Ik neem altijd een fietspomp mee als ik ver ga fietsen.

Because the full verb is meenemen, which is a separable verb in Dutch.

• Dictionary form: meenemen = to take along / take with you
• In a main clause, it splits:
  • Ik neem ... mee
• In some other structures, it stays together:
  • Ik wil een fietspomp meenemen
  • dat ik een fietspomp meeneem

So Ik neem altijd een fietspomp mee literally works like I take a bike pump along.

Meenemen means to take something with you or to bring something along.

In this sentence, Ik neem altijd een fietspomp mee means the speaker makes sure the pump is with them when they go cycling.

A useful comparison:

• nemen = to take
• meenemen = to take along / take with you

So mee adds the idea of along with me.

Dutch adverbs like altijd often come in the middle part of the sentence, after the finite verb in a main clause.

So this is a very normal order:

• Ik neem altijd een fietspomp mee

You could think of the structure like this:

• Ik = subject
• neem = finite verb
• altijd = adverb
• een fietspomp = object
• mee = separated part of the verb

This word order is very typical and natural.

Dutch very often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

So:

• fiets = bicycle
• pomp = pump
• fietspomp = bicycle pump / bike pump

This is extremely common in Dutch. English sometimes writes similar ideas as two words, but Dutch usually combines them into one.

Other examples:

• huisdeur = front door / house door
• schooltas = school bag
• regenjas = raincoat

Here als means something like when or if in a repeated or habitual situation.

In this sentence:

• als ik ver ga fietsen

means:

• when I go cycling far
• or if I’m going on a long bike ride

Because the speaker says altijd, the meaning is habitual: every time that situation happens, they take a pump.

So als fits very naturally here.

Ver means far.

So:

• ver gaan fietsen = to go cycling far / to go on a long ride / to cycle a long distance

It is an adverb, not an adjective here. That is why it stays ver, not verre.

You may also hear:

• ver weg = far away

In this sentence, plain ver is completely normal.

Dutch often uses gaan + infinitive to talk about doing an activity, especially going somewhere to do it.

So:

• ik ga fietsen = I’m going cycling / I go cycling

In this sentence:

• als ik ver ga fietsen

means something like:

• when I go on a long bike ride
• when I’m going to cycle a long distance

You could sometimes say als ik ver fiets, but als ik ver ga fietsen sounds very natural when talking about setting out to do that activity.

Because als introduces a subordinate clause, and Dutch subordinate clauses usually send the verb(s) to the end.

Compare:

Main clause:

• Ik neem altijd een fietspomp mee

Subordinate clause:

• als ik ver ga fietsen

In the subordinate clause, the subject comes first, and the verb part is pushed toward the end:

• als = when/if
• ik = subject
• ver = adverb
• ga fietsen = verb cluster at the end

This is one of the most important Dutch word-order patterns to get used to.

Here fietsen is a verb, the infinitive to cycle.

So:

• ik ga fietsen = I’m going cycling

It is not plural bicycles here. The plural noun would also be fietsen, but the structure makes the meaning clear.

Because it follows ga, it is understood as a verb.

Not perfectly. A very literal version would be:

• I take always a bicycle pump along when I go cycle far

That is understandable, but not natural English.

A more natural English version would be:

• I always take a bike pump with me when I go cycling far.
• I always bring a bike pump when I go on a long ride.

So the Dutch structure is not exactly the same as English, especially because of:

• the separable verb meenemen
• the Dutch word order
• gaan + infinitive

Yes, very often that is the best way to understand it.

• Ik neem een fietspomp mee ≈ I take a bike pump with me

But grammatically, mee is not always a separate phrase exactly matching English with me. It is part of the separable verb meenemen.

So for learning purposes:

• meaning: with me / along
• grammar: part of meenemen

Both ideas are useful.

It usually means a bike pump in a general sense, not one specific previously mentioned pump.

That is why it uses:

• een fietspomp = a bike pump

If it were a specific one already known in the conversation, you might expect:

• de fietspomp = the bike pump

Here the speaker just means they always take some bike pump along.