Wiebe Tolsma looks different from the others. The man wears a tailcoat and his head is adorned with a veritable top hat, which he has somehow slipped over his helmet for the start. Tolsma is 82 years old and has nothing more planned for this Whit Monday than to cycle 235 kilometres. Next to him in the front row of the Fietselfstedentocht are people who look like people do when they want to complete a cycling marathon. Helmets on their heads, colourful cycling jerseys, short cycling shorts, jersey pockets stuffed with bars and gels. Some are half Tolsma's age, some could be his great-grandchildren. Wiebe Tolsma sits on a Dutch bike, a raffia basket on the pannier rack lined with a red and white cloth for sandwiches, something to drink and to store his helmet on the way - he is the only one who is allowed to ride with a top hat. And Wiebe Tolsma will manage the 235 kilometres through the eleven "Steden", the eleven historic towns in Friesland. After all, he has already done it 64 times. At the 87th edition of the Fietselfstedentocht this year, he wants to complete 65; the organisers had to design and make a new trophy especially for him. No-one has ever managed to finish the Eleven Cities Tour in Friesland 65 times.
The ice stays off
"Wiebe is our hero, even if it takes him quite a long time to reach the finish line," says Stephan Rekkers, Chairman of Stichting de Friese Elfsteden Rijwieltocht. Rekkers makes it very clear that the Elfstedentocht is not a race: "It's a tour that anyone can take part in. It always has been, and it should stay that way." The Fietselfstedentocht is an institution in Friesland, the northernmost province of the Netherlands, a public holiday - somewhere between Easter and Christmas in terms of its significance.
In 1912, a few crazy Frisians cycled the 235-kilometre route through their homeland for the first time, inspired by the ice skaters who had already rushed across the region's frozen canals, rivers and canals two years earlier in the winter of 1910. The "Schaatsers", the skaters, now look back wistfully on the "Fietser". The watercourses in Friesland have simply not wanted to freeze over properly since 1997. The ice should be at least twelve centimetres thick. It was very close in 2012, but it wasn't enough after all. Many speed skaters have now literally changed tack and cycle the Elfstedentocht from Bolsward via Harlingen and Franeker up to Holwerd on the Waddenzee. From Dokkum, head south again via Leeuwarden to Bolsward. From the start and finish, the southern loop then continues via Sneek, IJlst and Sloten to the IJsselmeer to Stavoren and from there via Hindeloopen and Workum back to the time-honoured Hanseatic town of Bolsward - through the historic eleven Steden. Each one is prettier than the last with its centuries-old brick buildings, canals and mighty churches rising out of the flat landscape into the vast sky.
A good 90 per cent of participants in the Fietselfstedentocht are now on racing bikes. "That's a bit of a shame," says Stephan Rekkers, "you used to have more funny birds on the most adventurous bikes. They dressed up, they looked really crazy." He shrugs his shoulders. He has nothing, absolutely nothing against racing cyclists, he was one himself. Rekkers took part for the first time at 14, secretly, because you're not actually allowed to take part until you're 16. Wiebe Tolsma also cheated when he took part for the first time in 1957, he was only 15. His father had even allowed him to take part, but he also told his son: "Boy, dress properly, you'll get through the whole of Friesland on the tour." And since then, Tolsma has started in fine threads.
There used to be a speed limit of 25 km/h on the Elfstedentocht. But none of those who wanted to cycle really fast adhered to it anyway. So the organisers removed it from the rules. "There are quite a few," says Rekkers, "who race like idiots." The way he says this and grins, you immediately suspect that he was once one of these "idiots". The great thing about the Elfstedentocht, however, is that the "Wielrenner", the racers, get along so well with the more relaxed participants. There is no pushing and shoving either on the route or in the towns where you collect your stamp. "It's really cool," says Bernd Schmidt from Bremen, "the fast riders show consideration for the slow ones and vice versa. And along the way you always find a group whose pace suits you."
Just over a thousand of the 15,000 participants come from abroad, most of them from Belgium and Germany. Stewart Lloyd has travelled all the way from London. Another one of these "idiots". The length of the route doesn't scare him at all; he has often taken part in the Chase the Sun tours in his home country, some of which are over 300 kilometres long. "I've never experienced anything as relaxed as this. And I think it's great that it's not just racing cyclists taking part in the event," says Stewart as he pedals against the inevitable wind at around 35 km/h.
Parts of the Dutch province of Fryslân lie below sea level. A landscape as flat as a pancake. The highest natural elevations are the molehills on the lush green pastures. Friesland is characterised by water like no other region in Europe. On the seaward side of the dykes, the waves of the North Sea lash against the coast, the inland is criss-crossed by countless canals and canals, the southern part around Sneek is characterised by an impressive lake district. Uphill sections, the natural enemies of cyclists, are definitely not to be expected on the Fietselfstedentocht. But there is another enemy lurking behind every pile of dung: the wind. It blows reliably from the north-west, sometimes at wind force 3 to 5, but with 14,999 fellow cyclists, you can always find a slipstream to relax in. From Dokkum, after around 100 kilometres, the wind is usually from "astern"; then the "idiots" race south at 40 km/h and more.
INFO
Registration from 1 to 19 December of the previous year via the homepage https://www.fietselfstedentocht.frl/de, entry fee €28. The race starts between 5 and 8.30 a.m. in blocks of 650 participants; the start time is drawn by lot, but can still be swapped on request so that you can ride together with friends in a group. All types of bikes are permitted, except e-bikes. Helmets are compulsory. Hotels should be booked early, but you can always find a place on the specially organised campsites.
Analogue through and through
Martin Feuler from Osnabrück is a rather relaxed traveller. When asked what he thinks of the event, he first answers in one sentence: "Cool!" - only to follow it up with another: "Awesome!" Not because he is such a stodgy and taciturn contemporary, but because in between he answers the spectators at the side of the road, who cheer on the "cyclists" with a loud "Hey". It feels like you hear this a few thousand times during the Elfstedentocht. Feuler is taking part for the fourth time and finally speaks in full sentences: "You don't get such a great atmosphere at any other cycling event. And nowhere else is it as fun and relaxed. Okay, by kilometre 150 at the latest, you start to ask yourself, why am I doing this to myself?" But by the time Feuler and his friends have a beer at the finish line, they realise: next year they'll be back for the "Carnival of the North".
Tradition is upheld at the Elfstedentocht. At the start and finish in Bolsward, the marching band marches in front of the cyclists and plays a march, while the blue and white striped Frisian flag with the heart-shaped pompeblêden and the yellow flag of the Fietselfstedentocht are proudly carried through Marktstraat to the first stamping point. You don't have to be a fan of marching music and marching bands, but here it fits. And even though there have long been other options, the organisers stick to the thoroughly analogue stamp cards. Wherever stamps are used to prove that you have actually travelled the entire route, it's party time.
There are also marching bands in Workum, Dokkum and Stavoren. The music is often canned; Dutch pop songs that many people sing along to, but also sometimes "Ballermann music" and quite brute techno sound. The "Beachgirls" from Blankenberge spontaneously perform a formation dance at the stamping station in Dokkum and are applauded by the other cyclists.
There is applause and cheering from the thousands and thousands of supporters along the entire route. Quite a few say at the finish line that they would not have made it without the cheers of the spectators. 13,288 finishers reached the finish line on Whit Monday 2024. The first were at the finish line at 1.50 pm, the last half an hour before the checkpoint closed at 11.30 pm. The "Wielrenner" Bernd Schmidt was fast on his way, with a good 33 average over the 235 kilometres. "I was already pretty flat at the last stamping station in Workum, and the wind was blowing from the front right up to the finish," he says, "but then the brass band plays for you, you get a few cubes of cheese as a gift, recharge your batteries and rush to the finish with a feeling of happiness." Wiebe Tolsma also made it, by the way, for the 65th time. Along the way, he stopped for coffee and cake with his family, enjoyed a beer with friends and finally arrived in Bolsward in the early evening. As on the previous 235 kilometres, he lifts his top hat on the home straight and greets the cheering crowd. It is clear that Wiebe Tolsma will be back at the start next year - if he stays healthy. But Bernd Schmidt is also certain: "I'll be back. If you tackle the 235 kilometres with ambition, it's hard work. But this unique mix of folk festival and sport is simply brilliant and makes up for the exertions."
