{"id":45464,"date":"2025-06-22T12:19:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T10:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/?p=45464"},"modified":"2025-06-22T12:38:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T10:38:46","slug":"north-american-family-receives-elfstedentocht-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/news\/north-american-family-receives-elfstedentocht-medal\/","title":{"rendered":"North American family receives Elfstedentocht medal!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"150\" data-end=\"572\">The North American Miedema family, no less than 28 people in total, completed the famous Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour) by bicycle on Saturday, June 21. The seven-day tour, organized by Friesland Holland Travel, took the family through the eleven Frisian cities and villages with personal family history. With daily stages of 50 to 70 kilometers, the participants enjoyed the Frisian landscape and their shared roots.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"574\" data-end=\"926\">\u201cIt was fantastic! It couldn\u2019t have been better,\u201d said Folkert Miedema. \u201cWe enjoyed Friesland and the Elfstedentocht so much. Our entire family is spread out across Canada and the USA, and we see each other on average once every three years. This was an experience of a lifetime. We are incredibly happy and grateful that we could share this together.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wpa-warning wpa-image-missing-alt alignnone size-medium wp-image-45438\" src=\"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-219x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"219\" height=\"300\" data-warning=\"Missing alt text\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-219x300.jpeg 219w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-753x1030.jpeg 753w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-768x1051.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-1123x1536.jpeg 1123w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-scaled.jpeg 1497w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-450x616.jpeg 450w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00001-600x821.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px\" \/><\/div>\n<p data-start=\"928\" data-end=\"1030\"><em data-start=\"928\" data-end=\"1030\">(From left to right: Sytze de Haan (Friesland Holland Travel), Folkert Miedema, and Frances Miedema)<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1032\" data-end=\"1389\">The family\u2019s achievement did not go unnoticed. One day before the finish, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fietselfstedentocht.frl\/\">Stichting De Friese Elfsteden Rijwieltocht<\/a>, the organization behind the annual Fietselfstedentocht event, contacted Friesland Holland Travel. Impressed by the remarkable family story, the foundation decided to surprise the entire group with an official Fietselfstedentocht medal.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1391\" data-end=\"1521\">The medals were handed out at the finish line in Leeuwarden by board member Bert Altenburg and received with gratitude and cheers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wpa-warning wpa-image-missing-alt alignnone size-medium wp-image-45435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-300x210.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"210\" data-warning=\"Missing alt text\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-300x210.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-1030x720.jpeg 1030w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-768x537.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-1536x1074.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-scaled.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-450x315.jpeg 450w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image00002-600x419.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/div>\n<p data-start=\"1523\" data-end=\"1600\"><em data-start=\"1523\" data-end=\"1600\">(The entire group with the official flag of the Eleven Cities Bicycle Tour)<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1602\" data-end=\"1866\">The Fietselfstedentocht, held every year on Whit Monday, is considered a sporting challenge: up to 15,000 participants start in 23 starting groups from Bolsward. To complete the tour, cyclists must collect 15 stamps in one day and reach the finish before midnight.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1868\" data-end=\"2089\">Although this family completed the route over several days, their dedication, connection to Friesland, and shared family adventure were recognized as an exceptional achievement \u2014 truly in the spirit of the Elfstedentocht.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wpa-warning wpa-image-missing-alt alignnone size-medium wp-image-45395\" src=\"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/162dc190-3d10-39c9-9a08-022d30411b72-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" data-warning=\"Missing alt text\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/162dc190-3d10-39c9-9a08-022d30411b72-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/162dc190-3d10-39c9-9a08-022d30411b72-1030x578.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/162dc190-3d10-39c9-9a08-022d30411b72-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/162dc190-3d10-39c9-9a08-022d30411b72-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/162dc190-3d10-39c9-9a08-022d30411b72-600x337.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/162dc190-3d10-39c9-9a08-022d30411b72.jpg 1104w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/div>\n<p data-start=\"2091\" data-end=\"2113\"><em data-start=\"2091\" data-end=\"2113\">Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omropfryslan.nl\/fy\">Omrop Frysl\u00e2n<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2115\" data-end=\"2143\"><strong data-start=\"2115\" data-end=\"2143\">Friesland Holland Travel<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2145\" data-end=\"2284\">This journey is part of the full-service cycling holidays offered by Friesland Holland Travel, the specialist in Elfstedentocht bike tours.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2286\" data-end=\"2331\"><strong data-start=\"2286\" data-end=\"2331\">Want to learn more or plan your own tour?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2333\" data-end=\"2442\">\ud83c\udf10 <a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"2336\" data-end=\"2405\">www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl<\/a><br data-start=\"2405\" data-end=\"2408\" \/>\u2709\ufe0f <a class=\"cursor-pointer\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"2411\" data-end=\"2442\">info@frieslandhollandtravel.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2444\" data-end=\"2503\">For the latest news about Friesland, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.friesnieuws.nl\/\"><strong data-start=\"2487\" data-end=\"2503\">Fries Nieuws<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The North American Miedema family, no less than 28 people in total, completed the famous Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour) by bicycle on Saturday, June 21. The seven-day tour, organized by Friesland Holland Travel, took the family through the eleven Frisian cities and villages with personal family history. With daily stages of 50 to 70 kilometers,&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/news\/north-american-family-receives-elfstedentocht-medal\/\">Lees meer<span> North American family receives Elfstedentocht medal!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":45441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frieslandhollandtravel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}