RatN – Day 4 – Friesland, Abbreviated (is FR)
Ben & Liz
Apr 30, 2024
2 min read
The day wasn’t abbreviated. In fact, it was quite long. Just the post will be abbreviated. Our WiFi is a bit lackluster so uploading many pictures isn’t working so well.
About an hour from our landing site in Ferwert, as we were passing through a town named Moddergat, we encountered this RAtN dot watcher/supporter.

All week he’s been out there as racers have been coming past, and as we’re now the last ones standing (with Herold scratching last night), he was excited to cheer us on and offer us support in water, food/snacks and morale.
He said that they’d been watching us all day as we made our way through Groningen and other parts of Friesland. In fact, he also saw us go off route to the supermarket to get supplies, only 30 min earlier. Which meant he had to sit around and wait for us to eat dinner too, not knowing if and when we’d decide to get moving again.
Incidentally, we also encountered a dot watcher in Groningen, who just walked out on to the street and clapped as we rode by. That was cool too! Both types of support were appreciated and boosted our spirits for a bit!
A pretty good day overall. Another 180km/110 mile day with the bulk of the mileage coming after noon, despite being on the road by 8am. Maybe 5km overall was us missing turns and having to backtrack and some other lost km to supplies and bathroom excursions.
And thousands and thousands of sheep.

But also some non sheep:


Ben and Liz — riding and writing together as Two Bikers Abroad. Est. 1976. Caution: we make frequent stops, usually for snacks.
More from the road
Race Around the Netherlands 2024
RatN – A Look Back
In Toto Now that we are a bit removed by space and time from our Race around the Netherlands adventure, perhaps we can look back with rose-colored glasses.…
Ben & Liz
Race Around the Netherlands 2024
RatN – Day 8 – Schoorl to Wassenaar
Here’s something for you to consider: did we bring a bike lock (or two?) on our trip? The answer? Not really. We brought a very lightweight (something as…
Ben & Liz
Race Around the Netherlands 2024
RatN – Day 7 – Will the Real Netherlands Please Stand Up?
Liz has a Zwift racing buddy from the Netherlands (shout-out to Manon!) who can’t believe the run of good weather we’ve had for this race, particularly given how…
Ben & Liz
Way to go! Another long one down. It’s so fun to follow your dot, Strava, blog… Hope you will have another great day tomorrow.
Be safe!
That supporter is the COOLEST! I love that. Keep enjoying yourselves and be safe!
My apologies for scratching yesterday. Due to severe saddle sores it wasn’t possible anymore to be the last man standing in the race. It was good to meet you at day 3 for a short chat. All the best and enjoy the race and the countryside of the Netherlands.