The long, long way to
Bartlehiem
During the
Elfstedentocht you don't go to Leeuwarden: you skate from
milestone to milestone, literally and figuratively. The stamp
card indicated a mere 11 km. What it didn't mention however,
was the very strong wind.
It becomes very apparent by the average speed in the table
below.
I was concerned about three things: have I eaten enough? will
I able to maintain this speed? will I arrive in time in
Leeuwarden. Sufficient nutrition is crucial: you have to eat/
drink before you get hungry/ thirsty.
In Hindeloopen, an enthusiastic public welcomed the skaters.
I got my fifth stamp. (see
picture)
| Hindeloopen [Hynljippen] |
trajectory |
total |
Time: 14:30 |
| distance |
011 |
077 |
[km] |
| skating time |
00:51 |
04:00 |
[hh:mm] |
| speed |
12.9 |
19.3 |
[km/h] |
I had also encountered
the first 'secret checkpoint'. There would be three in total.
A blue flashlight on the ice alerted the skaters. To my
surprise not a stamp, but a cut-out symbol (a kind of
"B"(see picture)) made with special pliers. The trajectory to
Workum went a bit better, despite the strong head wind.
| Workum [Warkum] |
trajectory |
total |
Time: 15:08 |
| distance |
009 |
086 |
[km] |
| skating time |
00:38 |
04:38 |
[hh:mm] |
| speed |
14.2 |
18.6 |
[km/h] |
Between Workum
and Bolsward I had taken several times an energy drink. I
also needed something 'solid' in my stomach and I decided
to buy a chocolate bar (Mars). What I had completely
overlooked is that the merchant had had his goods in the
cold for many hours and the candy bar was brick-solid. It
took me many, many kilometres to devour this delicacy,
scared to lose my inlays: not now, not here, please.
I skated the tour,
including the long trajectory with head wind, alone. What the
professional skaters do is to skate in groups. It is very
difficult though to find a group that is skating exactly your
speed: too fast will tyre you too quickly and too slow will
imply that you arrive too late at the finish. Still chewing
on my candy bar I entered Bolsward.
| Bolsward [Bolsward] |
trajectory |
total |
Time: 16:15 |
| distance |
013 |
099 |
[km] |
| skating time |
01:07 |
05:45 |
[hh:mm] |
| speed |
11.6 |
17.2 |
[km/h] |
What
a welcome! Cheering people everywhere. With the seventh stamp
on my card I started the next trajectory to Harlingen.
The first "dip" on my
way to Bartlehiem
| Harlingen [Harns] |
trajectory |
total |
Time: 17:33 |
| distance |
017 |
116 |
[km] |
| skating time |
01:18 |
07:03 |
[hh:mm] |
| speed |
13.1 |
16.5 |
[km/h] |
Contrary
to the weather forecast the wind did not diminish. It
blew in my ears and my skating was a mere automatism.
Due to this fierce wind and the many cracks in the
ice my skating technique was not what it should be.
It was really fighting the wind, stumbling and
struggling to move on. Suddenly I simply
wasn't enjoying it any more. I was
skating in the twilight and in my hart I just wanted
to take off my skates after seven hours and get
myself a cup of warm soup. Was this a 'day out on the
ice'?
Psychologists say that during this kind of endurance
skating one will get at least twice a 'dip'. Well, aforementioned
gentlemen probably not taken the wind into
consideration. Why on earth should I still go on?
Then, suddenly, I noted a banner: "come on, only
90 km to go!" That was the limit. ME? Give up
after a poor 110 km? OVER MY DEAD BODY!
With renewed energy I fought the wind. What? A dip?
After a childish 110 km? No nonsense: Skate! |
Between
Harlingen and Franeker the tour took me over narrower canals.
Until Stavoren there had been quite a few skaters, but now
these seemed to have disappeared completely.
It was already dark
(about 18:30) and apart from some cloud-hidden stars there
was no light at all (new moon).
Luckily I could still distinguish the banks. Later this would
become worse.
Another very nasty effect of this darkness was that you
couldn't see the many cracks in the ice, so full speed
implied: full speed flat on your face. Thus I was forced to
reduce speed. However not too much, for I had still (from
Franeker) 71 km to go.
From Franeker to Bartlehiem
| Franeker [Frentsjer] |
trajectory |
total |
Time: 18:50 |
| distance |
013 |
129 |
[km] |
| skating time |
01:17 |
08:20 |
[hh:mm] |
| speed |
10.1 |
15.5 |
[km/h] |
In Franeker people had
made a triumphal arch. What a welcome! "fantastic, that
you made it to Franeker!" The crowd gave me extra
motivation and feeling twice as fit I skated on with nine
stamps on my card.
Up to Bartelehiem, only 47 km.
Bartelehiem:
who (except the Dutch) has ever heard of this village? It
is very, very small. I can't tell you the number of
inhabitants and I am sure you will not find it on a map
unless it is very small-scale regional map. (see picture
on next page)
So why is it so special? Well, there the skaters turn
left to get on the 'Dokkumer Ee' canal to Dokkum, make a
U-turn in Dokkum and go back to Bartelhiem again where
they turn left to continue to Leeuwarden. So it is
'just' the start and end of the detour to Dokkum, you
don't get a stamp. The small bridge there is THE place to
see the skaters: you see them twice.
Apart from the wind there were now two other
handicaps: the (pitch!)darkness and the quality of the ice.
Some 11.500 had gone before me over the narrow canals. On
wide canals the skaters had spread out, on narrow canals the
ice was completely to pieces. Very wide cracks, resembling
tramway rails. I had lost count about the number of times
that I had fallen. My knees and elbows were aching
considerably. To my relief my knees - although painful and
stiff - maintained their functionality and I had no other
injuries.
Lots of people on the
side: "keep to the left", "watch out, big
crack in the middle"', "water on the ice",
etc.
Some parts, where the ice was very bad, farmers had parked
their tractors (also cars) on the bank, illuminating the ice.
This was no luxury: without that light one would have skated
straight into the bank.
The ice got worse and
worse. Numerous of "klūn"-places now.
I would explicitly
like to thank all those fantastic volunteers who helped the
skaters in that freezing cold wind, helping them with "klūnen" or
with peptalk: "come on, it is only .... km to
....", "the ice will get better in ... km"
etc.
Some skaters had torches or lamps on their
head, like mineworkers. The advantage was that they could see
the cracks and the banks. The disadvantage was that therefore
their speed was quite low. I tried skating for a few km
behind a man with a mineworker's lamp. However he skated so
slowly that I decided to continue at a speed which would get
me at the finish in time but on the other hand would not
cause serious injuries when falling.
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