Tour of Drenthe

The Tour of Drenthe (Ronde van Drenthe in Dutch) is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle event held each year in the province of Drenthe. We saw the men this morning, halfway the villages of Odoorn and Exloo, speeding over a cobbled road.

The Tour of Drenthe has been held since 1960, and was won by a non-Dutchman 7 times. Only in 2001 the race was cancelled due to foot-and-mouth disease.

And when the bikes were gone, lots and lots of support cars followed..

Summer ski jumping

During our stay in Nordseter we visited the Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena in Lillehammer and watched a training session of ski jumpers on both the 90m and 120m hill. Of course it´s a wintersport and not the same thing in Summer, but it was fun to watch and we enjoyed seeing it from so close.

The arena opened in 1993 for the 1994 Winter Olympics, where it hosted the ski jumping and Nordic combined events, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.

According to Wikipedia 20,000 jumps are made here during the Summer season, and 80,000 in Winter. Aren´t they daredevils!

I´m linking to All Seasons.

Odoorn ice-skating rink

On foot from the Schapenpark nature area back to the village of Odoorn we passed the skating rink and canteen belonging to the local ice-skating club 'Schoonmeer'. During the Winter when it is cold enough this area will be flooded so a shallow field of ice will appear. Surrounded by forest it must look nice when everything is frozen.

An ice-skater made from tubes looks out over the field. According to the text underneath the sculpture was most likely put here in 2001 at the 75th anniversary of the ice-skating club. It says:  "1926-2001 IJsvereniging Schoonmeer".

Road bicycle race

We started our hike in the village of Odoorn today and happened to be there at the right time to witness the cycling event ´Dorpenomloop Drenthe´, a road bicycle race through the villages of the province of Drenthe. They started in the city of Assen, and still had about an hour to go from where we saw them in Odoorn. These five men were the leaders.

Football club mural

En route by train from Zwolle to Enschede I spotted a mural during a short stop at train station´Almelo De Riet´. Apparently it´s on a building that belongs to the local football club DRC 2012.

Zoomed in you can see it a little bit better.

I´m linking to Monday Mural

Sailing on the beach

With a sunny day ahead we took the ferry to the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog this morning at 9:30 am to make a day hike. And what a nice day we had!

A big part of our hike was on the North Sea beach. We watched this group for a while 'sailing' on the sand. The small vehicles reached quite some speed!

Supping in Groningen

 Stand up paddle surfers, or 'SUPPERS', in the canals of Groningen this afternoon.

A bit tired? Cold feet? Or maybe he just stopped to enjoy the Spring sun..

Beach-surfing

No kite-surfers on the water yet, but with a wind force 4/5 this guy was enjoying himself going back and forth on the North Sea beach of Schiermonnikoog last Sunday.

Watching people watch

Both photos are taken from the television screen during the National Sprint Speed Skating Championships in Groningen, last weekend. In between rides the camera focused on the public. Apparently a lot is going on as the spectators all look in different directions..

Remembering Le Tour

As you may remember, this year´s edition of the Tour de France started in the U.K. On the first stage from Leeds to Harrogate, the cyclists passed the Yorkshire Dales National Park. And when we were there in August, the villages along the route were still proud to show it with bicycles on the walls of pubs, hotels, shops, etc. These pictures are from Hawes, a town in the Wensleydale.

A kite surfer..

..who was just leaving the water of the North Sea.

paddling

Suppers (stand up paddlers) in the canals of Bruges.

The Dutch rule!

The absolutely fabulous result after a thrilling 500 meters sprint skating this afternoon. (image from nos.nl)

weather vane