Episode: 919
Title: HPR0919: Elfstedentocht - To be or not to be
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0919/hpr0919.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-08 04:57:25

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Hello everybody, my name is Ken Thalon, and today is a special episode of Hector Public
Radio.
Joining me here to explain some more about it is a colleague of mine, Clascha, and how
you do in Clascha.
I'm doing fine, Ken.
Thank you.
Actually, I thought our first interview would be more something technical like how cable
networks work, but something more important may or may not be happening over the weekend.
Can you tell me what that is?
It's a big ice skating event in the north of the country.
It's a very important ice skating event for the Dutch people.
So yes, what's it called?
Elfstadentort.
11th city, two in Marathon, yeah, two.
So that's actually, when they say cities, it's more like a small village, I guess.
No, it's really, I think it's really a city.
They have like a city name, so that's why they're 11.
Okay.
So for a bit of background, I guess, to people, the Netherlands is quite flat.
And there are a lot of it is underwater, as such.
And this particular part of the country of the north, the cities are connected together
by a series of canals and dikes and the like lakes.
So when it freezes, you essentially have high-speed interconnects between the towns.
On your ice skates, of course.
Yes.
Go back as far back as 1760 people have decided that when it gets cold enough, they would
do this tour and start off at which city?
I think it's a little one.
A little one.
And then do go around in the same day, visit all 11 cities in the province.
Yeah, 200 kilometers.
So there is first in the morning, there's a marathon, riders by professional riders to
do a really, a speech-speeding match.
And then afterwards, it's for the amateurs to ride that round as well, 200 kilometers.
Around the 11 cities and make sure you get in on time before a 12 o'clock at night.
And along the way, you have to get a special stamp.
Yeah, you have to get a special stamp, you have to stamp it every city.
I don't know if this year they're going to change something with the chips, but yeah,
the stamping is very, very common.
And also by the match riders, they really have to stamp.
Although they've been followed by television cameras all the time, they really have to stamp.
Because early these days, they, of course, they didn't have mobile camera devices on bicycles.
So the stamp did prove that you were actually there, so you could not cheat.
And they also have secret runs along the way as well.
Yeah, they have secret runs.
And there was something in the press already today that I said, okay, the secret runs
is the secret stamping post still, still reliable because, of course, by the mobile phones
and the media, it is very likely that they will be announced by Twitter on time.
Of course, 12 or 15 years ago, when the previous one was, was, was ice skate, there was no
twittering media.
I know, I remember that my dad had just the first mobile phone that was a very large and
the battery didn't last for long.
So, yeah, so this year it will be the first 11th day of the talk, if it's going to continue.
Then with the social media.
What, what needs to be in place in order for it to go ahead?
I think it needs to be in place that at least 15 centimeter of ice is applicable on all
points, by the route.
So let's see if we can make that until now we didn't make that yet, but we still have
a couple of days to go before the defrost period comes in.
And what have they been doing to assist that?
I think there's a lot of volunteers with snow, shovels clearing the snow of the ice.
And I think they already did an, like, a far-for-bought, I think, that there are no boats
allowed in the canals anymore to break the ice that was already announced earlier last
week.
Just the beginning of last week we had a lot of problems because of the wind.
We had enormous wind in the north of the country.
So the ice couldn't grow because of the temperatures were really, really below zero.
And of course then at some point the wind stopped and then we had the day after.
We had ice for a couple of centimeters.
The day after we had snow again.
So that isn't kind of insulator.
And then it is, of course, holding off the growth of the ice floor.
So that's a problem now.
So everybody is clearing the snow because the ice is not strong enough that it can carry
people and light machines.
So they're clearing out the snow to get the more ice thickness.
So exposing the surface of the ice so that it can freeze even more.
Yeah.
Because, of course, the organization has to be a little bit reliable for the event.
And if everything goes well, there will be 16,000 people skating.
16,000 people skating.
And what's the population of the Netherlands?
I think we are with around 16 million.
And how many visitors are expected to go up to freesland for this event?
I think there are two million visitors expected around the freesland.
I think I saw in the media already a lot of problems announced at the vote of on KPN
and T-Mobile that they are worried about the data capacity up north in the country.
These are the mobile phone cell providers in the Netherlands.
Yeah.
So I think even the liquor manufacturer in the north of the country, that is called
the Beerenberg, is ramping up the production.
And it's a kind of hype.
But today, nothing as special has happened and nobody announced it that it will continue.
So we still waiting at the press conference at, I think, 4.30 this afternoon.
So let's wait.
Okay.
So again, the last time it was held, it's only been held something like how many times
like 14 times in total and the last time was in 1997.
But it's not as if there's one big canal that goes all the way around.
You have to go from one to the other and there are places where you need to walk.
It's not correct.
Yeah.
There are bridges on the route and normally the ice below the bridges doesn't freeze
that very well.
So they normally go out of the water.
So you have to go over kind of mats, carpet and then you have to cross the bridge overland
and to step on the other side of the ice again because you cannot go under the bridge because
probably it's not strong enough.
And also they do that to avoid normally for the match riders.
They allow to continue under the bridge.
But you get a kind of conjunction over there with amateur riders and they will avoid it because
then the ice gets a lot of a lot weaker over there.
So they try to make the best out of it.
You were mentioning yesterday that they do ice transplants.
Yeah.
That's below the bridges and weak points.
They do sometimes ice transportations, places that are damaged or very bad quality.
They cut out of ice blocks out of the nearest lake that is frozen and that has a thickness
of 15 centimeters and they move the ice over to weak spots to let it freeze overnight and
over a couple of days to be integrated into the ice floor just to strengthen it up and
get it weaker and get it better.
Okay.
Are you going to partake yourself?
I'm going to not participate.
I don't have an starting permit.
The starting permit you have to be a subscriber to the organization, member of the organization.
Then at some point the 16,000 people that are member are full.
So they decided for a new people to join that if you are a new member of the organization
that you're only going to participate in odd or even years.
So they can all have more members of the organization.
The only thing is you have to be lucky if the event is going to take place in an even
or odd year.
For example, my dad is already a member of the organization for 30 years around.
So he has a fixed membership and he has also a guaranteed starting place.
So the new members will only get an odd or even year starting place.
Super.
And your dad has done it before, has he?
Yeah.
Twice.
Like 15 years ago he did it as well and the weather condition was not that good because
it was held in the beginning of January.
I think it's fourth of January, the bad thing about January is the darkness.
If you start in darkness, it will become very dark any afternoon.
So you have to ice skate in darkness.
And of course in that place they didn't have a nice lightning equipment on top of helmets
what they have now today with excellent battery technology.
So it was difficult to ride in darkness.
Also the wind was quite strong at that point.
So he was at the end.
He was five minutes too late and made it to the national news.
Five minutes after 12.
Five minutes after 12.
Meaning that?
Meaning that he was very angry and he didn't got his last stamp and that doesn't result
into a small medal.
A small medal that's only like, I don't know, a quarter or something that's very size
of a quarter.
Doesn't, yeah, but that's not the point.
That's not the point.
He was very angry at that point because he skated I think like for, I don't know, 16
hours in a row and then he didn't get his medal at the end.
This is 16 hours skating continuously in unstop.
That is absolutely madness.
At the near it was a minus four around.
So yeah, that is quite cold.
So he's got a place this year, what time is it kicking off?
Yes, because in the meantime, a lot of membership cards were freed up.
He can start one and a half hour earlier.
I think it's 5.30.
He can start.
He's also 15 years older.
He's also 15 years old.
What did you see now?
I think he, 85.
Is he five?
Yeah.
Up 58.
Eighth.
Eighth, 50.
Sorry, yeah.
Okay, so 58.
50.
Yeah, okay.
So it's very, yeah, it's very, it's a very interesting year.
So let's see if it happens.
So first of all, we don't know if it's going to go ahead for a start and secondly, if
it does, he will be starting at five in the morning.
Yeah, 5.30.
So after more or less the time you receive this, he'll be heading out.
And you're intending on giving him as much technological assistance as you can.
Tell us a bit about that.
Yes.
I think we're going to buy or we're going to buy a pair of icecage of irons, not the shoes.
You can exchange the irons under the shoes now these days.
And of course, I'm going to equip him with some mobile phones with some real-time GPS
coordination.
So I can follow him in the car and feed him when it's necessary.
And when he gets tires, I can exchange clothes when he gets wetty or whatever kind of
assistance he needs to require somewhere in the 200 kilometers lane in between.
And you can obviously stop and rest for a while if you want.
It's just entirely based on time.
Yeah.
It's entirely based on time.
And on the stamps, of course.
Yeah.
So let's see.
Okay.
Anything else you're going to be bringing?
No.
I think you need to pick up your starting base one day in advance and then you also need
to intensify yourself.
There are some rumors that they're going to do an arm wrist to with your ID, just to avoid
legal riders on the ice, because it's very, very popular.
We're going to stand at my grandfather's house just because it's very close to the starting
to the finish spot.
So we will sleep the night in advance over there.
And the next day, I will bring him to the starting position.
Any chance of giving us the coordinates here so that we can follow along?
See how he's doing?
I will have a look.
I still have to do some equipment and I need to install the app, et cetera, et cetera,
in a range mobile phone with an excellent 3G connection, of course.
What is, of course, being doubted by the telecom providers that will cause an outage sometimes,
but at least I hope to try to follow him a little bit during the race.
Because there's going to be two million people up there in an area that is basically devoid
of life.
OK, I understand the police of special powers for the day.
Yes, I think the mention something in the press already that there will be a kind of emergency
by the mayor of the province saying that you cannot enter the ice anymore.
There will be a lot of fancing around the ice to avoid tourists to enter the ice,
of course, because of the pressure, et cetera, et cetera.
So it will be, you can get a fine, probably when you get on the on the racing track.
In advance.
So let's see what the press conference brings us today.
And we will hope it will continue.
OK, pleasure and I want to thank you very much for this interview.
And you see it's not as painful as all that.
So you can look forward to a breakdown of how cable network works and a run through of
your fishing automated boat on the next hacker public radio.
Thank you very much, folks.
And the links to this, the GPS tracking will be in the show notes for this.
And I'd like to wish you a father all the best.
Thank you very much, Jim.
Janine tomorrow for another exciting hacker public radio.
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