A stupid Training
Skating on the Jaap Eden Baan, the artificial ice track in Amsterdam, I met an old class mate of the primary school, Bert. He was also a fanatic skater. We met regularly on the ice rink both preparing for the tour of all tours. This also meant that we wanted to skate on the canals and lakes as soon as it was possible. Close to Amsterdam there are many possibilities if it is cold enough. Where the water is not to deep one can skate without too much risk after three days of frost. However one has to be there very early because many people know these places and within a short time the ice will be very bad.
One day Bert phoned me and told me that one could skate close to Amsterdam on the canals where we had often skated. The ice was frozen while there was no wind and it was not snowing. In such a case the ice is perfect; one can see through it the bottom of the canal.
.I went with Bert by car north of Amsterdam. We got on the ice of small canals. It was indeed beautiful ice and we could skate very fast with the wind in the back. The ice was so flat and clear that it was hard to decide where there was ice and where it was not.
One day Bert phoned me and told me that one could skate close to Amsterdam on the canals where we had often skated. The ice was frozen while there was no wind and it was not snowing. In such a case the ice is perfect; one can see through it the bottom of the canal.
.I went with Bert by car north of Amsterdam. We got on the ice of small canals. It was indeed beautiful ice and we could skate very fast with the wind in the back. The ice was so flat and clear that it was hard to decide where there was ice and where it was not.
After a while the small canal crossed a wider canal and I went so fast that I had no possibility to see in time that there was no ice at all on the water of the wider canal. Before I knew what happened I fell into the water. With the speed I had I moved through the water to the other side of the canal where the ice of the small canal started again. I was till my head under water but I saw the ice “coming to me”. Because I knew that the most serious problem would be that you get under the ice, I put my arms above my head to catch the ice. My speed in the water was still enough that my face hit the ice. Fortunately the cut by the ice was not very serious and I did not get under the ice. In an immediate reaction I moved to the side of the canal and climbed out of the water. Bert did not get into the water, because he skated behind me and he could stop in time. I was wet from top to bottom so we had to get back to my car as quickly as possible but in order to do so we had first to skate to the road where the car was parked which was about 7 to 10 km from where I got into the water. We skated as fast as we could and at the road we got a lift from a car to bring us to my car. We went to my house, I took a shower and we drank a glass of cognac. This was probably the right remedy because I did not even get sick at all. Nevertheless, it will be clear that this is not the proper way to prepare for the next eleven cities tour.
Some years later it was freezing quite hard. The comittee of the “Elfstedentocht” came together to plan the tour. The skaters were doing some extra training. One of these days I contacted my brother, Jeroen, to join me in a training. He is a good skater although I have to admit that I am a bit better. He has the advantage that he is 8 years younger. We went together to skate close to Amsterdam. It was very cold, 17 degrees below zero but what was worse was the strong wind. This seemed a good preparation for the eleven cities tour. After skating a while we came to a big lake that we had to cross exactly in the direction where the wind came from. I was wearing plastic trousers over my sport trousers to protect me against freezing. I saw my brother did not have the proper clothes. I gave him my plastic trousers and I planned to skate a bit faster to stay warm. After approximately half an hour skating against the wind we arrived at the other side of the lake where there was a bar along the water. We went in and the people who had done the same welcomed us with a congratulation because they knew what we went through. One of them was a well known person of the Amsterdam drug scene. He was advisor of the local government but it was not clear whether he was a dealer himself as well. Anyway, he was able to make the same tour as we did, so maybe he was just as clean as us. We drunk chocolate milk with him before we went home. Being at home I detected that part of my leg was frozen. So I contacted my brother. He had no problem at all.
This again was not the proper preparation for the eleven cities tour. However, it did not matter because a few days later the temperature went up and the tour was again cancelled.
You might think that people learn from such experiences but that is not necessarily true as I will tell you in the next episode..
Some years later it was freezing quite hard. The comittee of the “Elfstedentocht” came together to plan the tour. The skaters were doing some extra training. One of these days I contacted my brother, Jeroen, to join me in a training. He is a good skater although I have to admit that I am a bit better. He has the advantage that he is 8 years younger. We went together to skate close to Amsterdam. It was very cold, 17 degrees below zero but what was worse was the strong wind. This seemed a good preparation for the eleven cities tour. After skating a while we came to a big lake that we had to cross exactly in the direction where the wind came from. I was wearing plastic trousers over my sport trousers to protect me against freezing. I saw my brother did not have the proper clothes. I gave him my plastic trousers and I planned to skate a bit faster to stay warm. After approximately half an hour skating against the wind we arrived at the other side of the lake where there was a bar along the water. We went in and the people who had done the same welcomed us with a congratulation because they knew what we went through. One of them was a well known person of the Amsterdam drug scene. He was advisor of the local government but it was not clear whether he was a dealer himself as well. Anyway, he was able to make the same tour as we did, so maybe he was just as clean as us. We drunk chocolate milk with him before we went home. Being at home I detected that part of my leg was frozen. So I contacted my brother. He had no problem at all.
This again was not the proper preparation for the eleven cities tour. However, it did not matter because a few days later the temperature went up and the tour was again cancelled.
You might think that people learn from such experiences but that is not necessarily true as I will tell you in the next episode..