Q: What do you get when you cross the Elfstedentocht with the Tour des Lacs route?

A: The Elfmerentocht.

As the name implies, we will be taking a tour of eleven lakes. We'll start and end at an artificial lake made from a quarry. We'll visit three artificial ones formed by hydroelectric dams, another one behind a dam that was intended to provide water for an oil refinery, as well as one created specifically to make lakefront real estate. One lake's name implies it was good for nothing; one lake's name was changed to distinguish it from another of the same name in BC. The lake that shares its name with hot springs actually has colder water than the others in the region. There's a marshy one nearly at sea level — one of the few tidal lakes in existence, and the largest tidal freshwater lake in the world. We'll climb up to a lake in a glacial valley. Also, we'll be riding through a lake that used to exist but no longer does — not counted among the eleven. All that and more in this 400 km ride!

My preride report includes a few tips about conditions along the route.

This is a self-supported ride. Expect no support during the brevet.