Speed Skating in Heerenveen
Speed skating may not be very popular in the US, but if you recall from February, three US men each got a gold medal. The speed and the camera angles distort the fact that they're skating on a 400 meter track, same size as a running track. Completely indoors and covered in ice. There are a few such tracks in the US, but I had to come to the Netherlands to give it a try. Here's a picture from the inside of the stadium named "Thialf". I nor anyone I asked was aware of the name's origin.
This track is in Heerenveen which is a 2 hour train ride north from Amsterdam. It's in the province Friesland (Fries as in freeze, not as in french fries), where by no coincidence the canals freeze and speed skating (known here as "skating") is the most popular sport. There are actually pro speed skating teams, much like pro cycling teams. There are many similarities between speed skating and cycling. When the track closed for the day, most people switched their skating skinsuit for a cycling jersey/shorts and rode home. Here are a few bikers you might run into while speedskating:
I claim to be a good inline skater, and have ice skated many times, but I was surprised to find that using speed skates was remarkbly difficult. The shoe doesn't go above the ankle and the blade is very thin. It's a very wobbly feeling. After a while I felt more comfortable as you can see by my skills in this video. Seeing how fast other people skated is really impressive.
Keep in mind this is not only the middle of the summer, this is the middle of a heat wave. Wearing pants, a jacket, and gloves in a really big indoor ice rink does seem to exude unneccessary energy consumption, but they only keep it open for 2 weeks, and rest assured, I have no interest in being anywhere near Friesland in the winter. There are many open air 400 meter ice tracks around the country in the winter including one across the street from the Alkmaar velodrome.
This track is in Heerenveen which is a 2 hour train ride north from Amsterdam. It's in the province Friesland (Fries as in freeze, not as in french fries), where by no coincidence the canals freeze and speed skating (known here as "skating") is the most popular sport. There are actually pro speed skating teams, much like pro cycling teams. There are many similarities between speed skating and cycling. When the track closed for the day, most people switched their skating skinsuit for a cycling jersey/shorts and rode home. Here are a few bikers you might run into while speedskating:
I claim to be a good inline skater, and have ice skated many times, but I was surprised to find that using speed skates was remarkbly difficult. The shoe doesn't go above the ankle and the blade is very thin. It's a very wobbly feeling. After a while I felt more comfortable as you can see by my skills in this video. Seeing how fast other people skated is really impressive.
Keep in mind this is not only the middle of the summer, this is the middle of a heat wave. Wearing pants, a jacket, and gloves in a really big indoor ice rink does seem to exude unneccessary energy consumption, but they only keep it open for 2 weeks, and rest assured, I have no interest in being anywhere near Friesland in the winter. There are many open air 400 meter ice tracks around the country in the winter including one across the street from the Alkmaar velodrome.
Labels: netherlands
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