“They are coming,” is heard at the finish line at the Valkenberg Park in Breda, which was specially created to give Ruby van der Jagt (35) and Sacha Bernard (30) a festive welcome. After a skating tour of 1,300 kilometers from Bilbao, Spain, their adventure was completed on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re going roller skating again on Thursday,” says Ruby.
Ruby and Sacha thought there would only be ‘a few’ people at the end point. That turned out to be different. A large group of friends, family and even the mayor cheered the two ladies on until the last few meters. “I’m not a whiner at all, but I just had to cry,” Ruby says a moment later when she has taken off the rollerblades.
Twenty days on the road
The duo has been on the road for twenty days. And that didn’t always go without a hitch: dogs running after them, snakes crawling across the road and one small accident in the first kilometer. Sacha says: “We have a backpack weighing twelve kilos on our back. We didn’t train with it, so I went all out. But it wasn’t too bad. A bruise and on we go.”
Along the way, the road was not nearly as flat as in the Netherlands and the paths were bumpy in some places. So the rollerblades had to be taken off on some parts. “Sometimes we had to walk because it was so steep,” says Ruby.
The first week of the adventure the two ladies from Breda were alone, but later they received support from family. They followed the route like a kind of ‘broom wagon’. This also applies to Pascalle, Sacha’s mother. “We arranged good food, good places to sleep,” she says.
‘Those girls have so much strength’
Did she also have to take courage? No, says mother Pascalle with conviction. “Those girls have so much strength. They know how to bring out the best in each other. That is wonderful to see.”
The time flew by, even though they had already traveled hundreds of kilometers. “We never thought for a moment that ‘oh, we still have 800 kilometers to go’. We just did our thing and suddenly we were above Paris,” says Sacha.
Mayor Paul Depla also speaks highly of the roller skating performance. He therefore wanted to be there when Sacha and Ruby crossed the finish line. “I can’t copy them. I never quite mastered skating. I’m more into running and cycling,” he says. “It’s even better if you come from Bilbao. It’s already a long way by car, let alone if you go skating.”
Just rest now?
Now put the rollerblades in the cupboard and take a break? “We feel our Achilles tendon, but I think I’ll be back in a week am back to normal” says Sacha. And Ruby remains determined: “Rest? No, we’re going roller skating again on Thursday.”
The ladies have also carefully thought about their next trip. Maybe they’ll skate through Scandinavia. Sacha calls on people to share beautiful routes with them. But: “I prefer flat routes and asphalt, that’s the most important thing.”
