Instead of the Welsh Ride Thing this year I am in Holland (well The Netherlands really) for the 100th Elf & a bit of a family holiday.
The 'Elf' is a bike ride that goes through 11 cities in the province of Friesland. It's 240km long (about 150 miles) and around 15000 cyclists on all manner of bikes do it. This will be my 4th time. We do the ride because Sarah's Dad has been doing it for a while now (it's Duncan's 18th time and we think he's the most entered Brit) but the main reason we came this time was because it was his friend Danny's 10th time which is considered quite a milestone (well 1500 milestones). It's a fun ride and this year is the 100th year so was set to be a bit more fun that your average 150 miles in day on a bike affair.
As you ride through the towns and villages, bunting is up, little stalls appear, bands play, people get dressed up and sit out of the front of their houses and cheer you on. (Most are drinking beer even at 6am, it's a Dutch bank holiday) all this to watch the 1000s of bikes go by. It makes for a superb atmosphere and Dutch are all a bit mental and they are united by their love of bikes.
So then what of our ride? Well we started at 5:30, 4 of us on highly efficient carbon miles munchers (Duncan, Clayton, Danny & Me) and 2 on a hired Dutch cast iron tandem that had seen better days (Ian & Nina)
The first 50 miles went by in a alright way, not quick enough but alright, I was enjoying it but not quite in the groove yet. For the first few checkpoints we stuck with Ian & Nina on the Tandem but their pace was just too slow and I feared that I might not complete if I stuck with them.
At 9am we reached the first psychological milestone of Dokkum, 60 miles done! (I know 60 miles before 9am!) We fanny'ed around for too long here and didn't leave until nearly 9:30. Next major stop was Bolsward for lunch. I got to Bolswsrd about 11am and had lost Duncan & Clayton. I hung around for a bit and the wondered up to where Sarah and the girls where meeting us. I didn't expect them to be there but they were and it was so nice to see them. I had a bit of lunch but I struggled with it and I was eager to set off again. We heard at this point the tandem & Danny who had stuck with them was over an hour and a half behind us already.
Time to kick on for the second half (the course is a big figure of eight Bolsward Start - North loop - Bolsward Lunch - South loop - Bolsward Finish). I prefer the second half, the towns are smaller & prettier, they are more frequent and after lunch most of the supporters are proper pissed so the shouts and cheers are louder. By now I was in the groove and really enjoying the ride, my legs felt good, my saddle was comfy and I was so pleased that I was feeling good despite a distinct lack of training and it just made me feel even better. 100 miles flew by and by the time we hit the notorious dyke section. Holland may be flat but it does have some killer headwinds and the dyke has really exposed double killer headwinds! Even so I was still feeling good and comfortable to push 17mph into to the wind. Clayton and Duncan didn't look happy but took turns on the front grumbling. I turned round to see that about 200 other riders had latched on and we were towing them along the dyke. Soon enough we went through the last few checkpoints and cycled into the finish. Sarah and the girls were waiting with flowers and it was time to pick up our medals.
150 miles, 11 hours 35 mins.
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