In the morning twilight of this Sunday, the first participants in the Dutch National Championships against the wind cycle on the north side of the Oosterscheldekering to determine whether the saddle is at the correct height. They pump extra pressure into the tires. They stretch and stretch a bit. A hellish journey of 8.5 kilometers south over the Delta Works awaits, the near-storm full in the face, the wetness almost certainly penetrating to life and limb.
The weather forecasts are horribly promising. Weather figure: 1. Expected amount of precipitation: 16 millimeters. Wind chill: 3 degrees. The most important forecast: southwest wind, force 7 to 8. Then try to resist the call of the elements.
If you ask the participants about a strategy, you will get unanimous answers. Just keep going. Without thinking. Rams. They wear tight-fitting shirts from cycling teams Jumbo-Visma and Trek, a pink mesh skirt on top of the long cycling shorts or thick jackets and a woolen hat. Someone wears the text ‘Never underestimate an old man’ on the chest. Erik Jansen from Kloetinge is 65.
They all have their own motives. Danielle Burema (33) from Ouwerkerk: ‘I just think it would be fun to give it a try.’ Nathan Bierman (24) from Amsterdam: ‘It is the perfect preparation for the Dutch Wind Mee Cycling Championships.’ Cor Marjee (65) from Middelburg: ‘This is something you must have done once.’ He did lie awake last night, when the wind howled around his house.
Battle against the weather gods on stately bicycle with wide tires
The pillars of the dam glow pale in the dark gray morning. Below, the North Sea foams, swirls, waves and bustles. Rain gusts and veils of sand blow across the locks and the flats in the route. Forget the feather-light road bikes made of aerodynamically curved carbon, narrow tubes and clusters of sprockets in every imaginable size to reduce pedaling resistance. You fight against the weather gods on a stately bicycle with wide tires, on which the high and wide handlebars force the cyclist to sit almost upright and one gear is more than enough. The brand cannot be anything other than Gazelle. The only variation is a women’s or men’s version.
It is always urgent to participate. Of the 15,000 interested parties, no more than 300 can participate. Last Friday, when it turned out that the ideal weather conditions presented themselves, the field of participants filled up within three hours. Organizer Robrecht Stoekenbroek does have an idea of what that could be. It’s the challenge. It is very Dutch. It is the unparalleled wideness. It is also the chance to deal with childhood trauma: going to school in all kinds of weather. Then you cycled because you had to, now you cycle because you can.
Sunday’s edition is the seventh edition since 2013. Last year, corona imposed too many restrictions. In 2020, storm Ciara with gusts of wind up to 120 kilometers per hour blew the race to an end prematurely. The team time trial was stopped. In 2018, nature was a bummer for another reason: the wind was not strong enough.
‘Mat edition’ with finish line one and a half meters to the north
After the setback in recent years, the organization decided to make it a ‘mat edition’. The finish line has shifted a meter and a half to the north; corona is still a factor. Just past the halfway mark it is allowed to take a bend, formed by orange-painted car tires, where you have the wind behind you for just under one and a half seconds.
Almost everyone leaves the pendulum behind. Needless delay. Realizing that performance is also in the head, some windvanes have been mounted the wrong way round. You see, I have it with me. It’s not that heavy. It is of course also in the details. The valve caps of the Gazelles have the shape of a time trialist’s helmet. A generous gesture. You can count on it being a hundredths of a second.
The lone cyclist who bends over the handlebars against the wind makes his way (from: Jimmy, Boudewijn de Groot) takes many forms here. The stylist, also known as the flyer, lies folded as motionless as possible over the steering wheel and lets the legs do the work, the face expression neutral.
At the other end of the spectrum, the stoomper struggles, the upper body swaying like a cornstalk in gusts, the mouth wide open, pining for new supplies of oxygen already rushed through elsewhere in the frame. There are those who are able to keep up the pace of their legs, there are those who are surprised by gusts of wind after the piers, come almost at right angles to the road and even have to continue on foot for a while.
55 minutes, with an average of 9 kilometers per hour
The canvas of the finish arc is tattered. How it was? Again the answers are quite unison. Cor from Middelburg: ‘It didn’t disappoint.’ He almost stopped, every now and then. ‘Nice’, says Danielle from Ouwerkerk. It took her 55 minutes, with an average of 9 kilometers per hour. Her approach has worked. Keep pedaling. She finishes last.
Rudi Boeting from Hulst is the oldest participant, it is his fourth time. He’s 79. “This makes me feel alive.” Organizer Stoekenbroek has cycled all editions himself. ‘This one hit me the hardest. Rain, wind, sand. And almost no audience. I sometimes felt helplessly alone in the world.’
Jurjun van der Velde is the fastest among the men on Sunday with a time of 20.23 minutes. Lisa Scheenaard is the winner with the women with 22.53, just like in 2020. She is a bronze Olympian, she was in the women’s double two rowing boat in Tokyo. Still a touch of shine to the grey, vast and turbulent Oosterschelde, a cyclist’s paradise for one day.
