Hi Mike,
Skating is a big thing, over here. As one of our most popular sports, speedskating draws large crowds. Some 40,000 spectators saw Dutchman Sven Kramer become European Champion this weekend.
However, our winters are getting warmer. The last time the ice was thick enough for people to skate on, was allmost 12 years ago. Thousands of people travel abroad each year to skate (Sweden, Austria, Finland, even Canada). So, when news came this weekend that most tours were "open", literally hundreds of thousands Dutch, men, women and children, took their skates and went out for a great day out. It was a party all day, with live coverage on radio and t.v.
So I decided to include some Dutch Ice Updates on the forum. I figured that when you run out of ideas for the Outcasts or the Haddo Armada, maybe you can have a skatingday on the loch. If you can't fish it, skate it
(And me? After spending hours on our local 400 m skating ring practising my technique, skating a lot of miles indoors every year to be prepared when the day comes, I'm down with the flue.
Not just any flue mind you, noooo, a serious flue with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, extreme musclepains etc. Hopefully it doesn't take another 12 years for the ice to return
)
Enjoy the ice, guys!
Jeroen