Race Around the Netherlands Gravel edition - Race intro.


On Saturday Cafe de Proloog, the finish point for RATN-GX, was abuzz with activity. Mid afternoon a band setup in the shade of a gazebo and played live music to the awaiting crowd. Some of those listening were waiting for friends or loved ones to finish RATN-GX, but most were just normal customers. 

Slowly, spread across the day riders trickled in including the last riders to have swapped from the full route to the sprint route, Hervé Criaud (cap 57) and Konstantinos Pachnis (cap 63). 

As the sun went down there were still 10 riders out on the course, one of which was Charles Cox (cap 22), the last rider on the sprint distance, the rest were full distance riders, including two pairs. They were spread variously across Limburg and along the Maas. 

Olivier Maillard (cap 82) chose to stop for the night in Groetsbeek, less than 60km from the finish. 

When the sun came up again on Sunday, dots were on the move. Olivier would be the first to arrive at the Prologue just after 0730. He would be followed over the course of the day by Richard Keppel (cap 101), Patrick Velt (cap 83), Wandert Benthem (cap 38), and Patrick Bruns (cap 94). The final riders to make it home on Sunday were pair Timo Klok & Gemma Adelaar (cap 4144), they arrived at about 2230. Gema commented that the last day was the hardest of the ride, struggling with the clay conditions. 

![Gema Adalaar riding a gravel trail, woodland in the background. Photo credit Timo Klok](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3DFOzGJ84shhCkRCLmMZI8/40da16b39d274166010f8a1f5a8b1760/Screenshot_20230625-141021.png)

From the east, Charles Cox (cap 22), the lantern rouge for the sprint distance arrived at 1644. He was in good spirits, and spoke of how his rest routines from ultra running had not carried over to cycling, and he had found he needed to sleep a lot more than he had expected. 

Riders brought with them stories from the adventure, as well as shared photos from along the route. 

Stijn Kingma's (cap 95) photo of the trail down in Brabant shows nicely the impact the rain had. 

![A narrow muddy waterlogged trail between dense woodland. Photo Credit Stijn Kingma](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2ZQ9nuv4mMirirfH4Daj3R/3c08f89db8b32455b398a70c77febb5f/20230622_191727.jpg)

Many riders had photos of the stepping stones shown on the day 6 update. What was interesting was comparing the water level between the various photos. 

As well as those riders who had just finished, riders who had finished a day or two before dropped by the proloog to greet riders, share stories, and generally hang out. This included Beccie Drake & Ben Dickinson (cap 415), who's stories included heat exhaustion, altercations with electric fences, and saddle sores. Ben also shared this photo of the hike abike around the light house on Texel. 

![Beccie Drake pushing her bike across the sound around the light house of north Texel - Picture Credit Ben Dickinson](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3eYlbkdAOntQO9xsqCOld4/d7966520f56f01abe5c68e3781b3f5bb/PXL_20230622_102006880.jpg)

Further south down the course, all 5 of the remaining riders, had stopped for the night, with the furthest rider, Calvin O’keeffe (cap 47), just 150km from the finish. With a deadline of 1800 CEST on Monday, the remaining riders had chosen to get some rest before an early start and ride to the finish. 

![Screenshot of the tracker site showing 4 dots stopped to the left of the route. ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6esj30hbfVxF6WDRcBgh3K/bd73c8ca5a05f7852d9f623875e2db41/Screenshot_20230625-231505.png)

Kees Overboom (cap 62) was the first to arrive on Monday, just after 1330. He was followed shortly after the final solo two riders, Calvin O’keeffe (cap 47) and Maximiliaan Aarts (cap 74). The two riders waited for each other in the final stretch so that they could ride over the line together, joint solo Lanterns Rouges. 

The final riders to reach the finish were pair Werner Velis & Josette Voskuilen (cap 2023), finishing just before 1600. 

Congratulations on all riders, you rode an awesome race in difficult conditions. Well done!

To all those who had to scratch due to injury, we wish you a rapid recovery! Get well soon. 

There were no scratches in the last 3 days. In total 8 full solo and 2 full pairs chose to take the sprint finish, and will be listed as Finisher, but with no time. 

Next year the Race Around The Netherlands returns to the road. But for anyone who's finding themselves with a severe case of FOMO for Dutch gravel, RATN-GX returns in 2025. And if you don't feel like racing, but want to explore the Netherlands from a different perspective, the route is available and would make a great 2 week tour!


Day 8/9/10 - Finishing


Friday morning, and we wake to see a red line through dot number 7. Somewhat surprised to see that Fiona Sharp had scratched, news later came through that she had had a collision with an animal, and had to retire due to the injuries. Fiona is at least the 2nd rider of the event to have hit an animal on the course. We wish Fiona a speedy recovery! 

Elsewhere on the course, a steady trickle of riders have been arriving at Amerongen from both sides throughout the day. From the east Tom van Beelen half of full pair cap 1242 arrived. His partner Arno Dreef having already scratched. 3.5 hours later Bart Van De Water & Bart Verheijen (cap 1314) were the first full distance pair to reach the finish in classification. We now have winners in all classifications that can have winners. 

From the west all remaining sprint distance solo riders finished today except for Lanterne Rouge Charles Cox (cap 22). Charles has stopped for the night near Bergen, just north of Alkmaar. He has approximately 200km of the course left to finish. 

As to the Lanternes Rouges of the full distance, Beccie Drake & Ben Dickinson (cap 415) chose to take the sprint route and finished just after 2100 this evening. In so doing they promoted Werner Velis & Josette Voskuilen to the position of Lanterne Rouge. They have stopped for the night in Valkenswaard, and have approximatley 450km of the course to remaining. 

For the full distance solo, Konstantinos Pachnis (cap 63) turned onto the sprint distance route at approximately 2130 this evening. He has however stopped for the night at a campsite that is only about 3km from the turn from the full distance route, so it is not certain if he has commited to the sprint route, or just taken a campsite that is close to the turn. We'll find out in the morning. 

If Konstantinos has decided to take the sprint route, then it will promote Calvin O’keeffe (cap 47) to the position of Lantern Rouge. Calvin is about 500km from the finish with just under 3 days left on the clock. 

The rain yesterday left it's mark on the course. Maximiliaan Aarts (cap 74) posted this picture of the course in Noord Brabant today. While the name of the event is gravel edition, it certainly gives a lot of opportunity to explore where the definition of gravel actually lies. From the sandpit of the Veluwe, to the pavé of Drenthe, or the mud bath of Noord Brabant. The one thing that can be said is this is not easy terrain. 

![A sandy road with lots of deep puddles. To the right is a line of trees, more woodland can be seen in the distance. Text across the image reads "Don't say more" - Picture credit  Maximiliaan Aarts](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6RZk0Ck7PYR26tQIvQKi3R/0def02c09d3772bab0c724d8975e6948/Screenshot-WetRoads.png)

As I finish writing this Lennard van Oosten (cap 68) is less than 5km from the finish and should arrive soon (possibly before I've finished this paragraph and hit publish). He arrives at de proloog as the 4th solo full distance rider. It really shows the impact the extra 110km required due to missing the ferry has on the speed a rider can achieve. 

Tomorrow we should see the main field work it's way through the hills of Limburg ready to turn their wheels north and the home stretch to the finish. 

Good luck to all still riding, and beware of the local wildlife! 

Day 7 - Oh dier. 

I was wrong. In yesterday's update I mentioned there was no forecast for rain for the next few days. Well that didn't last for long. By lunch time on Thursday Dutch Meteorological institute KNMI had issued an amber warning for rain for the south of the country, specifically Zuid Limburg. Fortunately our 2nd and 3rd place riders had made it to the finish before the rain hit. Niels Ihrman (cap 80), arrived at 1047, with Lukas Klement (cap 75) arriving 8 hours later. 

![Screenshot of a weather radar app showing heavy rain moving across the south of the Netherlands.](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/bGZuWWMnpC7G66Gn2vQcz/3c9e2aa52b282dcf53492014017b93d1/Screenshot-MoreRain.png)

The astute among you will notice a lack of mention of Gert Jan Schilder (cap 53). Unfortunately Gert scratched this morning after an unfavourable altercation with a wild Boar, followed by a trip to the hospital for an xray. We wish Gert a rapid recovery from his injuries.

Meanwhile in a rather wet Zuid Limburg, Lennard van Oosten (cap 68) and Sandro Poppe (cap 93)'s race for 4th is neutralised as they both appear to be sleeping in the same hotel. Who makes it to de Proloog first could come down to which of them gets going first in the morning. 

There's a lot of debate within the cycling community about what counts as gravel, but perhaps the terrain in this photo from Sandro Poppe is pushing the limits of what might be defined as gravel...

![A screenshot of an instagram post showing stepping stones over a green stream in woodland. Across the middle is the word "gravel" ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2U8VqHNLbmEz0Nrcmy1mQt/012de9a908cfe6740c85014ad4cb36c4/Screenshot-SteppingStones.png)

In Weert Fiona Sharp (cap 7) stopped quite early, taking a sensible decision to avoid the worst of the storm. Fiona has roughly 400km of the course left, tho that does include most of the route's climbing. 

Back in Amerogen it's been a busy day with riders arriving on the short course. Not all of these riders started as sprint racers, meaning that the 5 (at time of writing) green dots that turned left at Zandvoort for the route along the Utrechtse Heuvelrug will be classed as finishers, but outside of classification. 

All of the sprint pairs completed today, with just over 7.5 hours covering all three pairs. Sean Harrison & Jamie Clowes (cap 3969) came in first, followed 5 hours later by Joep Keijsers & Luc Joosten (cap 1719), and then Nanke Stein & Eelco Meuter (cap 1116) arrived at 1927. Less than 8 hours over a 1200km distance off road is practically a photo finish. 

Talking of photos of the finish, I have to include this photo taken by  Michael Wacker of this year's winner being met by last years winning woman, and his partner Sherry Cardona. 

![Sherry Cardona  greets race winner Gereon Tewes (cap 52) at cafe de proloog. ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6QPK8a7nl0FIKt5R0bIN1h/63a3c8ffeff48e9849877ffb54ba3859/AB409338.jpg)

At the other end of the course, just two riders remain on Texel. Lanternes Rouges Charles Cox (cap 22) and Konstatinos Pachnis (cap 63). While Lantern Rouge pair Beccie Drake & Ben Dickinson (cap 415) are back on the mainland, and have stopped for the night just past the 1040km mark. 

There are four riders stopped for the night along the sprint section from Zandvoort to the finish. Race rules do not permit this section to be ridden at night. All four riders should make the finish on Friday. 

The rest of the field spans from Zuid Holland, through Zeeland, across Noord Brabant, and into Zuid Limburg. On Friday the weather will do something (I'm not going to make that mistake twice), and the closest full distance rider to the finish has just over 200km to go, hopefully bringing them to the finish late on Friday evening. 

Day 6 - Beware of the Boar...


Just after 1130 this morning we got our first rider to complete a course and arrive back at Cafe De Proloog. Pjotr Hubin (cap 77) made it back on the short sprint route in approximately 4 days, 4 hours, 35 minutes. Unfortunately Pjotr signed up for the full distance, meaning that he is not classed as the winner. He's a finisher (out of classification). 

Fortunately we didn't have to wait too much longer for our first in classification rider to make it to the finish. Laurens Dhaese (cap 67) crossed the line at 1255, in a time of 4 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes. He was joined by Ingmar Sluiter (cap 36) just over 2 hours later. 

Then, in a total time of 4 days, 15 hours, 39 minutes, and an average speed of 17.51km, Gereon Tewes (cap 52) completed the 1932km solo full distance route. A very impressive ride.

Hot on Gereon's tail Niels Ihrman (cap 80) is chasing 2nd. He's had a few minor issues with saddle sores, and is having charging problems due to a damaged cable from his dyno hub. This is mostly impacting his ability to listen to music while he rides. Tho it does mean he an hear more clearly the rubbing of his disc rotor. Gert Jan Schilder (cap 53) is just 40 km behind Niels in 3rd. 

With the departure of the 1825 ferry from Stavoren to Enkhuizen, all riders have made it out out of Friesland except for solo sprint rider Charles Cox (22). He's stopped for the night just before Stavoren. His average speed is still above that needed to complete the sprint course within the time limit. 

On the other side of the IJsselmeer solo full distance Lantern Rouge Konstantinos Pachnis (cap 63) has made it to Enkhuizen and stopped for the night. Further up the road Hervé Criaud (cap 57) has stopped for the night just short of Den Helder. These two riders are the only solo riders yet to make it to Texel. 

In the full pairs it's hard to work out which of our two Lanternes Rouges is ahead of who. Both Benjamin Pennel & Ludovic Pennel (cap 4571) and  Beccie Drake & Ben Dickinson (cap 415) have stopped within 200m of each other on Texel. 

Elsewhere it's been a busy day on the west coast. With riders coming off of Texel and heading south. 

![Screenshot of the RATN-GX tracker showing a busy west coast of the Netherlands. ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/624piLd73OiyKadygChgT0/2207fa357c3c848de485006199a6f54b/Screenshot-CoastalDots.png)

A group of full distance solo riders, spread across the west coast, lead by Lennard van Oosten (cap 68), heading south towards, and then rounding the western most point of the route at Westkappelle. This group includes solo woman Fiona Sharp (cap 7), who has stopped for the night in Vlissingen, with 1230km of the route completed (plus the additional 110km IJsselmeer detour).

Today marks the 13th day in a row that the Netherlands has been above 25°C. The weather forecast doesn't show this warm weather abating any time soon, nor does it show any rain in the next few days, but most importantly, it shows riders should have a northerly wind to blow them down the west coast tomorrow.

There have been no additional scratches today.

Footnote: All times mentioned above are provisional based on the tracker data, and may not match exact times published in the finish list. 

Day 5 - Riders Arrive

Since last week the forecast has been saying rain would hit sometime early this week. It just wasn't yet sure when, or where it would hit. Today we finally got that answer. Starting from the South West in Zeeland, and moving across the country northwards, and eastwards. Bringing with it lots of thunder, lighting, and rain. 

![Screenshot from the Bueinradar weather app showing a storm over the west of the Netherlands.](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1TkPooDA9hjpSfAVXlYrd1/2ad1ec9660c88272ec125e8ee51559a0/Screenshot-Rain.png)

On the whole the rain is most welcome after 40 days of drought. But it did have a rather expected impact on the surface quality. Race leader Gereon Tewes (cap 52) posted a picture of his wheel descending into the mud. 

![Screenshot of an instagram stories post showing a mud covered wheel stuck in very sticky mud. ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/9pW8jG1GiZtIwZTcRgUoq/fcbf98ed8831d5b646f965d6400b5037/Screenshot-Mud.png)

Gereon has cemented his lead over the rest of the field, at the time of writing he has a 150km lead over second placed rider Niels Ihrman (cap 80). He's made it to the top of the Vaalserberg (the 3 country point with Belgium and Germany), and has just 300km to go to get to the finish. Those who have been reading these updates will be wondering what happened to Richard Jansen (cap 90). Richard has 
unfortunately had to scratch from the race due to knee and saddle pain. 

![Screen shot of Richard Jansen's (cap 90) scratch announcement](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3JYdymUcuaCQTXpbC2PtaY/be4726a75fa079c974be3a35f13fb450/Screenshot-RichardScratch.png)

Further back in Noord Holland, Fiona Sharp's (cap 7) decision to take the diversion via Flevoland had her arrive in Enkhuizen shortly before 0300. She stayed in a Enkhuizen for the night, and was on the road again by 1000, giving her an approximately 90 minute advantage over those who were on the first Ferry since Sunday. Fiona has managed to make it to Den Helder, complete the Texel loop, including the hike-a-bike in the sand round the lighthouse, and started the ride south. At the time of writing it looks like she's stopped for the night in Callantsoog. She has just 900km left. 

![Fiona Sharp (cap 7) riding a yellow bike on a gravel road lined with trees. (Credit Michael Wacker) ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3TLjAfCn9ldZZL7N8fTJ9V/f5a2c5cbc6f5f25068ab799efd7e90b1/AB408700.jpg)

While the first ferry of the race saw just 2 riders on it, the first ferry of Tuesday morning had a considerably larger group. All races with ferries on them experience bunching, as riders trickle into the departure point, and then all arrive at the same time. RATN-GX is no exception. Three ferry loads of riders made it across the IJsselmeer on Tuesday. With each group causing a new bunched start in Noord Holland. 

![Screenshot of the RATN-GX tracker centred on Enkhuizen shortly after a ferry disgorged riders into Noord Holland](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7pZbCFjU19gl4vmr0dIOdJ/9d68eef7d0a7b3d3992e0b81bcf2d3c6/Screenshot-bunching.png)

As well as bunching up the pack. Ferries present an enforced rest. A time to eat. Make any necessary repairs. 

![A collection of race bikes on the ferry. (Credit Gemma Adelaar)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/40bPLV9pCfJJxxiBoC0Tp/d311adcee3a5fd8668f0f0c3455ab383/FerryBikes.jpg)

Or maybe just to have a nap...

![Gemma Adelaar (cap 44) and an unknown rider rest on the ferry across the IJsselmeer (photo credit Timo Klock)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1u0160Za3imfvZh3qnpa7O/68921556bda56c95e15b9e30a3d028fc/Screenshot-NapTime.png)

At the back of the race, the Lanternes Rouges have all made it out of Groningen, except for Charles Cox (cap 22). 

Just nine riders remain on the east side of the IJsselmeer, two full distance riders, including yesterday's Lantern Rouge Hervé Criaud (cap 57), who has overtaken Konstantinos Pachnis (cap 63) to swap Lantern Rouge duties. 

In the pairs Benjamin Pennel and Ludovic Pennel (cap 4571) carry the Lantern Rouge as the final pair in Friesland. They are not far behind next full pair Timo Klok and Gemma Adelaar (cap 4144) who got an earlier ferry than they had planned on getting, and have stopped for the night at Medemblik. 

![Timo Klok and Gemma Adelaar (cap 4144). (Photo credit Michael Wacker) ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/PGSKxDLucnwB6zaDLFm5e/3f7a598b3e4d0e4ae324111abc413a43/AB409006.jpg)

Ten kilometers up the road, Beccie Drake and Ben Dickenson (cap 415) are still moving, heading for Den Helder. 

![Beccie Drake and Ben Dickinson (cap 415) riding a gravel road, trees in the background. (Picture credit Michael Wacker)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1P1dbOdLlfX9YTxfwUWLL7/7e02a0470860d5c267440dcf7268561a/AB409230.jpg)

A further 45km up the road Werner Velis and Josette Voskuilen are bedded down just outside Anna Paulowna.

![Werner Velis and Josette Voskuilen (cap 2023) on a gravel road. (photo credit Michael Wacker)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2l36lWcHJuYsxzbWvktwOy/8e428e51cfdcc1625ad2bb01a1cf89b2/AB409210.jpg)

The weather forecast can't make up it's mind about whether there will be any more rain this week. Hopefully the warm night will allow the surface to dry out a bit before riders get going again in the morning. But for all the rain, the wind, the thunder, and the lightning. There are rewards for surviving the storm...

![An orange sunset, under a dark grey cloud, over a Dutch cycle path.  (photo credit Pjotr Hubin (cap 77))](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1s0duw43qQJ14oyHopuk7i/15038225c9c82d2dae5ad76912534f3e/Screenshot-Sunset.png)


Day 4 - Riders of the storm


The sun has set for the 3rd time on RATN-GX 2023. It's been an eventful day for the riders. 

The first big surprise was noticing two dots crossing the IJsselmeer. When all information available suggested there should be no ferry service available. Eventually, following a photo on social media, news came out that the two riders had taken a water taxi between Stavoren and Enkhuizen. While this is the same route as the ferry, it's not the approved option. Upon realising this, the riders could have travelled back to Stavoren, and continued by bike, or be marked DNF. The red line through dots 35 and 50 as they moved across West Friesland in Noord Holland, showed the decision. 

![Dots in the water?](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6hJ2TlioDwzdFbmWU03SmM/d660dabf9cf194b6410b29eff1af2800/WaterTaxi.png)

Elsewhere in the field, Maureen van der Wijngaart announced that she had suffered a race ending mechanical and had had to withdraw. This leaves Fiona Sharp (cap 7) as the only remaining solo woman riding RATN-GX. At the time of writing Fiona is making her way round the IJsselmeer on the approved diversion. This update has been slightly delayed by my constant refreshing of the tracker to see what she would do. Fiona arrived at Stavoren at about 2100 local time. Her dot loitered around various eatery locations in Stavoren, as we waited to see what should would do. Bed down and get a really good nights sleep, spend 13 hours in/around Stavoren, and then get the 1025 ferry, or ride the extra 110km round the IJsselmeer, and get less rest. In theory the later is the quicker option, and sets Fiona up for getting to Den Helder in time to cross to Texel on Wednesday evening. But the extra 110km is not inconsiderable. Eventually her dot started it's progression round again. After a brief stop at McDonalds in Lemmer, at the time of writing Fiona continues to ride. 

After their enforced rest on Texel Richard Jansen (cap 90), and Gereon Tewes (cap 52) set off on their circumnavigation of the island. They crossed back to the mainland an hour apart, and set off south into a headwind down the coast. The two riders have swapped places a few times across the day, and as I just went to check the tracker to write this, Gereon has retaken the lead, tho by less than 10km. Weather radar suggests they are heading into rain as they begin their crossing of Zeeland and into Noord Brabant. 

At the other end of the race, Charles Cox (cap 22) is the Lantern Rouge for the sprint distance, having stopped for the night at the 475km mark. Charle's speed is above the average necessary to finish in the time limit. 

In the full distance Hervé Criaud (cap 57) is the current Lantern Rouge, he's stopped for the night at a campsite near Westlaren. He's covered 532km of the course, and his average speed has just dipped below that necessary to finish in the time limit. Fortunately he's completed the worst of the Drenthe Sand, and the next section should be faster rolling tarmac, so hopefully he can make up some of the time. 

For the pairs, Benjamin Pennel and Ludovic Pennel (cap 4571) are full distance Lantern rouge. They've made it to a hotel just outside Groningen (the city, not the province), 550km along the route, with a speed ahead of that needed to finish in time. 

In the sprint Nanke Stein and Eelco Meuter (cap 1116) have passed the 610km mark and are making good progress across the North of Groningen (the province this time, not the city). 

The scratch count has also gone up today, with 12 solo full riders now out, 6 solo sprinters, and a pair from each distance. Unfortunately this includes the Tandem of Maria Wojtkowiak & Stefan Wojtkowiak (cap 1026). We don't have much information on why riders have scratched, but hope they are all ok, and will be back on the bike soon. 

With the two disqualified riders, that brings us to 24 riders no longer in the race. Just under a quarter of the total that started back on Saturday Morning. This was always going to be a tough race, especially at the full distance, and unfortunately this number is likely to only increase. 

Tomorrow the Ferry will once again run from Stavoren to Enkhuizen, as well the one from Hoek van Holland to Maasvlakte. This ferry also doesn't run on Mondays, giving our first 3 riders a bonus 50km tour through Rotterdam. But the weather will change. The Dutch weather institute, KNMI, has issued a code Yellow weather warning for strong winds, hail, and rain over much of the country for Tuesday, tho it will be more severe in the south. This will predominently effect riders at the pointy end more than anyone else. A Meteorologist from Buienradar (a popular weather radar app in the Netherlands) said that the storms won't come to much in Noord Holland, Friesland, and the Wadden sea. He went on to say that the worst of the weather will hit Noord-Brabant, Zeeland, (as well as Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel tho they have less impact on the race at this stage).

Good luck to everyone out there. Ride strong. 


Day 3 - All change 

![The women of RATN-GX](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6FcB79WImsNbkFtPnFvFtv/b2d096323101ce2272518996e721e28b/Women-Of-RatnGX.jpg)

On Saturday morning the riders of RATN-GX lined up outside Cafe de proloog in Amerongen ready to embark on their 1932km adventure. Ten minutes before the race was due to start, the women of RATN-GX gathered in front of everyone else for a photo. This has happened every year since 2020, and is now a RATN tradition.

Photo over, race organiser Michael Wacker lead his own mountain bike into the centre of the square, while holding a big RATN flag.

"Who wants to ride some bikes?" He cried to the assembled riders who responded with a cheer. 

Accompanied by a cacophony of loud clicks as the riders clipped in, he lead the peloton into the first corner and the next 500m or so to the first switch back barrier.

As the square emptied, two riders remained. Studying their phones intently. I wandered over.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yes, we're just booking a couple of hotels" They replied.

"ooh, someone's read and understood the rules" 

It's not allowed to book accommodation before the race starts. That might convey an unfair advantage. But there's nothing that says as the clock strikes 0700, you can't take your phone out, fire up a well know Dutch hotel booking app, and book your bed for the next night(s). 

![A room for two.](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1V7rtDkiuPa1Z5DwbO5pKB/e8bc1d60bb1a3254365fad179c80808a/Booking-pair.jpg)

Booking done, they saddled up, and hit the road. Calm descended once more upon cafe de prologue, and the Dotwatching began. 

And wow. It's been an eventful 36 hours. Before the start there was some debate if anyone would be able to make it to the ferry at Stavoren before the last ferry departed at 1825 on Sunday. Turns out the answer to that is yes. 

![Screen shot from the tracker showing rides 52 and 90 on the Ferry](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4WwdsX1PzxcBhMtkacuzuc/4c31bf3cadf23f95d92744426961f51f/Screenshot-dots.png)

It was nail biting to watch. Richard Jansen (cap 90) arrived at the ferry first just before 1400. This gave him a few minutes to relax before the ferry left at 1425. Hot on his tails was Gereon Tewes (cap 52), who arrived with barely 5 minutes before the ferry departed. He really was cutting it very fine. I may  have been hitting refresh a lot to see if his tracker would be on the ferry when it left. Fortunately for him, it was. This gave the two a new start on the west side of the IJsselmeer. With the ferry to Texel as their next deadline. They both caught the same ferry from Den Helder, and it looks like they even have the same hotel on the island. They have to stay there now until dawn as the race does not allow the Texel section to be ridden at night. Niels Ihrman (cap 80) was the only other rider to get a ferry on Sunday. He got the later 1825 ferry, meaning he didn't make it to Den Helder in time for the last ferry. He's now stopped in Den Helder for an enforced rest until the first ferry at 0630. 

For anyone arriving in Stavoren between now and 1025 on Tuesday morning, they have a choice of either riding the extra 110km, or finding somewhere to rest until the first available ferry. 

![Tandem In Motion - Maria and Stefan Wojtkowiak (cap 1026)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4sf3myc9Yh3y00tySE3ysL/1c07bd6078c20d715abf32d53b2f9756/Tandem-In-Motion.jpg)

Elsewhere in the field, its been a bit of a baptism of fire. At the time of writing there are a total of 14 scratches. These include Casper van Wijck (cap 48), who's bamboo bike suffered a failure on day 1. Surprisingly it was not the recently repaired top tube that failed, but a failure of the downtube where it meets the aluminium lug. Casper seemed to be taking it well, has gone home, picked up his road bike, and gone off for a different adventure. 

Aafke Soet put in a strong day 1, making it to the 210km mark before finding a campsite for the night. Sunday she made it to the 400km mark before scratching. It's not known what caused her scratch. 

Fiona Sharp (cap 7) has made it to a hotel in Groningen, making camp after 260km on Saturday evening, before an early start before dawn on Sunday. 

Maureen van den Wijngaart (cap 27) did a 180km day to Doesburg, before getting up pretty early Sunday to push on. Sunday brought her to 345km. At the time of writing her average speed is still above that needed to complete even the long version (she's on the Sprint distance), so she's making great progress. 

In the pairs, Michele and Markus Linz (caps 24 and 21 respectively) scratched on Saturday, having made it 140km. Reason for the scratch is not known, but we hope both are ok. 

Maria and Stefan Wojtkowiak (cap 1026) on their tandem, have made it to 420km and look to have a hotel for the night, however they left the route at the 370km mark. What this means for their race is unknown. 

Others with creative routing choices are Daniel Stephenson (cap 50), who's light weight bike, and 28mm tyres have been having a bit of an adventure. He ran out of spare inner tubes on Saturday, but managed to find a mobile bike mechanic who could bring out some new tubes for him. His routing is a little creative, he briefly ducked into Groningen where his dot stopped briefly at a hotel before continuing on. 

While the overwhelming memory for riders of the road edition is the sheep along the north coast. For the gravel edition it's going to be the sand. Comments like "the veluwe sand pit" have been used by riders, and Timo Klok (part of pair 4144) posted a video of him emptying the sand out of his shoe.

The prolonged dry weather has turned a lot of the surfaces to dust. This can make things very interesting, esp with the Pavé sections in Drenthe, where riders may be tempted to move off the cobbles onto the surface next to it, only to find it's deep sand. That dry weather is not going to last. The blue skies of Saturday were replaced on Sunday by a layer of cloud, for which the Dutch word Sluierbewolking is very apt. Literally translation is veil clouds. Weather radar shows the occasional very light shower, on Sunday, but no riders have reported any rain. That will change on Monday and into Tuesday. Buienradar is not quite able to make up its mind on the forecast, varying between 10mm and 20mm of rain at some point between Monday evening and Tuesday night. How that comes, where it arrives, and when could completely change the character of an already very tough race. When it arrives it will bring with it a scent called Petrichor. This is caused by a substance called Geosmin, which is produced by bacteria in the soil. Humans can smell this at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion. (for reference, sharks can smell blood at about 1 part per million). This means riders will be able to smell the rain coming. There's just nothing they can do about it.

### Q&A

A number of people have asked if it's possible for a rider to start on the full distance then change their mind and take the shorter distance route. The answer from Michael Wacker the race organiseer is No. They can of course choose to change their route, but they won't be given a time, instead being listed as "Finisher (out of classification), this is the same as happens if half a pair scratches and one rider continues. 

I'll be back on Monday evening with another update. 

Day 1 (+½) - A Ferry nice 36 hours.

Friday saw the riders of RATN-GX gather in Amerongen for the bike check. All riders are required to have their bike checked to make sure it's safe, with all the required reflective material, PPE, and working lights. This year helping out at the bike check we had 3 previous riders of the road edition, Jair Hoogland (3rd, 2020), Lennart Nap (1st 2022), and myself (2nd, 2019). Jair and Lennart checked over the bikes leaving me to interview riders, and take photos. 

There were no absolute clangers this year (one rider forgot their front wheel in a previous year), but a few riders had to add more reflective material, or go get their helmet they had left in the car, and in a couple of cases go buy another rear light and a bell. Races Around the Netherland are relatively unique in the ultra cycling world in that they do not limit riders to only using a typical diamond framed upwrong. Road editions have had riders on recumbents, and this year's unusual bike takes the form of a Tandem. This caused a little bit of confusion for the one doing the bike check, is it one form per rider, or one form per bike. Normally it's a 1:1 relationship so hadn't come up before (we settled on one form for the whole bike, but put both cap numbers at the top).

![Tandem and it's riders. (1026)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6dVXmiDSn8PkSdEvNBDO9i/3d9591cb3946de973394cff48b99d72e/Tandem-1026.jpg)

When asked if they would hold it above their heads for the photo, I got a polite no due to it's 30kg weight. Maria and Stefan told how they got a Tandem so that it was easier for them to ride together. The bike is a Duratec Big Bang Gravel Tandem, running Schwalbe Almotion 40-622 tyres. Because of the weight of two riders and luggage, they have to operate these at close to their max pressure. The tyres were chosen as some of the only ones that can handle the system weight. For stopping they have 200mm discs on the front, and 180 on the rear. 

When asked if they were planning to camp or use hotels. They said mostly bivvi with the odd hotel.

"One bivvi bag or two?"

"Two, it's lighter"

I asked Maria "What's it like riding on the back with no control?"

"When I'm scared I close my eyes and it's OK"

"How do you coordinate the bike?"

"If one wants to stop, we stop. If you have any conflicts, you shouldn't ride a tandem. 

"What's your strategy"

"Try for 200km a day and finish in 6 days"

When asked how they planned to tackle the hills of Limburg their reply was simple. 

"We're taking the sprint version, so we can avoid those" 

"Anything specific about the tandem that makes an event like this harder?"

"We have to carry more spares as bike shops don't typically carry tandem parts."

Having a tandem in the race is quite a novelty, and it will be interesting to see how they get on with some of the gates and switch back barriers. Maria and Stefan are caps 1026 on the tracker. 

Elsewhere in the field, due to DNS's, Fiona Sharp (Cap 7) from Yorkshire is the only woman who's doing the full length version. This is Fiona's 3rd Ultra distance event, having ridden All Points North twice, and London Edinburgh London once. When asked on her strategy she said.

"I need 4 hours sleep, so I'm aiming for more hotels than sleeping out. I have a tent rather than a bivvi bag" 

"Any bits of the route you're looking forward to?"

"I'm just looking forward to finishing" 

![Fiona Sharp](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5WeRxlw5NjIyKGItJp5qXn/fb713031bc6dc6e1790542a2439e9b2c/Fiona.jpg)

In the sprint edition Aafke Soet (cap 81) is a former pro cyclist who's giving ultra racing a go. The former Jumbo-Visma rider was European U23 TT Champion, as well as coming 2nd in the European U23 Road race championship. Aafke is also unique in being the first rider of a RATN race who's got her own [wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aafke_Soet). When asked what her strategy was for the race, the young rider from Friesland, responded "200km a day, and just have fun". Aafke is riding a Sour Purple haze with 53mm wide 650b tubeless tyres.

![Aafke Soet](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/15To2tqZjGHkuXz3mPwE8C/de254635e7a9c224d8542350cb5908a9/Aafke.jpg)

Aafke also wins the award for least tyre clearance. Hopefully this won't cause problems if there's rain and the course turns to mud. 

![Who needs tyre clearance? ](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7fCpmzqV79lwrv9LlMhKf1/c5a6a676a4aacb26a0ef63d3011d44cd/Clearance.jpg)

Aafke is joined on the solo sprint distance by Maureen van den Wijngaart (cap 27). Maureen lives relatively locally and turned up to the bike check in a beautiful summer dress. When asked if she was going to wear a dress for the race, the answer was no. (Lael Wilcox won the trans am wearing cotton tshirts, so a dress isn't too far out...) 

![Maureen van den Wijngaart](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/KZoHIYxRYF9hvTfKAUhKU/f5012fa7936325613e63e3376d475042/Maureen.jpg)

The rider who had travelled the furthest to get to the race is Indian rider Mudit Kohli (cap 79). Mudit is in Europe for a longer tour and is doing RATN-GX in the middle of it. 

![Mudit Kohli](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5hTB8TlyP66RWzXVug9bXQ/24f76dfc08642df4e6dd0204af7055f9/Mudit.jpg)

Olivier Maillard brightened up the bike check, arriving in a quiet period between rushes, and bringing with him an excellent sense of humour to tease the bike checkers. 

![Olivier Maillard](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3PAbCdL2b8zRQsHx7nyRv2/540fd94218791c96c56a669d8590e131/Olivier.jpg)

The heat, coupled with the relative remoteness of the route lead to some riders having creative solutions to hydration. Patrick Bruns (cap 94) was the rider who seems to be carrying the most water, with a total of 6L. (2x 2L stainless steel bottles, plus a 2L hydration bladder). 

![Lots of Water](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1FZA7mBfukmj5aXIP4Giol/79293ef55e7da136a7b016b4dba59c59/LotsOfWater.jpg)

Other creative solutions included the 3.4L frame mounted water tank on Folkert Zwiers' (cap 34) bike. Folkert has also added a nice #RATNGX branding across the tank. 

![Frame Bottle](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/15ZiJBIkPSL2NMiF4Zcu9k/e9094e28e9e51cc624ecdbd86cabf77b/FrameBottle.jpg)

Creative luggage solutions were also evident, with Geert Toenders (cap 54) making his own rear pannier bags out of Ducttape. 

![Ducttape panniers](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/21cpoLUSkfpBcLqCi9VIeQ/c97f2bdbcd5856e98194ea2ddc7f72c3/Ducttape.jpg)

And for those of you with the standard ultra race bingo card, yes there was custom carbon fibre... One rider has a custom carbon fibre frame on the front of the bike to hold a GPS and lights. 

![Custom Carbon accessory frame](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2aIjTdu2ASldaWoKRvMhWb/65473be61a4e35ff62dd1615cdf5d223/CustomCarbon.jpg)

Why have just custom luggage, or accessories when you can build your own bike? Casper van Wijck (cap 48), is riding his self made Bamboo bike. The bike is made from Bamboo tubes, with aluminium lugs. Casper is a little concerned about the frame, as he's had to repair a small crack where the top tube meets the lug. He hopes the repair is strong enough. 

![A Bamboo bike](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4eIdRY36UnhwWBuqZl2zaR/c23581640a7ddbf739c8b6b1fb8e523a/Bamboo.jpg)

A hot topic among riders was the choice of tyres. The widest tyres I found were the 53mm 650b tyres on Aafke's bike, at the other end of the range Daniel Stephenson (cap 50) is riding 28mm continental GP5000s. He wasn't the only one on GP5000's, with two others running them in 32mm. Daniel is running a very light weight configuration. The comments from everyone at the bike check about his brave choice, left him feeling rather nervous. But after riding the first 10km of the route (and back again), he was feeling a lot more relaxed about the road ahead. The narrow tyres will give him a strong advantage on tarmac, but he's going to have to walk a lot of the more marginal sand. 

![Daniel Stephenson (cap 50)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2HavkDLhcT58ulB2Ri8VPn/a8145fc763bdcf4b4dd8c401e5f819dd/Daniel.jpg)

All riders who had completed registration on Friday got away safely on Saturday morning, we'll return soon to give an update on the first day and a half. Ride strong! 

Day 0 - Check, check, and check again

After five successful years of the on-road Race Around The Netherlands, Michael Wacker of Adventure Bike Racing has decided it's time to mix things up with a bit of gravel. 

While named Gravel edition, only about 30% of the 1932km route is off road, with a multitude of different surface types covered under the umbrella term of Gravel.

This post serves as an introduction to the route and terrain, while a further intro will go up shortly after the start with an intro to the riders (once I've had a chance to interview as many as possible at the bike check). 

## TLDR

The short summary for RATN GX is two races in one, there is the long form 1932km full distance event, as well as the shorter 1230km "sprint" version. Both distances have the same time cut off. Of 1800 CEST on June 26th, and the same 0700 start on June 17th. This gives riders 9 days and 11 hours to complete the distance. That means an average speed of 8.5kph and 5.4kph respectively. There are some ferries along the way. The main ones are Stavoren to Enkhuizen, and Den Helder to Texel. There is also an additional ferry at Maarsland for riders on the full distance.

The ferries could really mix up the pack, and lead to interesting strategy calls. The Stavoren/Enkhuizen ferry doesn't run on Mondays,and only runs 3 times a day at 1025, 1425, and 1825 the rest of the week. It also does not run on Mondays, which may effect the pointy end of the race. Riders missing the 1825 Ferry are going to be given the difficult choice of either bedding down for the night, get a really good rest, and then get on the 1025 ferry the next morning, or ride an extra 110km the long way round via Flevoland. Which choice the riders make will depend by how much they miss the ferry. 

For Den Helder it's a lot simpler, the ferry runs every hour from 0630 to 2130 from the mainland, and comes back every hour from 0600 to 2100. The catch here is that riders are not allowed to ride at night on Texel, other than a short run to a hotel or campsite. This means if they do get the last ferry, they will have to then bed down somewhere and wait until dawn to start riding. 

This brings us to the other major feature of this event. Because it connects up lots of national parks, the route takes in some of the most beautiful parts of the Netherlands. The catch is that it's not allowed to ride in the national parks during the hours of darkness. This is to minimise disturbance of the local wildlife. There are official detours for all of the route sections that go through the national parks. There is much debate as to if these diversions may be faster due to surface conditions, but ultimately by riding them riders will miss out on the best bits of the whole event. This is one of the reasons the event is happening in June, unlike the road edition's normal May slot. To maximise the available day light. Sunrise and sunset on Sunday in Amsterdam are 0518 to 2205. Giving just under 17 hours of day light. The whole of the section after the Sprint route diverts can only be tackled in day light. 

With the logistics of the route mostly covered, let's look at where the route goes. 

## Land of Wind and Sand

"Gravel? In the Netherlands? isn't it all just reclaimed land?"

"No."

Forget everything you think you know about Dutch cycling. This route takes us off the beaten track to see some of the most beautiful parts the Netherlands has to offer. 

In order to fully appreciate what's behind the route for this edition of RATN-GX, it's worth a quick recap of the geology of the Netherlands. 

At the height of the last ice age, a giant ice sheet covered northern Europe, and pushed ahead of it a pile of material, mostly ground up rock, sand and gravel. This terminal moraine to give it the fancy name was left at the southern most reach of the ice sheet when the ice melted. Part of this continent wide heap of material ended it's journey in what is now the Netherlands. These days it's given the name of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, which then leads into the Veluwe, and takes the form of a low ridge of hills starting at Utrecht and heading roughly east across to where it's cut away by the River IJssel. But while the bulk of this moraine is the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, the ice sheet, and the material it deposited is what provides the canvas upon which the route for RATN-GX is painted.

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=42163829&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

We start off as is tradition, at Cafe de Proloog in Amerongen, on the south side of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Rather than the usual mad dash up the Amerongseberg of the road edition, we go straight across the road into the woods, and their sandy roads. This sets the tone for much of the first few hundred kilometers. The route zigs and zags all over the place connecting up every bit of interesting cycling that can be found. Taking in various bits of national park, tho skipping National Park Hoge Veluwe which is visited by the road edition. The route skirts near the grounds of the royal palace Het Loo, heading for the national park Veluwezoom. This is a land of mostly coniferous forest, and heather covered heath land. 

![Nationaal Park Veluwezoom](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1jWEELatj3Xgb6jlLFRBlQ/8f16ebb420d3874c2e23252e6ff703fa/Q3206633.JPG)

After leaving the Veluwe we now head to the border with Germany near Winterswijk, before heading back north for the Holterberg, but unlike the road edition, here the route takes the offroad route through the trees. Heading north towards Drenthe. 

![A road in Drenthe](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6LZrxMQWe8TG5ro2pbFyqk/b14ec6050759954397bb5a01413b31fc/Drenthe-Wet.jpg)

As well as the big pile of ground up material the ice sheet pushed in front of it, it also brought larger bolders along for the ride. Called erratics, these boulders are very out of place in a land mostly made of of sand. And so it is that people of the Funnelbeaker Culture collected these giant boulders in Neolithic times, and used them to build burial chambers. Thousands of years later when they were discovered, these giant arrangements of rocks surprised the locals, who named them Hunebed (plural hunebedden), or Giant's bed. There's over 50 of them so far found mostly in Drenthe, with a few in Groningen. The race routes through Drenthe pass by 2 of these monuments (one on the day only route, one on the night only route). 

![A Hunebedden](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/SktKozk5Dsdwn6mGINP7a/3b3452a137f934d7927e06e17e19bd3d/Hunebedden.jpg)

As well as monuments made of rocks, the route through Drenthe gives us some pavé sectors. Watchers of the Ronde Van Drenthe race will be familiar with these Pavé sectors, but for riders who might not expect it, they will be a bone jaring wake up call. 

![Drenthe Pavé](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5bBMjkusBQfLWjJk6uMKNc/b66ae98f28434b4e986e01652f4c306e/Drenthe-Pave.jpg)

This section is also where riders will find one of two possible hike a bike sections. When I scouted the route out in May I turned back on part of it as it was very boggy and I was out for a relaxing Sunday ride in search of icecream, and not racing. Riders won't have that option. However, given it's not rained in over 34 days, the section may have dried out and become more passable. While there is a detour available for this section if riding at night, it is very beautiful, with lots of wildlife. When scouting in May, I almost ran over a snake on the section just west of Hoogeveen. It slid off into the undergrowth just in time. 

After Drenthe, the route crosses over into the province of Groningen, tho it manages to avoid going into the city of Groningen, instead skirting round it and heading for the Northernmost point of the Dutch mainland. Where we turn left and head west along the Dijk that seperates this polder from the sea beyond. Those familiar with the road edition will be all to aware of what it's like to cycle here. (Sheep anyone?). Tho the road surface is pretty good here, the exposed nature to anything other than a Northerly or Easterly wind can make this section feel like hell. 

Just before Lauwersoog we turn inland and head for Friesland. For Millenia this area was below sea level, and subject to the whims of time and tide. But the people of the Frisian tribes built a life here, building settlements on raised mounds called Terps, many of these were raided for their fertile soil when the land around them was reclaimed, but a few remain as isolated hills in an otherwise pancake flat landscape. Just west of Drachten there is another option of a short ferry across the water, or a 22km detour for riders who are too late. And that bring us to Stavoren and the ferry across the IJsselmeer. 

Once an open inlet to the North Sea, the area was closed off by the Afsluitdijk in the 1930's. The ferry from Stavoren in Friesland docks in West Friesland in the town of Enkhuizen. This is one of the few times where the route shares the road with the non gravel edition, even if it's for only a couple of kilometers.

Crossing West Friesland, which is in Noord Holland. (For the curious Oost Friesland is in what is now Germany) the route passes the town of Anna Paulowna, which is named after the Russian wife of the King Williem II of the Netherlands. Onwards to Den Helder, to lands end, and the ferry to Texel.

As well as the mainland of the Netherlands, there are a number of Islands in the Waddensea, along the North coast. Of these Texel is by far the largest of them, and the only inhabited island in the province of Noord Holland. The route takes for a lap of the island, taking in the best bits of scenery, and another section of hike a bike at the Northern most tip by the light house. Riders are not allowed to ride this 80km section at night. 

Back on the mainland. For anyone who's done RATN before the section south from Den helder will be familiar, tho the route avoids most of the roads, choosing instead the sandy gravel roads through the dunes. Just south of Zandvoort those opting for the sprint distance hand a left and head east for Amerongen. A ferry at Maasland allows riders to skip Rotterdam. But for those who miss the last ferry there's a 57km detour available. 

Zeeland brings us the all too familiar Delta works. One of the engineering wonders of the world, and built in response to the flooding from the great storm of 1953. 

![QB164268](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/65YPpRXu65ar5DlVTUw4mb/44d65315b52aaf63488c7a52246308db/QB164268.JPG)

From Zeeland to Limburg the route will feel almost familiar, yet at the same time discombobulating. Averting the roads to take a more scenic route, along fast rolling hard packed fire roads, a bit of single track, and even the odd section of pavé. We also get to visit Belgium a few times along this section. Various parts of this section have detours for riding at night, Esp around Kempen, Valkenswaard, and Roermond. 

Limburg, the bit most riders dread. Arriving at the hilly bit of the Netherlands with 1600km in your legs, is tough, arriving there with 1600km in your legs and realising you get to do those famour climbs off road, that's gonna sting. The route skips into Germany on it's way into the Limburg hills, as well as again multiple times on the way North. 

At 1655km mark the route hits the top of the Vaalserberg. 322.6m above sea level and the highest point of the European Netherlands. It's all down hill from here. But by an exceedingly circuitous route. Throwing in single track, Pavé, sand, and gravel. This section is going to be utterly brutal. 

While the road edition follows the bottom of the Maas river valley (mostly), north from Limburg, the gravel edition chooses instead to follow the slight line of sand dunes on the east bank. The aptly named Maasduinen. 

Finally at Nijmegen we cross the first branch of the Rhine, the Waal, followed by the Nederrijn at Rhenen. After what feels like the worlds longest red light on the north end of the bridge at Rhenen, there's a sting in the tail, as the route turns away from the nice segregated path along the main road, instead choosing to cross over the Utrechtse Heuvelrug it started with to come back into Amergonen on the same ~4km  of path it used to start, over 1900km ago. 

Hopefully if you've stuck with us all the way to this point you've got a better view of what the course has to offer. It's going to be incredibly hard, even with a longer cut off time than the road edition for a similar distance, it's going to be tough, even for the pointy end to make the time cut. The ferries add an additional extra logistical challenge. 

In terms of equipment, the race manual recommends 40mm tyres as a minimum. We'll see at bike check if the riders have headed this advice or not. I rode a few sections of the route earlier this year using slick continental GP5000 tyres in 32mm and it was not the best choice, I had to push anything sandy, which was quite a lot. 

When it comes to weather, The Netherlands is currently experiencing the longest drought it's ever experienced, by the time the race starts it will be over 36 days since there was last measurable rain. For a country that has a prevailing wind usually from the southwest, the wind has been predominantly from the North for the last few weeks. The weather forecast shows that this may change on Monday evening, bringing Westerlies, and with it 10-17mm of rain (depending which forecast you look at), along with thunderstorms. Heavy rain has the potential to completely change the character of large sections of the route. What might be fast rolling in the dry, is likely to become a sticky quagmire in the wet. Just an extra dimension to the fun. 

The heat is also going to make hydration even more important. The race manual recommends carrying 2.5L of water, but with a forecast of 30°C on Sunday, this may not be enough. There are lots of public water taps in the Netherlands, but they are mostly concentrated in the west and south, Drenthe, Groningen, and Friesland are going to be a supply headache for riders. There is a public water tap at most Dutch stations, but the route avoids most of them. But don't be surprised if a knowledgable rider shows up detouring to a station, they may just be in search of water. 

That brings us to the end of the intro to the Race Around The Netherlands Gravel Edition intro post. I'll be back shortly after the start with a post about the riders (once I've interviewed them at the bike check). Followed by regular updates through the race. 

Good luck to all those riding, and for those following at home, if you're looking for a cycling holiday, I can recommend picking a section of the route (or take off 3 weeks and do it all as a tour), it really is very pretty. 

Julia Freeman

Race Around the Netherlands Gravel GX 2023 Tracking + Commentary: This year the Race Around the Netherlands will hit the gravel tracks. Staying true to its nature with flat fast sections, this time you'll just need a little more tyre to tackle this gravel race.

Race Around the Netherlands Gravel GX 2023 Tracking

This year the Race Around the Netherlands will hit the gravel tracks. Staying true to its nature with flat fast sections, this time you'll just need a little more tyre to tackle this gravel race.

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Race Around the Netherlands GX 2023

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