caseEneco NK Tegenwindfietsen
Year2024
WE KRIEHEN
STURM.
The stronger the wind, the better.
The Eneco NK Tegenwindfietsen is an event deeply rooted in Dutch culture, only taking place amidst a fierce southwesterly storm with at least wind force 7. The circuit for both individual participants and four-person teams is the 8.5-kilometer-long Oosterscheldekering in Zeeland.
A piece
of Dutch
history
Started as a joke.
Since its inception in 2013, the Eneco NK Tegenwindfietsen has been a resounding success. What started as a joke for an advertising campaign quickly evolved into an eagerly anticipated annual event for many Dutch people.
Oosterscheldekering.
The rules are clear: a minimum of wind force seven blowing southwest. Each participant gets their own bike. No gears, just a coaster brake. In total, you pedal yourself over the 8.5-kilometer-long Oosterscheldekering. The location of the barrier is perfect: during a good southwest storm, you’ll have the wind full force against you. The stronger the wind, the better. But safety comes first.
Eneco HollandseWind & Zon®.
Originally conceived a decade ago to draw attention to sustainable energy. Eneco asked partner Being There to come up with a campaign for their green energy: Eneco HollandseWind & Zon®. Because almost nobody was thinking about sustainability and energy companies ten years ago, we decided to organize the Eneco NK Tegenwindfietsen to attract attention.
Feeling how hard the wind works against you makes you appreciate it more when it works for you, was the motto. Actually meant to be a one-time joke, people reacted so enthusiastically that we organized a second edition. Then, appreciation from both participants and the press kept growing – and we decided to make it an annual event.
Lightning-fast ticket sales.
The rush for registrations is enormous every year. Typically, all spots are quickly taken. We are sometimes asked why we don’t allow more participants. We want everyone to experience the same fierce winds and don’t want one participant cycling in wind force ten while another faces wind force six. Generally, the southwesterly wind lasts for at most three hours constantly, and during that time, we can start a maximum of around three hundred people.
Together with the meteorologists from Buienradar, we always closely monitor the weather forecast around this period. If the wind gods favor us, it’s up to our crew to set up the entire event in no time (three days).
Registrations open, and all equipment is pulled out of the warehouses to ensure that today’s participants will once again have an amazing event ahead of them.
