Tuesday (Day 1): It was pouring rain Tuesday morning, but it stopped just before 10am and off I pedaled to the start point, which is just a couple km from where I'm staying right now. Because the start point was in a cantina, I (wrongly) assumed there would be a way to use my bank card to pay the entrance fee. Yeah, no. So I rode over to the village (a couple of km further) and back. Returning, I was trying to get something out of my pocket as I entered the building and stumbled over the threshold, which was at least a meter tall. OK not a meter, but it was tall! Anyway, spectacular stumble-thud-smack onto my knees, which ached until the following morning. Off to a great start.
Once the 25km group split off from the 40km and 60km groups, I realized I was on the route used only by the 80-plus'ers and the family with the boy with Downs Syndrome. Nice. I suck. But, but... I was working this week and only had a couple of hours a day to spend riding! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. I hadn't taken water or anything with me, and got a little dizzy about 2/3 through, but I stopped for a bit and was able to finish. On the bright side, I survived, and the rain held off until I was done.
Wednesday (Day 2): After a good night's sleep, the knees felt much better and off I went bright and early-ish. I prepared a little better for Day 2: I took a soda with sugar (which I never, ever drink) and a big bottle of water. Small sips of that soda turned out to do a world of good, and I felt great all day. I also followed my carefully laid plan of NOT falling on my face. There was a heck of a wind all day, and the ground was soaked from the rains the night before, but it was dry. There were some lovely villages (Glimmen and Annen), and I even stopped for a while to eat an apple. And the moment I got home, the skies opened and the lightning scorched the earth. Or something. It rained a lot.
This was also the day we rode through Schipborg, and I'm riding along, minding my own, and a woman riding towards me grumpily says, "Het is afgelopen de zon." Now, I can generally understand Dutch speaking by this point, but it takes a second to percolate into meaning. "The sun's gone." Oh. I was wearing sun glasses. Mind you, it was only just past noon, but it was overcast. Either way, however, I'm going to wear my sunglasses. Think of them as bug-and-wind glasses, if it makes you feel better; I got tired of getting bugs in my eyes and bought sunglasses. Get over it. [Insert mild insult of your choice.]
Thursday (Day 3): The weather was lovely on Thursday, just a mild wind, and by this time I prepared like a pro. A large bottle of water and a small bottle with water plus 1 tablespoon of honey plus 1 teaspoon of sugar. That's a lot less sugar than the soda, but enough to keep my blood sugar up. Worked perfectly. On the other hand, Thursday was the inside-joke day for the event planners. Balloo is a very pretty place where I will avoid going again, at least on bike. You see, Holland is flat. Have I mentioned that Holland is flat? It's almost entirely seabed and reclaimed marshland, with protective dunes and dikes all over the place. But, for the most part, flat. In Drenthe, a lot of it is above sea level, but still flat, except for the Hondsrug (Dog's Back). This is a sandy ridge that stretches 70km in length and rises 20m above sea level. Twenty meters! That's like... OK, for California, that's flat. For NL, that's nose-bleed elevation. And the marvelous event planners took us over every single hill within riding range, I swear. I was cussing (quietly, because I was surrounded by... very mature people on electric bikes and I didn't want to offend them). But I made it.
Friday (Day 4): Friday was an absolute treat. The route was flat, the sky was lightly overcast, the wind was a gentle whisper, and in addition to a bunch of lovely, tiny villages, we went to Molen de Wachter. This is a windmill/museum, where they still bake bread according to the old local recipe with raisins and serve it in thick wedges with hand-made butter. To die for. Also nearly died from the big pile of decomposing cow and/or pig poop we rode within 1m of. Good golly Miss Molly what a stink! The ground is mostly sand here and needs a lot of fertilization. So the farmers from here kindly haul away the pig poop from the farmers down south. Everyone's happy. Except us as we rode past and nearly fell off our bikes. But it was all-in-all an easy ride on Friday, and we all got gold medals!
100km over four days. Happy I did it. Next time: 160km.
History of the 4Daagse
The 4Daagse began in 1909 as a primarily military event that was part of a whole fitness craze in the Netherlands in the early 1900s. Four-day events were regular things. I guess they had longer weekends than we do now. The very first 4Daagse was a 150km military march with 306 soldiers and 10 civilians, all men. They didn't complete the entire 150km because Friesland was in a terrible state, weather-wise (Those are the guys who managed to muck up the Elfsteden Tocht this year too!) and Rotterdam was having an inconvenient outbreak of cholera. But the Queen (Wilhelmina) was pleased and decorated the soldiers with the Four Days Cross. The 4Daagse had been born.
In 1925, the event moved to Nijmegan, where it has taken place ever since. The first woman participated in 1919, and in 1928 (the year the Amsterdam hosted the Olympics) delegations from other countries joined in. "The forty British participants of the Road Walking Association were divided into four groups according to social class, all of which won a group prize." It was a different world. Or not so different, but more open about it? Anyway.... The marches were disrupted by WWII, but have otherwise carried on merrily since 1925. (Source)
Today, 4Daagse events are held all over the Netherlands, in walking, biking, and swimming. There's a charity aspect to it now; banks and insurance companies sponsor walkers and money is raised from entrance fees. But mostly, the 4Daagse events honor the value that Holland continues to place on physical fitness. Go Holland. (How 'bout them field-hockey women?)
Mooie fiets!
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