While 176 professional cyclists set off on Saturday for the opening stage of the Tour de France, a 182-kilometer ride north of Bilbao, Spain, six Dutch recreational cyclists make an even more challenging effort if possible. They cycle ‘The biggest circle’, a round of more than 600 kilometers through the Netherlands. The distance must be covered within 24 hours, which, including stops, amounts to an average of more than thirty kilometers per hour.
,,This ride has been on my wish list for a long time”, says initiator Wouter van Beek. The ’round’ was discovered in corona time by ultra cyclist Quinda Verheul. ,,If you go over the Netherlands with a passer, then this is the largest possible circle you can cycle”, says Van Beek. “My passion is cycling long distances. That ensures that you enter a certain state of mind, where you are completely empty in your head and become one with your surroundings.”
However, Van Beek faced a number of challenges. A start will be made on Saturday at five o’clock in the morning in Pannerden, a village in Gelderland, so that the four ferries to be taken are still in service when the six pass by. Moreover, the ride had to take place exactly this weekend, because the Afsluitdijk will be reopened to cyclists and walkers this Saturday and Sunday for the first time in four years.
Cup-over-cup
And yes, then there had to be five more cycling enthusiasts who wanted to cover more than 600 kilometers with Van Beek. He placed a notice on the site of Futurumshop, an online bicycle shop. There were three conditions for interested parties: they had to have completed two or three hundred kilometers this year, had experience with head-over-head driving and had to be able to achieve an average of more than thirty kilometers per hour.
,,There were ten serious candidates, from which I selected five”, says Van Beek. ,,With six people it remains safe and clear. And via Strava (the app on which cyclists register their cycling movements, ed.) I could see what they were riding. We are total strangers to each other.”
Ultra cyclist Wouter van Beek © Private image
One of the ‘lucky ones’ is Arie van der Giesen (53) from Numansdorp in South Holland. Why is he participating in this? ,,I am a real diesel and love to push boundaries. “I also think the Strava madness has something to do with it. There, as recently during the longest day of the year, you see people driving three or four hundred kilometers. That is motivating. And you might get a little crazy.”
Nice test
Teun van der Heide (25) from Ureterp in Friesland finds the mental and physical challenge particularly interesting. “When I read this post, I thought: why not? I’ve done three hundred kilometer rides before, so I see this as a nice test. How far can you go? How strong are you? And also: how much do you have for each other? There will also be difficult moments when you have to pick each other up.”
They all appear to be up for a sporting challenge. Van der Giesen rode (and won) individual time trials of two hundred kilometers on several occasions, Van der Heide regularly cycles around the provincial borders of Groningen and Friesland and Van Beek (53) is known as an ultra cyclist. His most extreme journey? In 49 hours non-stop from the East German city of Dresden to The Hague, a journey of a thousand kilometers.
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2023-06-30 19:36:06
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