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Eleven Cities Tour: Holland's Favorite Winter Pastime
It’s cold out there… no one can argue that. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends on who you ask. While some curse the cold, heading south the minute December rolls around, others embrace it, strapping on snow pants and hitting the slopes at the first sign of snow. Yet still others, particularly those that grew up in the Netherlands, flat of welcome the cold winter. Why? Because as the frost piles up, so do the odds that Holland’s national winter celebration, the Eleven Cities Tour, will occur.
It doesn’t happen every year, but when conditions are cold enough, the Eleven Cities Tour (known locally as Elfstedentocht) attracts millions out into the cold to witness Holland’s favorite winter sport: speed skating. The legendary marathon runs over 125 miles of frozen rivers and canals through eleven cities of the rural, Friesland province.
Over 15,000 amateur skaters take to the ice while another 2 million spectators cheer on through the night. Along the way, farmers sit idle while their tractors light the course and food vendors serve up hot beverages to get spectators through to the midnight deadline.
The race starts and ends in Leeuwarden, about 140 km north of Amsterdam. Since its inception in 1909, Elfstedentocht has only been held 15 times, with the latest race run in 1997. Needless to say, its inconsistent occurrence lends itself to some serious anticipation… and the Dutch are pretty excited about this year’s prospect. According to blogger, Anders Bekeken, this year Elfstedentocht falls on Saturday, February 13th, 2010.
Whether or not the race will be run this year depends completely on the conditions, and requirements are a strict six inches of ice minimum in order for the race to go on. We will not know for sure until just before the race date whether it is on, but to for a definite first hand view of one of the most emblematic views of the Netherlands, head north the second weekend of February.
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