Race are in this area. Go to Arnhem if you want see the famous "bridge too far" (at least the rebuilt version of it anyway) and take in a bit of WW2 history or maybe climb the Posbank, another famous hill.

A good option if you're not sure where/how far you want to go is to ride out and then take the train back. A lot of people do that.

NDG

Very useful advice. Thank you.

NDG

And for some really challenging climbing, what could be some interesting options within 1-3h of train?

Warburtons

Close to Amsterdam is "het Kopje van Bloemendaal" ( Strava Segment | Het Kopje van Bloemendaal), very popular with cyclists in the area for being the only 'tough climb' there. Just head out west, follow the signs to Haarlem and then Overveen and you'll probably find it if you follow the other cyclist there.
In that same direction, cycle to Zandvoort and follow the signs for the LF1 route. It goes south on a real nice path through the dunes. Just turn around when you had enough.
Or for some real climbing, take the train to Maastricht (it's about 2.5 hours), and follow one of three of the Amstel Gold Race routes. It's permanently marked out, so you can just follow the signs saying 1, 2, or 3.
Route 1
Route 2
Route 3

Or just follow the signs along the bikepaths heading out of Amsterdam to a place you want to go. The signs for cyclist are in red, the more touristy and scenic routes are in green.

If you are still there 20th september: Dam tot Dam Classic

K.Katso

't Kopje is small. I do hill repeats on it because it's only 25m of elevation gain. It's the only real "hill" in the area though. Take the train to Maastricht if you want to climb. From there, you can even do some of the climbs from Liege-Bastogne-Liege if you're up for a bit of adventure. It's not that much further.

I forgot to mention, in the area if you just want some good riding with little traffic and few stoplights, there is a route around the ringvaart of the Haarlemmermeerpolder (an area of reclaimed land where a lake once stood). It's about 60km and very popular. It's one of my local training grounds.

NDG

Great!
Thanks to all of you for the pointers. Looking forward to that trip.
I will certainly try the Amstel Gold Race routes!