O/T: 200 km skating tour in Netherlands
Posted by heartland chris on February 10, 2012 at 10:34:54:

Off topic. Well, is short-term cliate.
I lived in Netherlands in 1986 and visited there on weekend in 1985, and the canals froze both years, and they had the Elfstedentocht both years (11 Cities tour). it is 199 km-long. In 1986 I completed it on the day before the official tour, finishing 3 hours after dark.

The canals do not look very different than in Little ice age oil paintings.

They decided 2 days ago it was not safe for 16,000 skaters, and a thaw is coming, but many are skating the route unoffically like I did. I would LOVE to be there. Maybe someday again.

One nice story at:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/soldiers-sweep-ice-11-cities-tour-route-15537448

and another with photos at the link.

I wish I was there, but need at least a month of skating to get in shape for 200 km.

Chris