2016
D a y t w o: S l o t e n- W o r k u m 4 5. 5 k m s Starting off by going partly back over the Slotermeer, followed by another two lakes, this day was slightly windier with a nasty side chop making for a gruelling heat. At the rest stop, after conquering Lake Moira, I wanted to quit. This was because my feet were killing me and my body was aching all over. A note to other SUPers: when on endurance paddles stand on your board for eight hours to check that the deck padding is comfortable!
Photo: Mayola Dijksmman / SUP11 City Tour
D a y o n e: L e e u w a r d e n- S l o t e n 4 3. 3 k m s This paddle is mostly over rivers and a few canals, with various bridges to go under either in a crouch, on your knees or even on your stomach with very little clearance. There was the first bell to ring at Ljlst. The last 4km is over the Slotermeer – an inland lake that last year had white caps and they had to close because of bad weather and lightning storms. This year it was flat, becalmed and a nice easy paddle.
I finished the route in 8:24.15 which was 30 minutes faster than last year.
After a pep talk from my support team, some lunch, a cool drink and some lovely Dutch Appeltaart, I got back on my board. After crossing the lake and taking a longer break than planned I was behind schedule to ring the bell at Hindelopen. My friend Valarie Hirshfield and I had to paddle hard otherwise we would miss the 5pm cut off time. With both our husbands rallying round and spurring us on we made the bell with only six minutes to spare. Two other paddlers weren’ t as lucky and were pulled from the race.
With the bell out of the way we had a nice easy one hour glide until the finish of the day. I completed this section in 8:57.14.
D a y t h r e e: W o r k u m- F r a n e k e r 4 1. 6 k m s Day three has two more bells, both of which are easy to reach by the 5pm cut off as they are just before and after the rest stop. Without ringing all five bells you cannot get your‘ het gouden kruisje’( golden cross), something that is revered within Holland.
This day saw us sweeping along one of the great canals in Holland near a very big lock which opens up into the Ljselmeer. This is a major shipping lane that has container ships and barges travelling down it. These cause large wakes which makes SUPing down the canal very hairy and not for the faint of heart. As I was doing the 11 Cities Tour and not the race, I was allowed to do part of this kneeling down; unfortunately the race paddlers are NOT allowed to kneel for more than five strokes making their job a lot harder.
Photo: Matthew Killgallon
47 s t a n d u p p a d d l e m a g u k