Raciedecember 18, 2022Last tuesday, the 13th, what was jokingly called the winter time trial even though we all know ice and snow in December is a product of delusions, somehow did in fact turn into a winter time trial! The night before temperatures dropped to a staggering -4 degrees here in our own Wageningen, whilst most people had already sharpened their ice skates a select few knew the importance of this time trial. Thankfully for everyone the RaCie decided to store the crazy ideas of triple laps on the Grebbeberg or endurance time trials for later this year, a simple lap Binnenveld was on the menu. A clean lap, only right handers whenever they were available, no chance for traffic, only for slippery corners. At a temperature of -1 C, 4 brave men and 1 brave woman lined the start. Our ITT prodigy Tjalle, the most feared of all. Before him it seems like the old 9th board had some time left and were all but 1 present, although Ties only took the times. So with 3 starting, would it be possible to beat the established champion? The only woman, Roseanne will for sure be the favourite with these uncontested points. But there is plenty of talent and the cycling year is still to start. Ofcourse with this weather it wasn’t all for naught, as the RaCie had made sure Hot Choco was present as a reward! Big thanks to Yoram for increasing his energy bill for the greater good! MenTimePointsTjalle14:505,1Jelle15:554Yoram18:203Ingmar23:002WomenTimePointsRoseanne18:455,1RaCie ITT – 13-12-2022 [...] Read more...
Axijuli 3, 2021Just before the summer holiday, the AXI organized the yearly Hellingproof barbeque on the field near Hoevestein. A record amount of 40 hungry Hellingprofs appeared and enjoyed the buffet prepared by the AXI members. The couscous salad was very popular, or was it nasi? On top of all the salad stuff, grill master Jip flamed the meat and Jelmer turned around the vegetarian burgers. He was a bit sad this was without spectacular flames and noises, but the result was suburb. After the food it was time to play a very dangerous football game. Like on the European championships, every now and then there was a drinking break. Only difference: this was with semi-cold Schultenbrau, which influenced the football skills for some reason. Nobody broke a leg, so that was positive. Luckily there were some award ceremonies in the meantime. The timetrial and sprint competition winners received a nicely renovated award by the board with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. The sprint classification by the men was won by Max, while Els won the women’s competition. The time trial classification trophy for the women was won by Eline, whereas Jetze claimed the overall win for the men. Other winners where the participants of the Longest day challenge. Nadja and Sofie got real Hellingproof pasta and a Kwaremont beer for their longest ride. When the food was finished, the prizes where divided, the darkness started to fall over us and the beer started to work, it was bonfire time. Bart showed he can burn everything if he wants, so that’s what happened. Chairs, cupboards and so on. The diehards stayed until the early hours, and luckily everyone managed to arrive home. Some did needed a small detour in the bushes to kiss the earth, or a small break on a bus station, but all in all it was a nice closure of the cycling season of this academic year. [...] Read more...
Raciemei 19, 2021On Saturday the 17th of April the very first omnium of the Racie took place on the Race track in Ede. The sun was shining, the music was playing, birds were singing, coffee was served and everybody was very excited. The first people started to arrive at 9 AM and started to explore the challenging track. The track was extended because of the addition of a parking lot and had a lot of sharp corners. Everybody seemed to really like the different race-components, which were a time trial, point race, reverse time trail and knock out race. The lunch also was very huge success with more then enough food for everybody. The jelly sandwich was enjoyed the most, with great surprise to some of the Racie members. The head of the races with the men mostly included Wouter, Jetze and Alger. Is was not a surprise to see these men on the podium afterwards, with Wouter first, Jetze second and Alger third. With the women it was a really close race. In the end, Els managed to beat Nadja with only 0.1 points! Vera manage to get third place. After the award ceremony a lot of people helped cleaning up, moving fences and putting tables back inside, which the Racie was very grateful for! It is safe to say that this Omnium was a huge success and will surely be repeated in the future! [...] Read more...
Racieapril 22, 2021Thursday the 22nd of April was the first time trial of the year with the classical Rondje Defensieweg: a tricky time trial of about 10km in hilly terrain. The favourate for the men was Tjalle, who had won the time trial classification the past years and who in his humbleness still bothers to return his leaders jearsey at the end of every year. The favourite for the women was Judith, who had proven that she can ride at least as fast as her sister. Both favourites did not disappoint despite the enormous pressure that was laying on their shoulders and Tjalle and Judith both took the win with a considerable margin of 1:15 and 1:26 on the number two, respectively. Bas and Bart gained the other podium spots in the men’s time trial, while Eline and Els took a nice second and third place in the women’s time trial. Overall there were a lot of fast times during this first time trial, which is promising for the coming time trials! [...] Read more...
Axiapril 20, 2021Whereas normally the easter weekend would take place in Germany, this was not doable this year due corona. The AXI was looking for an EGGciting alternative for the easter weekend. Luckily, they found one, which even included a little bit of Germany. Sehr wünderbar!  On Friday challenges were done during the Bike&borrel route in the surroundings of Wageningen. On one of the posts, all riders made their outfit easter proof with bunny ears. Especially Alger brought back the easter spirit with ears almost as long as the route itself.   With these beautiful ears attached to their helmets, the hellingprofs went of a search for eggs in the woods of Lunteren with even some “special eggs “ hidden among them! After all the hard work the members received a delicious borrel package for the online meeting in the evening. Here, the best pictures of the day were reviewed and there was time for everybody to catch up with each other.  The next day, it was time for not just a ride but for the one and only Stage Shultenbrau!  This beautiful stage brought us in pairs through a variety of landscapes. We cycled through the beautiful betuwe, visited the ancient woods near Groesbeek and even make some kilometers in the province of Limburg. A few kilometers before we crossed the border with Germany a coffee stop was provided with apple pie! Energized by the delicious apple pie, the route brought us via Nijmegen back to Wageningen.  After this great trainingsweekend, everybody was ready for a new cycling season full of beautiful rides, coffee stops with pie, tanlines, tensive cycling events on tv, cold radlers after a long and warm rides, legs full of lactic acid, “rondje brug” with the wind in the back and ofcourse many hellingproof activities!  [...] Read more...
Axiapril 15, 2021True winners. True Lords of the Spring. To get ready for April cycling month, the AXI prepared 3 weeks of challenges during the Lord of the Springs – The return of the cycling season. Challenges contained amongst others climbing the steep Fountain mountain, crossing the Rhine at least 6 times in one ride, introducing people to cycling, making an Eifeltower in elevation meters and making Strava art. The team of Gijs, Bart, Vera and Tristan destroyed the competition by going all-in at ALL challenges. They must have too much time. The winners deserved a basket with beers, “bandjes” and bites, kindly provided by our sponsors @loburg and @racefietsfluisteraar. Huge thanks to them! Winner Gijs also wanted to thank his parents. Without them he would not have reached this milestone. The only thing Bart could say was “Winner winner chicken diner!!”. Well done winners! Let’s keep challenging.   [...] Read more...
Boardmaart 12, 2021We have very exiting news for you. Starting next week, the 16th of march we have a NEW training hour on tuesday. Not just another training we already know, but a brand new training type. We are going to train on track on this new tuesday training. This will be on the track of WV Ede. During this training hour their will be a focus on interval and high intensity training as well as more bike handeling and cycling technique. This is really an addition if you want train for your first student cup, train full power, what is not safe possible on the road or inprove your bike handeling. The training will be from 17.30 till 18.30 on the track of of WV Ede, but we will leave the Bongerd at 17.00 to cycle in small groups to Ede. This training will be an addition to our normal training hour on monday and wednesday. These will continue as soon as possible. You can subscribe to the trainig on our event page [...] Read more...
Boardmaart 7, 2021February 27, 2021 Previous weekend our Hellingprofs kicked off the touring season in the Elfstedentocht! Eh, I mean Elst-Ede-tocht. In this 100K ride they passed Elst (GLD), Elst (UT) and Ede. Just like in the real Elfstedentocht, the route was variable and had tiny roads, long straight and boring strokes with headwind, sometimes you had to go straight through a village and of course there was a stop with Koek en Zopie! In groups of two (=coronaproof!) the Hellingprofs started each 15 minutes at sport centrum the Bongerd to minimalize the chance of blending with other duos and forming a peloton. Then the tour could begin! First they went to Heteren, crossing the river Rhine and entering the region Overbetuwe. The Hellingprofs had to endure some cobblestone paths in Elst (GLD) as the route was straight through the village! After that they came along the Betuwelijn, then went back towards the river Rhine and via the dykes entering Rhenen. Until then no elevation, just easily warming up. But then they entered Utrecht and its forestry and hilly environment. Luckily our Hellingprofs didn’t had to endure this very long because the koek and zopie was close-by! The estate Zuylestein in Leersum kindly let us make use of their beautiful garden where our cyclists could take a rest after their first 65K. Our balhoofd Jetze baked a very tasty apple pie and Vera showed off with a 10L pan filled with snert (typical Dutch pea soup). Since Hellingproof was allowed to make use of the kitchen everyone was provided with hot snert, coffee and a piece of apple pie. They sat there out of the wind, with the sun in their faces: they never looked happier. It felt like summer, like touring! After the refueling, our heroes went off again, via the dykes to Wijk bij Duurstede and then conquering the hills in Amerongen. Finally they reached familiar ground again when seeing the road signs “Veenendaal” and “Ede”. When finished in Wageningen, some of them even bought an ice cream! If that isn’t a perfect way to close the day… We are all looking forward to the rest of the upcoming touring season, but nobody will take this day from us anymore. For one day we had the luxury of riding a tour with a cafe-like stop in between, everything almost felt normal again 🙂 [...] Read more...
Boardseptember 23, 2019In het weekend van 5/6 oktober is het weer tijd voor het jaarlijkse introductie weekend van Hellingproof. De Axi heeft al een mooi programma samengesteld voor het weekend en dit zal er als volgt uitzien:   Zaterdag 5 Oktober: Fietsspeurtocht door de omgeving in twee groepen. 10:00 verzamelen voor de bongerd Quiz en borrelen op de bongerd, vanaf 15:00 Gezamenlijk eten op de Haarweg en de legendarische beerpong kunsten van je mede hellingprofs aanschouwen. 19:00 verzamelen op de Haarweg. (Adres wordt nog bekend gemaakt) Zondag 6 Oktober: Samen brunchen op de bongerd om 12:00 (zodat er genoeg tijd is om de vorige avond te verwerken ;)), neem ook allemaal je lekkerste ontbijt ingredient mee! Nadat de maagjes goed gevuld zijn is het tijd voor het legendarische rondje Posbank inclusief koffiestop natuurlijk Er zijn geen kosten aan het introductie weekend verbonden, des te meer een reden om te komen. Zoals te zien staat er weer een heel leuk introductie weekend voor je klaar en ben je nou net lid van Hellingproof dan is dit de manier om je mede Hellingprofs beter te leren kennen! Ben je inmiddels al doorgewinterde Hellingprof en al onderdeel geworden van het Hellingproof meubilair? Wees niet bang, ook dan mag je komen! Wij hebben al veel zin in het introductie weekend en hopen veel Hellingprofs en potentiële Hellingprofs te zien op het introductie weekend! Groetjes, De Axi P.S. Het zou fijn zijn als je ons laat weten of je komt, welke dagen/dag door ons een mailtje te sturen. Als je mee eet en vegetarisch/veganistisch bent of bepaalde allergieën hebt, laat dat dan s.v.p. ook even weten :). [...] Read more...
Boardjuni 24, 2019On Sunday the 23rd of June the student cup of Utrecht took place. The student races started with the women’s race, in which Sigrid and Anna participated. During the race Sigrid was easy pedalling in the bunch and even had enough time to photograph Tjalle eating some unhealthy food: Anna didn’t manage to see this ‘act of crime’ by Tjalle during the race but at the end of the race she still sprinted to a nice 5th place! Afterwards it was time for the men without license. After about 15 minutes this race was stopped due to a large crash, in which luckily no Hellingprofs were badly injured. After the re-start the Domrenner (Utrecht), who were with a lot of riders, tried to control the race. However they weren’t successful, since Harmen managed to escape and drop his fellow escapee. This led him to his first student cup victory! Behind him, the Hellingproof train was on fire, which resulted in a 2nd place for Robin and a 3rd place for Bram. A first every Hellingproof clean sweap in the student cup! [...] Read more...
Boardjuni 21, 2019Thursday 20th of June there was the yearly and already famous Hellingproof BBQ to celebrate that it is almost time for the summer holidays. This year the BBQ didn’t take place at Hoevestein but near the earth houses at Haarweg. Harmen provided some nice goat meat, while the Axi made sure that there was also enough food for the vegetarian Hellingprofs. After everyone had eaten their belly round, it was time for a game of Hellingproof football. Not to confuse with normal football, since Hellingproof football is a lot more aggressive (Onno). Last year there were people with severe injuries from the BBQ football game. This year it was only limited by some bruises (or maybe this means that the game was not played well enough). Afterwards everyone recovered from the effort and enjoyed some more drinks. It was a very successful and ‘gezellige’ BBQ and we’re looking forward to next years BBQ! [...] Read more...
Boardjuni 6, 2019On Wednesday the 5th of June the first ever Hellingproof club championships took place at the track of AXA Veenendaal. We kicked off with the women’s race. The first few laps the bunch stayed together although there were several attacks. However, after some time Anouk thought it was time to attack and she never saw the bunch again and took the win! The rest of the peloton sprinted for the other podium spots. Vera took the second place and Sonja sprinted to the third place.   The non-licence and licence men raced together during the club championships. The race kicked off with a high pace instantly. That’s why the peloton was already ripped apart after a few laps. During the race lots of attacks took place, Jetze accounted for more than half of them. But the attacks didn’t result in anything. However at the end of the race a small group managed to escape what was left of the peloton. This group sprinted for the win and this resulted in Bram sprinting to the first place with a few lengths and Harmen sprinted to the second place just before Jetze.   Afterwards, the ceremony took place in Café Loburg while we enjoyed some well-deserved drinks. [...] Read more...
Boardmei 24, 2019Saturday 18th of May a large delegation of Hellingprofs participated in the student cup Amsterdam. A week after the hills of the student cup Maastricht, the non-climbers saw opportunities to excellerate this time. The first race of the day was the men without license. Again a huge amount of Hellingprofs joined this race which was amazing to see! From the start on several Hellingprofs tried to escape. Eventually Robin managed to get in the breakaway with 2 others. The gap was not big and Max saw an opportunity to close the gap on his own and he joined Robin. However, there was no one from Mercurius (the other power block in the peloton) in the breakaway: Mercurius kept a high pace in the peloton and thus the gap was never too big. Sadly, there was a nastry crash near the end of the race in which both Alger and Filip were involved. Filip had crashed badly and had to go the hospital for a broken colarbone. We hope that Filip has a speedy recovery and hope to see him on the road again soon! Even after this bad crash the race went on and Robin managed to win, with a nice 4th place for Max! After the men without license it was time for the women’s race. Unfortunately there were no Hellingprofs joining the women’s race, but luckily we got reinforcement from IJzersterk to make sure the Hellingproof colours were still represented during the race! The last race of the day was the men with license. The pace was very high from the beginning and there were several attempts for a breakaway. Eventually, a breakaway of 3 riders formed with Jetze in it and they got quite a big lead on the peloton. However, Tjalle started to get bored and started chasing the 3 leaders on his own. In his vroom-vroom style he was riding very fast (maybe even D2). Eventually, Tjalle had closed the gap to 10 seconds. However he didn’t get any closer and he prepared himself for a nice chasse patate. In the end, Jetze took a nice 3rd place on the podium! Bas, who managed to escape with a small group in the end became 6th. A nice spot on the podium for Jetze   We’re very proud that every student cup there are so many Hellingprofs enthusiastic for racing! And we want to thank Peerenboom Fietsen for borrowing their van to transport our bicycles! [...] Read more...
Boardmei 13, 2019The 12th of May Hellingproof travelled all the way to Maastricht in the ‘far south’ of the Netherlands for the studentcup of Maastricht. The studentcup of Maastricht or better known as ‘de ronde van Wolder’ is always one of the hardest races of the year, because of its hilly track. However, with a name like Hellingproof we couldn’t ride unnoticed in a race like this ?. First of all, it was time for the men’s race without license. With a staggering number of thirteen riders, the Hellingproof colors were widespread throughout the peloton. Our hellingprof Bram started this race wearing the leaders jersey, so we started with the task of defending the leaders jersey. The race immediately kicked off explosively and this made it tough to keep up with peloton. Several riders already had to chase the peloton and couldn’t get back anymore during the first laps and this continued during the race. After a few laps a few riders escaped the bunch, including Bram and the Dutch champion Guus Schutte. This started out as a promising breakaway with a few strong riders. Sadly, a crash in the breakaway made it all disappear and Bram abandoned the race and he was not able anymore to defend the leaders jersey. On the bright side, he was not injured badly. With everyone back again in the bunch the pace was still kept high which made it difficult to escape the peloton. However, a few laps before the end of the race a couple of riders managed to escape the peloton including Jesper! This breakaway managed to stay away till the end of the race and they sprinted for the win. Jesper sprinted to a 5th place which he can be proud of! The riders in the depleted peloton still sprinted for a spot in the top 10. Three more Hellingprofs managed to sprint to a spot in the top 10. Robin, Alger and Max managed to sprint to the 8th, 9th and 10th place. Despite some bad luck during this race for our leader Bram, Hellingproof still did a descent job. After the men’s race without licence it was time for the women to race. Sadly, due to injury’s for several of our female Hellingprofs, Hellingproof didn’t compete in this race. After the women’s race it was time for the last race of the day, the men with licence. With three Hellingprofs at the start, Jetze, Bas en Tjalle, Hellingproof had some strong riders at the start. However, hellingprof Jake who was in first place of the GC of the men with licence didn’t start this race due to obligations on the other side of the channel. This race also started with a crazy pace which made a tough race immediately. After just three laps Tjalle managed to escape the bunch with another rider. They formed a breakaway that managed to stay in front of the peloton with a gap that differed from lap to lap, sometimes it looked like they would be caught again but the peloton couldn’t close the gap. Tjalle felt very strong during this race and he almost always rode uphill in first place with a dazzling speed. Somewhere halfway in to race Jetze unfortunately got a flat and his race was over. With a few laps to go the other rider of the breakaway couldn’t keep up with Tjalle’s pace anymore. So, Tjalle was on his own for the last few laps. These last few laps were very exciting because the peloton got closer and closer to Tjalle, but it still looked like he would stay out in front till the end. Sadly, with crossing the finish line for the second last time Tjalle got caught by the bunch. Eventually the race ended in a peloton sprint, Bas started sprinting quite early but he couldn’t sprint to a spot on the podium. The last race of the day was an exciting one and it looked like to end well for Hellingproof, but not all dreams come true ?. However, we are proud of our riders and it was nice to see so many Hellingprofs racing! We would also like to thank Peerenboom Fietsen for using their van to transport our bicycles! The Hellingproof squad at the student cup Maastricht [...] Read more...
Boardapril 23, 2019During Easter it was time for our yearly training weekend. This year it all took place in the Eifel in Germany. At Good Friday 19th of April, 27 Hellingprofs decided to join for this long weekend. Early in the morning Tjalle, Bart, Jesper, Jetze, Jake and Robin started cycling there to make sure they were already nicely warmed up for the rest of the weekend. Tjalle, Bart, Jesper, Jetze an Jake having a drink during their warming up ride   All the others gathered in front of Hoevestein at 10.30 to pack the luggage, bicycles, and themselves in all the cars. Having arrived in the Eifel a few hours later, a nicely located and large house awaited the Hellingprofs! A nice sunny lunch in the garden   After a short lunch all the cyclists went for an exploration ride of about 60 km, and Susan and Olivier went for a ride on the MTB. It soon became clear that the climbers would be in their element this weekend because there were a lot of nice short but steep climbs in the surroundings. A room filled with beautiful bicycles   The next day everyone woke up early to make a nice 140 or 90 km ride with a lot of altitude meters. The weather was beautiful and some Hellingprofs even seemed to enjoy themselves so much that they started to look for some undiscovered paths. Or maybe there’s a reason these paths are still undiscovered   After the ride there was a run for the showers because there was only limited warm water. The last one’s to shower had a hard time because they had ice cold water. However Bas, who is used to showering at least half an hour, was smart enough to find out that he could warm up some water with the kettle to still have some quality showering time. On Sunday there were a few groups riding different distances. There were again some off road paths taken followed by some punctures. However luckily without any fallen trees this time. The weather was again very nice so there was plenty of time to increase the enjoyment-of-life coefficient that day. Hellingprofs out in the sun   Having returned to the house, the Amstel Gold Race was still on and the Hellingprofs gathered to watch the final during which Mathieu van der Poel managed to win impressively! In the evening there was a pubquiz with questions about German facts, geography, and music. In the last category about Hellingproof, the answers to the questions were the Hellingprofs themselves. On Monday there was only time for a short ride, although there were again some nice off road paths (and its corresponding punctures). However a puncture is not that bad when being in the sun with a nice view on the German scenery. Strade Bianche in Germany   Tjalle, Bart, Jesper, Jetze, Jake and Filip went for a cooling down ride back to Wageningen while the others cleaned everything and went back to Wageningen by car. It was a very successful weekend and a very good start of the season! [...] Read more...
Boardapril 7, 2019On Sunday 24th of March the first student cup of the season took place in Delft! Of course, many Hellingprofs participated here to kick off the season. First of all, the women’s race took place. Several of our female Hellingproof riders (Sigrid, Susan and Els) started in this race. Sigrid even escaped from the bunch a little while but it sadly didn’t pay off. They ended up in 9th, 10th and 13th place. After the women’s race it was time for the men’s race without license. 11 Hellingprofs competed in this race! It was an exciting race, with an almost Hellingproof only podium as a result! Hellingproof sadly didn’t win the race but we ended up in 2nd (Harmen) and 3th (Robin) place. However, this was still a result to be proud of!! Last of all, it was time for the men’s race with licence. Four of our Hellingprofs (Bas, Tjalle, Bart and Jake) participated in this race. It was an exciting race with some pretty hard and nice racing. At a certain moment in the race Tjalle and Bas both escaped the peloton, Jake (riding his first race in Hellingproof colors) just stayed cruising in front of the peloton, this was of great help for the escape of Bas&Tjalle! Bas&Tjalle even doubled the bunch with their breakaway! However, their efforts didn’t get them a place on the podium, but they still did a great job finishing 4th and 6th (Jake and Bart finished at 13th and 14th place). After all, it was a nice day of racing to kick off the season, which resulted in some pretty good results for Hellingproof! Harmen and Robin together on the podium!   Max enjoying the race maybe a bit too much 😉   Els and Sigrid in the women’s peloton   On Saturday 31th of March our squad went to Enschede for another student cup. The weather was lovely and morale was high. The men without licence and the women had to ride first (at the same time!). Sigrid and Els represented the women and although Sigrid tried a brave move into the breakaway it sadly was not enough, so they could not fight for the top spots. The men without licence were with a huge number again and even could match the numbers of the men from Klein Verzet! Jesper and Max tried to get in the breakaway as well and although they managed that, the bunch caught them back again. Then Bram also tried and he got in he right breakaway. He never saw the bunch again and he sprinted to an awesome 2nd place! In the men’s with licence race we had 3 men present. In the beginning Jake managed to get in the breakaway but he got caught. Another breakaway formed and no Hellingprof was present. Jetze and Tjalle rode for their lives to get them back and they managed to set Jake up for a final sprint. And what an awesome sprint he did. He secured third place and maybe even more important: the first place in the general classification! Jake on the podium with the the Hellingproof flag!   Last Saturday the Hellingproof squad didn’t have to travel far because it was time for the Hellingproof student cup! The morale was even higher than last week due to our successes during the studentencup in Enschede and the fact that it was a ‘home game’ this time. The men without license kicked off the day. Hellingproof was well presented in this race with thirteen riders, with two of them, Arnau and Levien, riding their first race and they did a great job. It was an exciting race with lots of attacks containing several Hellingprofs, However none of these attacks formed a breakaway that could keep it up till the end. So the race ended in a bunch sprint in which Bram managed to sprint again for a spot on the podium, the 3th place this time, and Robin sprinted to a well-deserved 4th place. Moreover, Bram also secured the first place in the general classification! After the men without licence had kicked off the day it was time for the women’s race. Anouk, Ehlana, and Susan represented the women this time. After a few laps three women, including Anouk, formed a breakaway and the bunch didn’t manage to catch them. The breakaway ended up in a sprint in which Anouk sprinted to an awesome 2nd place! The men with license closed off the day. It looked like the race would become pretty boring, because a breakaway of three riders, including Jake, was formed and never caught back again by the bunch. However, the race still became exciting. The breakaway managed to get a lead of almost one minute after a bit more than halfway into the race. Then some riders in the peloton thought it was also time to launch an attack. These attacks split up the bunch into two pieces and the lead of the breakaway started to reduce bit by bit. However, the second group, including Bas&Tjalle didn’t managed to reduce the gap any further than half a minute. At the end of the race the breakaway even doubled the last group. The guys of the breakaway kept riding along with this last group, which meant the second group started to reduce the gap again. However, for Tjalle the pace of the second group wasn’t high enough. So, he launched a very powerful attack during the last few rounds. Due to the gambling of the riders from the breakaway and Tjalle his powerful attack, Tjalle managed to get closer and closer to the breakaway. But sadly it wasn’t enough for him. However Jake was still in the breakaway and when they started to sprint, Jake immediately got in front and won the sprint with a few lengths! Tjalle ended up in a well-deserved 4th place. Last week after the race it was wrongly said to Jake that he took the overall lead in the classification (this wasn’t the case according to the point system). However, with his win he rightfully secured the overall lead in the classification this time. So, overall it was a great day for Hellingproof with a spot on the podium in every race and taking home two leaders jerseys. We also want to thank all the volunteers that helped us out Saturday! Jake showing everyone how to win a sprint   Anouk on the second spot of the podium   Jake and Bram both taking home the leaders jersey of their category [...] Read more...
Boardmaart 17, 2019On March 16 our second Hellingproof track day took Place. A nice presence of no less than 12 Hellingprofs arrived at the Velodrome In Amsterdam, all in time, Alger too, despite the fact that public transportation in the big city can be a bit complicated for a Frisian country boy. The Hellingprofs can’t wait to start cycling on the track   Bas, Alger and Luuk were present last year, but for the others it was their first time at the track. After picking a bike, choosing the right saddle height and some problems whit the clamps of the seat post we were ready to go. Also this year the father of chairman Bas Overdevest was the instructor of the day. After a safety briefing the first assignment was to ride a hole lap at the wooden hill of the track. However this year nobody had a Rutgertje. After most of us rode some laps and experienced the steep corners it was time for a real exercises. Riding line in line on a constant speed, every whistle the first person had to be at the finish line. For some, too enthusiastic Hellingprofs this was despite it sounds easy a big challenge. Of course this year we had our Hellingproof Sprint tournament! The Hellingproof sprint tournament consisted of a 200 meters flying lap. Beforehand everyone was told that it would be very difficult to hold the shortest black line, because of all the forces. And it was, if you think we make a joke, just ask Tjalle. After a short instruction from the Hellingrproof chairman himself about the perfect lines to come to the highest speed it was time for action. That’s nicely against the shortest black line!   Making altitude on the track     The results were very nice, a lot of fast times: Bas 12,90 Job 13,30 Alger 13,40 Jesper 13,67 Luuk 13,86 Jetze 14,25 Pieter 14,34 Jeroen 14,39 Jorn 14,76 Arnou 15,20 Anne 15,27 Ehlana 18,32   It was a day in which a lot of Hellingprofs could experience a whole new discipline of cycling. We all updated our bike skills for coming student cup races. After the good workout, it was time for some drinks and share some new insights. [...] Read more...
Boardfebruari 11, 2019February 3 on Sunday, 9 Hellingprofs woke up very early to start their training week in Spain. Job, Jeroen, Luuk and Tjalle had to come from distant places throughout the country and already left the safeguard of their beds in the middle of the night in order to arrive on time at Schiphol airport. Alger, Rik, Talis, Bas and Gijs travelled to Amsterdam a day earlier to crash a night at Bas’ parents place. Talis, Rik and Gijs having absolutely no problems waking up early in the morning   Content with the hospitality of Bas’ parents (sorry about Alger who emptied most of your supplies miss Overdevest) but still in shock about the brutal farewell of Robèrt in ‘Who is the mole?’, these 5 Hellingprofs could have a good rest until 4.30 in the morning. At that time Luuk joined these 5 Hellingprofs, which makes 6 Hellingprofs, and they all walked to the bus stop where they were picked up by the bus. Waiting for the bus in the early morning in Amsterdam   Still half asleep, they were surprised, not only about how many ‘Amsterdammers’ woke up this early in the morning because the bus to the airport was very full, but also about how much of this story about their week in Spain is actually just about their voyage to the airport, which is probably significantly less interesting than the training week itself. Let’s therefore just skip the boring airplane-being-crammed-in-a-small-space-like-a-chicken part and go 1000 km to the south to the beautiful warm southern Spain. After reaching their hotel in Ronda, the Hellingprofs decided to do a nice ride of about 50 km to explore the area. Soon enough, they discovered that the temperatures in Spain were good enough to wear short clothes. However it was also important to integrate with the local Spaniards, and therefore they decided to all wear winter clothes. Only Jeroen refusing to integrate with the Spanish locals with his shorts   They were enjoying the sun and the nice views. All this enjoying lead to Tjalle’s already famous statement: “I’m pregnant of sunshine”. Tjalle and Bas being pregnant of sunshine (and beer)   In the evening a nice pasta meal was being prepared for them by Flavio, an Italian because the Hellingprofs already integrated enough with the Spaniards. On Monday, the Hellingprofs had the opportunity to catch up a bit with their sleep. After everyone managed to get out of bed, they departed for a ride of about 85 km to Las Palomas. The nice thing about this ride was that there was a beautiful climb of 12 km called in it, called the Puerto de las Palomas. Tjalle, Bas, Alger, and Talis immediately went onto the attack from the first kilometre during this climb. However, Talis soon found out that the Tjalles immense power was too much and he went on in his own rhythm. Even Bas eventually had to let go of the back wheel of Tjalle. Alger was still very fresh but got a flat tire at an unfortunate moment and therefore Tjalle the beast arrived first at the top. Bas, Gijs (where did he come from?) and Talis arrived second, third and fourth. All Hellingprofs made it to the top of El Puerto de las Palomas   After almost falling asleep at a sunny terrace, the Hellingprofs descended back to Ronda. After dinner, there was still time for a nice drink at a local bar. On Tuesday the weather was even better than the first two days! So a lot of Hellingprofs decided to forsake their intention of integrating with the Spaniards and went riding with shorts. Job and Rik went on a ride of about 60 km and other profs for a ride of 100 km. It didn’t last long before people also started riding without arm sleeves, which ensured that all the Spaniards walking by had a strange look on their face when seeing the profs. In a small town Bas made sure to organise a nice criterium with some steep parts and stairs, where everyone didn’t have a choice but to walk. Hellingprofs cycling stairs   On Wednesday it was time for a rest day. A few Hellingprofs decided to still go for a short ride, however in a slow pace. This was possible until a 25% cobble stone climb that was apparently fun to ride. However most of the rest day was spent enjoying a drink in the sun, exploring the city of Ronda, or spending time in a not-further-to-be-mentioned fast-food restaurant with excellent burgers. The not-further-to-be-mentioned fastfood restaurant being a few meters away from the hotel   In the evening, it was time to watch El Clasico in the local Irish pub. Everyone was enjoying himself, (almost) professional swimmer Jeroen so much that he even started drinking beer! Don’t do it, Jeroen (niet doen!)   On Thursday most Hellingprofs were tired and didn’t want to climb anymore so they went for a (Spanish) flat round of 160 km. Bas and Tjalle however were still motivated enough to make a little detour to Las Palomas to try and beat their climbing time of the second day. But they were much slower than during the second day, probably because that had spent too much of there energy in the first days of the week. Job and Rik however decided to do a ride with some nice climbs. Job even managed to beat his climbing time to Las Palomas with several minutes. Job and Rik still smiling at the end of the training week   After all Hellingprofs were back into the hotel, everyone tried to eat all the burned calories. There were several good tactics to do this. For example, there was the Rik-method: eating chicken nuggets in that fastfood restaurant with the excellent burgers, then giving dinner to Jeroen or Alger to save space for another round at the Burgerking (oops… not sponsored). However there also was the Jeroen method: just eating everything! But the most effective method was from Tjalle: getting someone to feed yourself so that even calories are saved by not having the effort of moving your hands when taking in food. Tjalle playing it smart to save energy   On Friday, the last riding day of the week, all Hellingprofs together decided to make a ride of 90 km through a small Smurf village in which all the buildings were painted blue. There even was a statue of Big Smurf, and the Hellingprofs off course wanted a picture with this legendary TV icon. However, this peaceful picture moment was interrupted because rumours were going around in the village that there were Hellingprofs. Next moment, there was a line of hysterical local Hellingproof fans that wanted to go on a picture with the Hellingprofs. It has once more been proven that even in Spain Hellingprofs are very popular. Is Tjalle doing his impression of Iljo Keisse?!   Saturday was unfortunately already our last day in Spain. However to make sure to recover well from the trainings, Bas had arranged a luxurious flight back to Holland. Overall, our second ever training week in Spain was again a successful one (this time luckily without any knee injuries), which had given the Hellingprofs a nice preparation for coming year!   Hasta el proximo año! (Totos volgendos jaros!) [...] Read more...
Boardjanuari 14, 2019The weekend of the 12th and 13th of January, we organized our first ever members weekend. On Saturday the 12th in the afternoon we started with playing some sports at the Bongerd. During the first sport, ‘knotsball’, everyone was determined to show that Hellingprofs are also capable of doing sports off the bike. This resulted in a very exciting game, although no one really cared about the score because off course it was all just about the fun we had. However, everyone was still very competitive and this resulted in a slight hand injury from Olivier. After this nice game of ‘knotsball’, we started playing basketball. Although these are both ball sports, the dynamics of the game were very different: Susan discovered that she had chosen the wrong sport because literally every shot she took landed in the basket. However, we’re still very happy that Susan joined Hellingproof in the first place! Martijn also trying to show off, but not as successful as Susan off course   Last but not least, we played a few games of dodgeball. This was primary school all over again. The games were exciting till the end and the winning shot was a head shot, which shows the amazing hand-eye coordination of Hellingprofs. In the evening, we made a nice dinner consisting of cheese (credits to Onno), with a little bit of pasta and vegetables. After this, the board game evening could begin: we kicked off with several games of Black Stories, during which we tested the imagination of Hellingprofs. This wasn’t so good, so soon we proceeded playing His&Hers. We discovered that the questions were very stigmatizing about the sexes (and mostly not correct), but what else could you expect of such a high quality game. However, we discovered this too late (while we were in too deep) and therefore we had to finish it. Onno went almost crazy, and the women team (+ Alger and Roeland) apparently weren’t aware of the Big Bang Theory which resulted in the win for the men’s team. Bas reading a card that was definitely not about anything sexual   The next day, we went by car to watch the Dutch National Championships of cyclo-cross at Huijbergen. Off course we were very excited about the men’s race because we had absolutely no idea who would take the win there. However first it was time for the women’s race. This race was quite exciting because there were several women like Lucinda Brand, Marianne Vos, and Annemarie Worst would could all take the win. After an exciting race, Lucinda Brand was able to prolong her title with a fair lead to Marianne Vos who ended in second place. Lucinda Brand going way too fast to be properly photographed   In between the races we discovered that the track was much more difficult than we thought it was, and that explained the huge differences during the women’s race. We also had a look at the material of Mathieu van der Poel (an outsider for winning the men’s race), and saw that van der Poel senior was as focused about the materials as his son was about the race. We were astonished by the result of the men’s race since some outsider (a guy named van der Pool) took the win. However, we still had a good time and enjoyed the ambiance of cyclo-cross! A nice impression of the ambiance   Hellingprofs enjoying cyclo-cross     Alno [...] Read more...
Boardjanuari 10, 2019To have an excellent start of the year, we had our annual new years drink with our friend from IJzersterk at the 9th of January in Loburg. Off course the occasional snacks like ‘oliebollen’ and ‘appelbeignets’ were provided. After everyone had joined (except Bahlana), it was time to start the most prestigious contest of the year: the ‘deepsit’ competition. It was a very exciting contest during which again Hellingprofs showed that they can beet the ice skaters at their own contest. However, Els’ amazing technique wasn’t enough to keep Kerstin from IJzersterk from grabbing the win in the women’s contest. Els trying out her new technique, but unfortunately she didn’t succeed   The men’s contest was rightfully won by the one and only Talis Bosma with a time of 7 minutes and 30 seconds! Talis going for the win while Onno is encouraging him by drinking a beer [...] Read more...
Boarddecember 27, 2018Thursday 6 December we celebrated Sinterbaas. Unfortunately, Sinterbaas himself couldn’t be there because he was still recovering from his birthday party at 5 December. Especially Harmen was very sad about this, because he also missed the Saint at our Pubquiz. Despite of this, Sinterbaas still managed to provide our Hellingprofs with a lot of presents.   The ‘tension is to cut’ at the start of the gift game   Before everyone could start grabbing, stealing, switching and opening presents, Sinterbaas’ head Pete Niels had an important message for all the new Hellingproof members. Because it is such a nice message, it will be provided in this cycling mail. Thereafter, the gift unwrapping game began and within a roller coaster of emotions, no one was certain of what presents they were getting until the very last moment. Only Robin, a master in playing games, managed to end up with his gift of preference, a 2 L shampoo bottle from the Action. What present would be on top of Jake’s head? It remains a mystery   At the end, everyone ended up with a present they were happy with, a present they were unhappy with, or nothing. Luckily the only thing that mattered was that we all had a great time and that is a present no one can ever take away from us. For the people who want to read back the ‘short’ message of head Pete Niels, here it is:   Een kort berichtje van de Hoofdpiet Wat een ellende dit. Ik had er zo naar uitgekeken dit koude kloteland keurig op 5 december stipt te verlaten, maar nu moet ik ook nog speciaal voor Hellingproof hier blijven, Ik wil terug naar de Costa om te bakken op het strand met de Pieten, Sint en Spaanse wijven. Iedereen die denkt dat we donker zijn van het roet van de schoorsteen heeft het bij het verkeerde end, Als ik lees over die domme kinderen in het Grote Boek dan ben ik dat inmiddels wel gewend.   Over naar de orde van de dag te laat, Laten we eens gaan kijken hoe het met de Hellingprofs gaat. Er zijn de laatste jaren zoveel nieuwe mensen bij de vereniging, Dat het tijd wordt voor een grote hereniging.   Ik zal jullie wat geheimen uit het Grote Boek gaan verklappen, Zodat de nieuwelingen Hellingproof beter gaan snappen. Laten we beginnen met de vastgeroeste oude garde, De mensen die de naam van Hellingproof met die van Antilope verwarde.   Op het raakvlak van sport en biologie had het toen zomaar mis kunnen gaan, Dan hadden we hier nu als Antilopers gestaan. Vraag maar na bij Bart als je er meer over wilt weten, De Schone man van wie je je afvroeg hoe die ook alweer heette.   De namen van iedereen ga je nog wel een keertje leren kennen, Hoe eerder je er mee begint, des te sneller ga je er aan wennen. Als je nu denkt dat je iedereen al kent en alles denkt te weten, Dan ga je volgend jaar van 20 nieuwe mensen moeten vragen hoe ze heten. De Sinterbaas is een van de andere oudgedienden, Afgestudeerd inmiddels zijn al zijn toenmalige vrienden. Zelf loopt hij nog wat in zijn studententijd te geiten, Geintjes en lol trappen is dat wat voor hem pleitte.   Aan mijn advies als Hoofdpiet aan hem is te merken, Dat hij wat harder aan zijn studie moet gaan werken. Het komt niemand wat dat betreft vanzelf aanwaaien, Aan zijn werk als melker zie je echter: ‘het is een taaie’.   Zijn meissie is de laatste vrouwelijke Hellingproof bestuurder, Daarom is de contributie dit jaar ook niet duurder. Een vrouw zonder gat in haar hand zie je maar zelden, Misschien moeten ze zich vaker in de wiskundeles melden.   Uit het eerste jaar is verder ook Vera nog aanwezig, Zij is nu met haar stage in de dierentuin bezig. Mocht je nieuw zijn dit jaar moet je haar zeker ontmoeten, Doe haar dan direct mijn hartelijke liefde en groeten.   Liefde is ook wat Hellingprofs elkaar niet genoeg kunnen geven, Het blijkt dat je van het fietsen naar elkaar toe kan zweven. Naast Hagrid; de combi van Sinterbaas en zijn wijf, Zijn er met Bahlana, Sobin, Nels en Bronno in totaal vijf.   Voor de nieuwe leden van afgelopen jaren betekent dit, Dat het naast het fietsen ook met de liefde wel goed zit. Commerciepiet raadde mij daarom aan, Om met Datingbureau Hellingproof de markt op te gaan.   Relaties veranderen echter niets aan het geluk op de fiets, Dat is oprecht en het is voor iedereen iets. Dat je moet koesteren en moet blijven waarderen, Zodat het je blijft ontspannen tussendoor bij het leren.   Het leven op de universiteit is namelijk zwaar, Vraag dat maar na aan Robin waar, Het zoeken naar een stage bewust opgerekt is zodat die vent, Alles op alles kon stellen op zoek naar winst in het SWN klassement.   De vereniging die zijn eerste lustrum net gevierd heeft, Biedt een basis waar iedereen vrijheid, plezier en enthousiasme beleeft. Dat we dit samen mee hebben mogen maken maakt mij als Hoofdpiet trots en blij, Wees daarom actief, onderneem en voel je vrij.   Het doet mijn Pietenhartje daarom goed, Dat Nienke in de laatste wielermail de vereniging voedt. Met nieuwe inzichten en proactief handelen, Zodat wij gezamenlijk de goede kant op blijven wandelen.   Als ik stiekem in jullie app-groep infiltreer en daar dan zie, Dat er heel wat leuke avonturen zijn zoals deze drie. Ik zie daar dan de zwoele blikken van Paula, een verkrampte Bas en huisgenoten met gebroken botten, Daaruit blijkt dat het toch niet altijd even goed wilt vlotten.   De avonturen van Paula als boerin in wording hebben jullie op de voet gevolgd, Al blijft het jammer dat ze Wim niet heeft verzwolgd. Het had zo leuk geweest om bij het volgende lustrum man, Boer-zoekt-vrouw baby’s rond te hebben lopen waar men mee kon spelen dan.   De krampen van Bas tonen een gedreven inzet, Zelfs voor plek acht op het NSK doet hij het. All-in is dat wat hij als nieuwe voorzitter ook zal doen voor Hellingproof, Wat een kutwoord om op te rijmen trouwens. Als je huisgenoot thuiskomt met gebroken botten, Kun je wel zeggen dat het ritje niet echt wilde vlotten. Een understatement misschien hoor ik je denken, Maar dan wil ik je toch nog wel iets dichterbij wenken. Om te benadrukken dat het fietsen veilig moet zijn, ook bij ons, Op training om geen aanspraak te maken op je ziekenfons.   Over Fons gesproken, die kan ook Lucky de Derde wezen, In dat geval hoef je alleen een zangcarrière te vrezen. Dit slaat nergens meer op dus ik ga het hier bij laten, Dan hoef ik verder ook geen onzin meer te praten.   Voor iedereen zal dit een betere oplossing bieden, Dan rest mij verder niets dan jullie lieden. Nog heel veel plezier en geluk te wensen voor komend seizoen, Zodat ik volgend jaar net zo blij dit weer kan doen.   Geniet van de mooie activiteiten die Hellingproof heeft, Zorg dat je samen met de andere Profs avonturen beleeft. Let op elkander, geniet, blijf nieuwsgierig en content, Zodat je zo vaak mogelijk op training bent.     Vergeet daarnaast niet om ook naar de after-trainings te gaan, Zodat de avonden bij het GNSK niet meer in de weg staan. Ik wil hiermee niet aanzetten tot alcoholmisbruik, alhoewel misschien toch, Water en thee gaat ook vervelen en dan nog.   De foto’s van het eerste lustrum laten zien, Dat juist het bestuur zich graag voorziet van misschien. Een klein biertje op zijn tijd, of een wijntje tegen het versloffen, Maar koffie en stroopwafels blijven onovertroffen. Tot volgend jaar lieve mensen, Rest mij niets dan jullie het beste te wensen.   Hoofdpiet [...] Read more...
Boardoktober 26, 2018Lustrum opening party At Tuesday 13th of November, we started our Lustrum activities with an opening party at Annies Kroeg. The evening started well with the special reveal of our new loan bike. Everyone who wants to try out cycling with Hellingproof during the start of the new season can enjoy this beautiful bike. The beautiful new loan bike shining in the spotlights at Annies Kroeg   After everyone was finished admiring the bike, people started to play fun games with each other like ‘Stef Stuntpiloot’, ‘foosball’ and ‘beerpong’. However, it is not possible to describe the fun the Hellingprofs had that evening in words. Therefore, we will show it with some nice pictures: As always, Hellingprofs are training for the next beerpong tournament that is coming up   Ehlana, Alger en Gijs enjoying the evening   Tjalle obviously enjoying his evening as well     Onno cherishing his special beers   Bart telling a joke, Robin laughing but Alger finding the joke quite offensive Spinning lesson from Filip The day after, everyone could recover from the night before by the special Lustrum spinning lesson from Filip. Almost the entire spinning room was full of Hellingprofs so we are very proud of the turn-out, showing that our association has grown a lot over the past years! With our own (Sigrids) songs, everybody had a reason to push it to the limits, while being motivated by Filips encouragements. Unfortunately, not all people in the Bongerd could enjoy our songs as much as we did 😉 Filip breathless while trying to shout over his own music   After the spinning lesson, there was a drink with our friends from IJzersterk. Our birthday party was of course celebrated with cake. Escaperoom The Thursday of the first Lustrum week, some Hellingprofs had the opportunity to join an escaperoom experience in Wageningen. There were two different escape rooms: the crazy farmer and the prisoner of war. The crazy farmers were very dedicated to prevent the ‘crazy farmer’ from destroying the world by his dangerous invention. Because of the astonishing teamwork, this group was the first team getting out of their escape room. The other team had more trouble in their ‘war bunker’. At a certain time close to the end there was an error in the escaperoom, but they still managed to get out in time. However the crazy farmer team had to wait a very long time for the other team, so they started to play a nice game of pool to kill the time. They almost managed to finish a whole pooling competition while waiting. Both teams brotherly standing next to each other after the intense experience they just had Lustrum ride On the 18th of November we had our special lustrum ride. Although all the side activities were very nice, as a real cycling association you must host a special ride to celebrate your lustrum. There was only one place where you could go during such a special occasion: The Posbank. So, on a bitterly cold morning we started our journey with a group of about 15 people (rather conspicuously the female-male ratio was 0). Although it was really cold, the sun was shining brightly and after a while it became quite comfortable on the bike (some people disagree though). Eventually, we reached the gigantic summit of the Posbank and we decided that we needed to celebrate that as well with a cup of coffee and some cake. Bravely we decided to sit outside, but that was probably not so smart. When we got on the bike again everyone was frozen to the bone. After a few hours riding we reached Wageningen again and we could look back upon a very nice day. No photos were taken during the ride. Therefore this polar bear is shown, who nicely reflects the terrible cold that was conquered that day Hellingproof pubquiz The second Lustrum week started with a special Hellingproof pubquiz at Loburg. Beforehand, a special guest was announced and rumours were going around on who it was. People were thinking about Annemiek van Vleuten, Casper, or maybe even Jan-Willem van Schip. However no one guessed it right, because the special guest was even better than anyone could have ever imagined: it was Sinterbaas! Sinterbaas giving a thumbs up to all the Hellingprofs   It was an exciting pubquiz, and it was a ‘neck to neck’ race with some teams competing for victory. Eventually, one team did so well in the last round that they ended up in the lead with 69 points, way ahead of the second place. Team Der Mitgliedcoördinator receiving their prize Fancy dinner The final activity of the Lustrum celebrations was the fancy dinner at Villa Brutus in Ede. As cyclists, of course we went to Ede by bike, with a peloton of 33 Hellingprofs. Some of our earliest members who were joining the dinner said that they could remember the times when Hellingproof didn’t even exist out of 33 members. After this emotional moment of realisation what had become of Hellingproof, it was time to eat our bellies full. The new Hellingproof camera is of such good quality that even Rutger can keep his eyes open and smile on a photo!   Proof that Villa Brutus was crouded with Hellingprofs during the dinner   Harmen and Gijs delighted by the sight of their appetizer   Sobin     Bahlana   Bronno   After the dinner, the moment occurred where everyone waited for during the whole evening: the distribution of our first Almanak! Of course the first ever members of Hellingproof (Bart and Harmen) had the honour to receive the first Almanaks. Bart and Harmen proudly presenting the Almanak   The Lustrum committee and the board were very delighted to see how many of us participated in all the Lustrum activities. We had a great two weeks and hope to see you all during our next Lustrum, which is only still 1810 days ahead of us! [...] Read more...
Boardoktober 10, 2018Tuesday 2 October was the General Members Meeting (ALV). During this meeting, there was reflected on last year, the winners of the classifications were handed their prizes, and the members of different committees got a small gift for their hard work last year. After that, the board changed and there was looked at all the nice activities and board goals for coming year. After the meeting was over, there were some free drinks by our already very generous new treasurer Rik. A week later at Tuesday 9 October was our constitution drink, during which Hellingprofs and other board members could congratulate the new board. Last years board took a lot of effort in going to all other constitution drinks to make ours busier… and with success! Even our cycling friends from Amsterdam and Utrecht came to have a drink with us. However, it became clear that they not only came for the drinks, but also for our attributes. It didn’t take long before we lost most of them. Even the treasurer was kidnapped. However, the Amsterdam board was so nice to give him in loan for the time being. Despite all of this, it still was a great evening with a lot of different boards and Hellingprofs! Here is some introduction of the new board members so that you know what you will be up against when asking all of your questions to them: Bas I am this year’s chairman of Hellingproof. I was also part of last year’s board. I will do my best to lead the board to another successful year for Hellingproof. Some facts about myself.  I’m 22 years old. I’m currently in my fourth year of my special planning education and I’m also a geography teacher. I’m still working in a bike shop. However most of the time I spent on one of my bikes. To the university I use my 40 year old simplex Amsterdam police bike. For all my other bike related activities I can use one of my two racing bikes, a beach bike and a track/fixed gear bike. If you have questions about the association, cycling, bikes etc etc do not hesitate to ask them. I hope to see you all on our trainings and activities! Onno My name is Onno, I am 21 years old and I come from a town called ‘Sint Odiliënberg’ located in Limburg. I study the master earth and environment and started riding a road bike 2.5 years ago when I bought a second-hand 10-year-old Giant TCR. After I absolutely ravaged my bike in Austria (I was there on exchange for 5 months) I bought a new bike this summer, which is also a Giant TCR, but a 1000 times better. Currently those are the only two bikes I have but depending on the amount of money I have more may follow. My role in the new board is vice-chairman and my goals for the board are to make the integration of new members as smooth as possible and to make them feel at home and off course to have a lot of fun as well. Jeroen Hi! My name is Jeroen Louwinger. I’m in my second year of the bachelor spatial planning. This year I will be the secretary of Hellingproof. I’m the one who maintains contact with the sports center about our trainings, ensure that no e-mails remain unseen and that the e-mails reach the right person of the board. I also take the minutes of all the meetings that we will have together. I cycle on a Koga Kimera road prestige team (2015). Actually, I have two of them, one assembled with Shimano 105 and the other one with Shimano Ultegra. Likewise a Specialized Crosstrail elite disc as a mountainbike. Besides cycling I wake up three mornings a week at 5 am to swim! This year, I hope to be able to contribute to a well running of activities and to keep the board running smoothly. Rik Hey everybody, I’m Rik Timmers, the new treasurer of Hellingproof. I’m in my second year now of the bachelor forest and nature conservation. For the members who don’t know me personally, my advice is to just keep talking to the other Hellingprofs, and once you stumble upon someone with a very recognizable awesome Limburgish accent you have found me. My bike collection now consists of four bikes, three road bikes and one mtb. My personal goal for the new year as member of the board is to convince one of my friends who recently started cycling to join Hellingproof. Gijs My name is Gijs, I’m 22 years old (although some people might confuse this number with 13) and I usually bike on the never forsaking, well known and always beautiful Rose Xeon RS-3000. You might know me from last year, rumours saying that then I was Hellingproof board member as well. I’m currently in the second year of two of the masters I’m following in Wageningen: Biotechnology and Nutrition & Health. My cycling ambitions consist mainly of having a good time on the bike while also being a little competitive once in a while. This year I am fulfilling the role of media commissioner within the Hellingproof board, which means that coming year I will be the proud main editor of our beloved cycling mail. A main goal in my second year as board member is to try and get as many Hellingprofs as possible involved in our many activities we’ve planned for coming year. I also think it’s important to improve the fame of Hellingproof within Wageningen so that more and more people can envision their Hellingprof they knew they always had inside. Roeland Hello dear Hellingprofs! My name is Roeland Jensma and I’m the commissioner PR in our new Board. I just turned 19 last month and I’m currently in my second year of the bachelor Plant Science. I grew up in the always beautiful ‘Noordoostpolder’ in a small village called Marknesse. On these boring straight, long roads without any hills to be seen, I started my cycling career on my Specialized Allez Comp (which I still use today), about two years ago. So, I’m still quite a rookie on the bike, but my first year of cycling with Hellingproof has improved my cycling skills substantially. At the beginning of this semester I even rode my first race, ‘de ronde van Bemmel.’ I enjoyed every bit of it and that’s why I will try to compete in most of the student cups of next season. However, this is my first time ever to be part of a board. I hope to learn a lot from being part of this board. Besides this, with my admiration for Hellingproof and my passion for cycling I’m motivated to make Hellingproof again a slightly greater cycling club than it already is.   [...] Read more...
Boardoktober 8, 2018The biggest race of the year was there again. All the hard work that was done over the last season had to pay off now. Everyone was determined to let every pedal stroke count. Who would get the eternal glory to ride in the red-white-blue jersey? First the women without licence started their race. Els, Sigrid and Anouk did everything they could and finished in the peloton, but unfortunately SKITS managed to take the podium all for themselves. Then it was the turn of the men without licence. Hellingproof had a big delegation with Robin, Alger, Bram, Jetze, Jeroen, Onno, Rik and Job and especially for Robin this was the big day. Could he manage to get the leader jersey back and maybe even secure the win? The Hellingprofs did very well to stay in the peloton in very windy conditions, but then disaster struck. Robin found out that his wheel was not tightened properly, and he had to stop and secure his back wheel. Luckily, he could get back behind a car and because of his magic legs he still managed to finish 3rd! Unfortunately, the overall leader won so he did not manage to get the overall jersey back. Robin with his nice 2nd place overall in the SWN classification   Afterwards it was time for the men with license to shine with Bas, Bart and Tjalle. Tjalle showed his race wisdom to get in the breakaway that managed to get to the finish first. Unfortunately, he did not manage to get into the top 3 but still managed a respectable 5th. Bas showed he is a bit less smart than Tjalle to get into a ‘chasse patate’ on his own but still finished in front of the bunch as 9th. Afterwards he succumbed on the ground and made for a laughable seen. Bart helping Bas after his NSK race, while Tjalle just laughs at the situation   The last race with people from our delegation was the men elite race with Niels and Harmen. Niels prepared excellently by getting out of the bar at 6 the same morning. Therefore, he managed to get into a solo breakaway but, despite the excellent preparation, he could not manage to stay ahead of the bunch. Eventually the race ended in a bunch sprint and neither rider was really able to participate. Despite that we had an excellent day and we treated ourselves with a recovery meal at restaurant the golden arches and another episode of boer zoekt vrouw. [...] Read more...
Boardoktober 1, 2018During the weekend of 29 and 30 September we held our introduction weekend to welcome our new Hellingprofs to our association. The weekend started on Saturday morning with a photo hunt along iconic places near Wageningen. The weather was very nice which made it a great cycling trip. In the afternoon was a combined beach volleyball and knotsball activity. The knotsball activity was meant to prepare Hellingprofs for the Knotsball tournament that will take place next month with IJzerksterk. The beach volleyball was improvised because it was such gorgeous weather that it was also nice to do an activity outside. In the evening we had delicious Chinese food and afterwards did some nice beerponging. The new Hellingprofs of course needed to know that this is our second sport and by seeing the new beerpong talent that evening made the ‘old’ Hellingprofs very content. Everyone was already discussing their beerpong tactics during dinner.   On Sunday was the traditional Posbank ride and afterwards we watched the world championships together at the sportspub. We saw the beautiful mountains around Innsbruck and watched Valverde sprinting to victory, which for some reason made Onno all extremely happy. So all in all, it was a very successful weekend! [...] Read more...
Boardseptember 24, 2018The studentcup in Eindhoven was our last chance to get in top shape before the NSK started. The Hellingprofs being the main force in the men without licence bunch we had high expectations on a good result. Eventually Robin managed to get 4th but he wasn’t happy since he ended just off the podium and lost his leader jersey as well. In the women’s race Els and Sigrid managed a well-earned peloton finish, but again no podium unfortunately. All the Hellingprofs were already in despair but in our biggest hour of darkness Harmen managed to get into the breakaway in the men with licence race and finished a fantastic 3rd! [...] Read more...
Boardseptember 1, 2018During the summer break most hellingprofs went for a ride in far away country, but some opted for a challenge which was closer to home: The Southern Sea. Harmen’s parents were nice enough to let us stay the night(and drink their supply of beer) so we could start our ride at sunrise. We were supposed to leave at 6:00, but even though Robin was not present we still didn’t manage to leave in time. Gijs, Bas and Bart looked very motivated for the ride.   Alger, Bas, Bart, Gijs, Guy(an infiltrator from the Domrenner), Harmen, Niels and Tjalle left a little later than 6:00 for a ride of approximately 380 km. Niels started at the front of the small peloton and made sure we had a good starting average speed. Everybody was in shock when Niels asked for someone els to do some work at the front after more than two hours. The first stop was just over the border in the always beautiful foreign Friesland. They even learned that there is a mountain in Friesland. On the way to the next coffee stop Harmen got his first of two flat tires. Niels took full advantage of the moment and went for a nap on the side of the road. Here you can see Niels during one of his power naps.   The second stop was just before the infamous ”Afsluitdijk” a 30 km dike with headwind which connects Friesland with the mainland of the Netherlands. After 250 km we arrived at Sonja’s house for another stop. During this stop the atmosphere was amazing and everybody was in the mood for the remaining 130 km. The atmosphere was great during the stop at Sonja’s house.   It wasn’t long before the mood dropped so the decision was immediately made to stop at the Burger King in Amsterdam (which Bas could guide us to without using any navigation). We even needed another stop before the Burger King for some to get some extra sleep. After Amsterdam (only) 80 km were left and the pace was increased again. Even the ”bordjes sprints” were contested, Tjalle, the Joop Zoetemelk of Hellingproof, finished second every time (as usual). But the pace was disrupted by another flat tire for Harmen and a ferry that was out of use. Eventually we made it back to Harmen’s parents so we could eat all their pizza’s and drink the remaining of their beer supply. The next day Niels was invited to talk about this adventure on National radio in a Tour de France talk program. At the end of the ride we were welcomed with plenty of pizzza’s. [...] Read more...
Boardjuni 13, 2018At the start of this year a committee was formed to organise the best cycling race ever. Almost a year later, on June 8,9, and 10 the result of their hard work was finally revealed to the world. This started off with a team time trial in the Binnenveld. Although the track was already nice, the committee managed to provide a whole extra dimension by making the participants cycle under the oak processionary caterpillar. People loved this element of danger, judging from the amount of reactions we got about it the next day. The hellinproof women’s team rode a decent race and ended 4th out of 7 teams, they worked well together as a team. The men won with a 30 second margin over De Domrenner, who finished second. The men during the team time trial.   After the Team time trial we moved to the campus for an entertaining sprintcup. Els, Ehlana and Imke did the women sprints and Bart, Erik and Robin did the men sprint. Els managed to get to the second round after an intermediate round, Ehlana and Imke were less fortunate. Robin and Erik also didn’t make it to the second round. Luckily our ”dikke sprinter” Bart was in great shape and became second behind a ”dikke sprinter” who was also named Bart, if you want your future children to become sprinters you should probably name them Bart. The final sprint of the mens competition   On Sunday a lot of people had to wake up very early to prepare the course of the Wageningse Wielermuur for some exciting racing. The women started off with an individual time trial over 2 laps of the course (4,4km). Susan was the fastest women with only one second between her and second place. Anouk finished 8th and Sigrid 13th. With these results, the women were the second best team on time trail. The men’s time trial was also won by a hellingprof. Niels was 3 seconds faster than the rider in second place, who was coincidentally also called Niels. So if you want your future children to be good time trailist, you should name him Niels. Tjalle finished in 4th and Bas in 14th place. Only the road race was left, and again the women had to start first. This race really showed how though the course of the Wageningse Wielermuur is, right from the start the peloton broke to pieces, with Susan and Anouk at the front of the first group. One women from Nijmegen, who was second in the time trial, managed to escape the front group and her teammates were marking the counter attacks from Susan. But eventually Susan could ride away on the climb, it was however too late to compete for victory and she became second. Imke finished in 15th place ,Sigrid in 18th place and Ehlana 22nd. Although Anouk rode really strong, she did not finish because first she almost crashed and then she also had a puncture. The women team finished 4th out of 8 in the overall classification, which showed great improvement from last year. The peloton approaching the ”muur” Now only the men’s road race was left, chances for Hellingproof were high, with the Domrenner from Utrecht as biggest rivals. The hellingprofs tried to force a breakaway, but there was always a rider from the Domrenner on their wheel. Eventually a break of four was formed. Tjalle was part of this break and there was no Domrenner. On the last ascent of the Wielermuur Tjalle could not follow the acceleration of his breakaway companions and the sprinting peloton was coming close. Luckily the best sprinter in the peloton was Bart and he was the only one passing Tjalle before the finish line. Bart, Tjalle and Niels ended up 4th,5th and 6th. Bas and Robin were 18th and 20th meaning that they also scored some points for the overall ranking and Erik became 24th. These results meant that we won the GNSK! A huge thanks for the committee, the volunteers, riders and supporters for making this amazing event possible!     [...] Read more...
Boardmaart 1, 2018During the first week of the resit exams 10 decadent hellingprofs went to the relatively warm Alicante, Spain. The trip began with a cheap but relatively comfortable flight and a transfer to our luxurious ”villa” (including Jacuzzi with a beautiful view over the Alicante and the Mediterranean sea) organized by our experienced travel guide Bas. Because we arrived in the late afternoon(also because we did not have bikes yet) there was no time to ride our bikes on the first day, however the week started well with a serious strength training which included carrying 8 Litre water bottles and cans of beer, because some people thought the water was not drinkable. Later our charming caretaker showed us a secret water tap with water that didn’t taste like a swimming pool. The following day we went on our first ride along a beautiful route with some gravel roads which caused Sigrid to get a flat tire, and because Luuk created the route he had to fix it. The third day Luuk was apparently still under the assumption that we were training for Strade Bianchi. We again stumbled upon some unpaved roads, but this time they were too long and in very bad condition, so we had to adjust the route. Luuk still managed to navigate us to the first(and only real) climb of the week. A sign at the bottom of the climb showed it was a 7 kilometre climb with a maximum gradient of 6%… or 9%… or 12%… or 3 kilometres with continuously 14%. Apparently it showed the maximum gradient per kilometre, which caused some people to underestimate the climb and start way too fast. Onno decided to admire the skies from the mountaintop. That day we were still under the assumption that we had to buy water bottle in the store. While shopping it became clear that some people lacked the Spanish skills to distinguish toilet paper from kitchen paper. Bas made up for his lack of Spanish skills with creative life hacks. The fourth day was a quality training ride with plenty of sun and lots of wind. Since we now found out that we didn’t have to carry 8 Litre bottles, we could take our mental recovery very seriously and sat on the bench while watching high quality television programs to make sure we also train our brains during this week(we won’t go in to too much detail because spoil our training secrets). The next day was all about physical recovery. so we went on a slow ride, and if we say slow we mean really slow. Even though we only rode about 30 kilometres, the ride included two stops: one for coffee and one for ice(with 1 minute of riding between the two stops). Gijs is looking for some quality recovery drinks on the menu. While being fully recovered, we were all ready for day 6, the longest ride of the week. Along this 130 kilometre ride along beautiful sceneries there were plenty of hills for Onno to show his downhill abilities, although his actions were sometimes oafish (ONNOzel in Dutch) and unnecessary (ONNOdig in Dutch). The amazing views gave us the opportunity to take a fabulous group picture. Thijs was super excited to have made it this far in the queen stage. We were all completely out of energy at the end of the day, so we decided to stop at the Burger King for some sports nutrition. This gave three(Bas, Sigrid & Tjalle) strong hellingprofs the motivation and energy for an extra loop to make the 150 kilometres, but they were so tired they could barely avoid a collision with a bronze barrier. They were able to return to the villa without any damage. The last day of riding we started early in the morning so we would be back in time to return our Giant TCR’s. But this meant it was still cold outside. The elderly were dressed appropriately for the cold. However it was very sunny, so it soon became warm enough for a pleasant ride. And even on the last ride, we still found some new roads to ride on. It went through what some people might call a lunar landscape. Of course the daily gravel roads were also included on this final day. When we were back at the villa it was time to enjoy the Jacuzzi one last time and have a drink(or two). We ended this memorable week with dinner at a real Argentinean (although all the employees where English) steak house. We can reflect on a great preparation for the coming student cup season, in which Hellingproof will surely do great. We will certainly go back next year! Hasta el próximo año!(we don’t know what that means either, but it is something Gijs Spanish said) [...] Read more...
Boardnovember 9, 2017My Ironman World Championships Race in Hawaii Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn Since my qualification last year in September, the Ironman World Championships on October 14, 2017 has been on my calendar. My entire year was dedicated to this race and I put in more work than ever before. Leading up to this highlight of the year I had some good results in other races and my form was improving throughout the entire season. I travelled to Hawaii three weeks before race day.  There I did my last important training sessions on the race course and I got to enjoy the hawaiian lifestyle before it would get serious.  Everything looked great, I had adapted to the heat very well (at least I thought so), my training had gone great and I was feeling very fit. This made me go into the race with a very confident feeling. Racing the Ironman in Hawaii is something very special. It’s said to be the hardest one day event in endurance sport. For triathletes this is the most important race worldwide and the only time we get some attention.:)  It’s an honour to participate there among the best of the best.   That Saturday Morning at 7.20 am the canon went off for about 800 female athletes. And you are exposed to a battle field during the 3.8 km open water swim. Everyone wants to get a good spot and goes out pretty fast. So it’s normal to get some kicks and punches on the way. My swim was pretty good, I felt strong and it went by quicker than I had expected. Coming out of the water my family told me that I was 15th in my category and that the first girl was 8 minutes ahead. This was good news, because I knew that catching up 8 minutes on a 180 km bike ride would be possible. I was happy to finally sit on my bike. My legs felt fresh while was passing one girl after the other. Riding through the the lava fields is unbelievable hot and after 60 km the strong cross winds came out which makes the bike course really challenging.  After about 70 km I had passed the last girl of my category so I got into first position. But she decided to stay with me and draft for about 100 km (which is against the rules in time trial triathlons). I tried to find a moment where I could get rid of her, for example on the downhills and the aid stations. She was a strong rider and unfortunately she stayed right behind me after all. Since you all know my sprinting qualities, you know why I didn’t give that a shot :). About 30 km before the bike course was finished we passed the last aid station where I didn’t manage to grab enough water to fill up my bottles. At that moment I didn’t know that it had been the last one. This turned out to be a big problem, I had to ride for about 45min without any fluids. In holland this is not a problem, but in the heat of Hawaii that is a different story. I had never been so thirsty before which made my sight very blurry when I got off the bike. I tried to rehydrate in the transition area before starting the marathon. But noooo.. 🙁 Starting my run the dizziness just got worse. What was happening to my body? I tried to run the pace I had planned on but after about 5km I could only see black. This was a really scary moment. I didn’t know what to do, because I really wanted to keep going and win this race. Something told me to take a few steps walking so I wouldn’t end up on the floor. This made it a little better. So after a while I tried running again. A few kilometers later: the same scenario. Two girls had passed me already, which was terrible for me. At that point I decided to just finish the race healthy instead of dropping out. I adapted the pace and went really slow. I can tell you, this was the hardest thing to do. All these training hours, this discipline, passion and dedication that I had put into this particular race seemed like I had done them for nothing. When I saw my mom after about 15 km I just fell into her arms and I couldn’t avoid some tears squeezing out. It was impossible to understand why my body was doing this to me. Now I can conclude that it  was the dehydration and the overheating which I couldn’t recover from anymore. It ended up being the longest marathon I had ever done. Especially mentally this was the biggest challenge ever. It’s easy to push hard and hurt yourself when you’re in the lead of a race, but overcoming this situation was way beyond that. After 11h I was finally back in Kailua- Kona crossing the finish line. What a relief! I was glad that I hadn’t passed out on the way and actually made it to the finish line. Crossing this iconic finish line is something indescribable. So many emotions in a state of complete exhaustion. I placed 7th in my category, this was not what I aimed for and the disappointment was huge. It took me almost 2 weeks to recover mentally from this pain and disappointment, many tears have fallen to understand why this race had turned out this way. I can now accept that it’s just the way this sport works. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.  I am happy to take these experiences into the next season of racing where I can hopefully benefit from them. And one thing is for sure. This wasn’t my last time racing in Hawaii.   [...] Read more...