Full on the pedals, the woosj, woosh of the wheels and bouncing over the paving stones. This Ascension Day was already the 46th edition of the Cherry Round in Mierlo. For a moment it seemed that the cycling classic could not take place due to the shortage of police officers, who will soon have to put on almost all at the NATO summit in The Hague. But they knew what to do with that in Mierlo.
Due to the NATO summit, next June, maximum police deployment is needed in The Hague. About 27,000 of the 65,000 police officers will be present at the largest security operation in the Netherlands. And therefore there is much less ‘blue’ available in the rest of the country, especially around events.
“Normally at the cycling event there are thirteen agents who ride the motorcycle with the cyclists to keep an eye on things,” says Alex Martens of the organization. “But we couldn’t appeal to that now, so the cherry round was in loose.”
The organization managed to tie ten citizens on the motorcycle who ensured that the event went neatly. However, the route was shortened ten kilometers and many more volunteers appealed, including as a traffic supervisor. Volunteer Ellie Giepmans was in the right direction with a whistle in his mouth in the right direction.
Everything went well, the drivers flew through the streets of Mierlo without any problems. Alex and the rest of the organization look back on the cherry round with satisfaction. If Ellie is fair, she has not missed the commitment of the police this year. “We were all fine together.”