Friday 10 february 2012 will be in our memory forever! We skated the Elfstedentocht in a group of eight: Caspar Hermans, Pieter Booij, Dave Wendt, Ad Bakker, William Stokman, Kerst de Vries Ramon Smolders &  Rob Faltin. South of Leeuwarden we started not before a short moment for the national anthem of Friesland performed by Rob Faltin on horn. Leaving almost with sunrise the Zwette (the way to Sneek) was quiet, only shared with some other groups with the same idea to do the Elfstedentocht today. It had a magical atmosphere.

We turned out to be a solid group and we maintained a pace that everyone could follow. Putting the strongest on top and the others to shelter behind them, we made it a successful and rewarding tour for everyone. We were supported by Jan de Vries who provided us coffee and food along the way in Stavoren, Bolsward and Franeker.

The ice was most of the time of excellent quality, and with the nice sunny weather we could experience the beauty of the Province of Friesland. After the finish we encountered the hospitality of the Friesian People: Fokke & Gerti offered us hot showers and a wonderful meal. Thank you guys so much for treating us so well.
 

It is a Dutch dream to skate the Elfstedentocht. A 200 kilometer tour through the province of Friesland. The Elfstedentocht is more exceptional that the Olympics because it can only be done when we have extreme winters in the Netherlands. We are already waiting since 1997 for the next one.

Last week a real cold winter kicked in and now everyone in Holland is waiting for the Elfstedentocht. Will it happen or not? Stok, Pieter, Dave and Ad skated this tour in 1997 a few days after the official one, with their college Iceskating instructors of Duosport Amsterdam. It was a hard but memorable day, and some great friendships were born during that tour. This year some of us hope to do the same. 

Only Ad has the permission to to the official one, but the rest of us is not whining about missing out the lottery of not having a membership. We do it ourselves? Of course we'll go on another day than the official one. We don't want to be blackriders. 

To do it ourselves brings more heroism. It is like the old days (hundred years ago) that a group of friends decided that they could do the tour including 11 cities. This year Stok, Caspar and Wouter are up for the challenge and they find support with the skating buddies of Stok: Kerst, Ramon and Robert. 

If you want to it as well: use the route below. This is the official route (through Balk), not the one with possible detour around the Fluessen. Enjoy!

Tuesday 7th of February was a wonderful day for ice skating in Waterland. Some of us (Caspar, Wouter, William, Kerst en Ramon) are preparing for the Elfstedentocht 200k. No not the official one. We will skate it another day when possible. As a preparation for this big tour we made two turns in Waterland, with some other loops which almost made 90k. The Northeastern wind made it amazingly cold and hard to make speed but after two stops at the wonderful tea-house near Overleek we got new energy to move on. 

We are ready for the big tour!!!
We also have to thank all the volunteers for preparing the ice. Thank you guys.

3 february 2012: We couldn't wait after all these days waiting full of stories of other people skating on the ice in Holland. We just had to go! And we chose to go to Waterland (a beautiful area north of Amsterdam full of beautiful lakes and canals). Of course we were a bit worried for wind holes (windwakken) that just got frozen up last night, but anxiety took over.  Completely disregarding the Dutch weather alarm in the morning for upcoming snow,  we rushed to the ice to be there before we could not see the weaker spots anymore.

We started near Randsdorp (just outside Amsterdam). Four of us wore these blue tights of Duosport showing that we use to be ice-skate instructors. Yes we are pro's, we know where to go. We take care of our safety, bringing at least two long ropes with us. 

There we went but after 5 minutes we saw a guy crashing through the ice that just asked us if it was safe. "Just follow the tracks" we said but after 200 meter, he went in. We got him out immediately. Something stupid like that we would not happen to us!

It was beautiful but we saw many unsafe spots where others crashed through the ice. Than 20 kilometers further at Overleek on a small canal Stok and Wouter crashed through the ice. Stok overlooked a frozen windhole. Stok bleeded in his face, Pieter threw his rope to pull Stok out. Caspar pulled Wouter out of the canal. Than Stok decided to skate back 20k against the cold wind completely unaware that Wouter was skating in a wetsuit as well. That was a cold endeavorer and most of our wet clothes froze stiff. 

The snowstorm was hitting hard and we saw many people skating alone in the snow, and we worried what would happen if they got in without the help of a group. The snow and the hidden wind holes made a deadly mix and it was completely irresponsible to skate at that moment. Hopefully a look on Stok's bloody face discouraged others.

What we learned:

• just frozen wind holes and snow is a deadly combination on Ice.
• Never go the first days without a long rope and please don't trust these short ones that they sell in a safety package.
• Never go alone. it were the other 3 that could pull out the first two.

Winter finally arrived in Holland. We are waiting for the ice to be thick enough to hold us. Col Cycling with friends will become Ice Skating with Friends hopefully for more than a week. We will give it a go on friday. Some of us are even getting the 'Eleven City Track' (Elfstedentocht) fever: Will it come? We are already waiting for 14 years.
Ad, Pieter, Dave and Stok skated the 200k Elfstedentocht (together with their collegue iceskate-instructors of Duosport  Amsterdam) end of february 1997. It was the beginning of a great friendship and one of the cornerstones of all our cycling activity that came much later. 
Iceskating in nature is something magical for the Dutch. It is like nature sometimes offers you the key to enter the landscape in a completely different and beautiful way. Today in the east of Holland there were some lucky ones that found places to skate. Here is a beautiful video captured today that expresses in the best way possible the sensation of ice-skating in the Dutch Landscape.