Nol, Frans and Klaus from KEEN Europe took up the challenge to race through Norway on a grueling 540km and 350km race in 30hours. This race is called the Styrkeprøven and is one of the hardest races in Europe.
Nol is heading out for a training ride from the KEEN Europe office in Rotterdam.
The idea for the Styrkeprøven came from Gjems Eric Onstad and other key people in bike sport in the mid 60′s. As a resistance fighter during World War II (1940-45) Gjems Eric Onstad was responsibile for activities in Trøndelag. He monitor the retreat of German troops from Finland through northern Sweden on the bike.
The fastest racer reaching the finish line came from the biker of Velo Club Zoncolan. They finished the Styrkeprøven in 12:51h, which equals an average speed of 42km/h.
Nol just biked from Rotterdam to Amsterdam in 3 hours (75km). Lets see if these guys can keep up with them!
KEEN Europe Ambassador Jasper Doest left for Texas as part of the Images for Conservation Fund Pro Tour. Here’s an except from Jasper about his experience on the trip.
“Two weeks ago I left the snow behind in the Netherlands and switched my KEEN Alaska Boots on for a pair of KEEN Siskiyou mid WP and a pair of rattlesnake boots (not made of rattlesnakes, but to protect against rattlesnake bites!). With thorns on every bush and rattlesnakes around every corner I was wearing my boots most of the time. However, the Siskiyou mid WP’s gave a very nice twist to the Texas cowboy style…and were preferred also by some of the wildlife on the ranch (I even had a woodpecker landing on them, hope to bring back some images from that next time I’m there). Deer rut turned out to be amazing. Deer as far as the eye can see is just an understatement. I’m already looking forward revisiting this place next year and enjoy nature as nature’s supposed to be! I ended up top-5 in both Pro-Tours…but that doesn’t really matter here. If one of the photographers was able to open the eyes of the ranchowners or the public and change the way of wildlife management on the ranch from a destructive to a conservative one, we succeeded. Nature won!”
Jasper Doest.” - Jasper Doest, KEEN Europe Ambassador
The Images for Conservation Fund (ICF) is a a nonprofit organization, who creates sustainable development of rural economies through the establishment and prosperity of the Private Lands Nature Photo Tourism Industry. Nature Photography has the unique ability to preserve habitat permanently by making it profitable.
Last month, KEEN Europe began the search to find KEEN testers thoughout Europe. We wanted to find people who are not afraid of the outdoors, eager to share their experiences with other like-minded people, whilst having fun out there testing KEEN Products. The challenge to become a KEEN Tester was simple. KEEN fans were asked to tell us how they would test our KEENs to the Limits by sending us a picture of their Outdoor moment living the HybridLife.
Our expectations were exceed, we received hundreds of entries throughout Europe, from the Scottish Highlands to the sunny beaches of Italy. It was no easy task to select from such fantastic entries the final 20 testers, who for one month will test our shoes to the limits whilst feeding back to us their journey.
A BIG thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to our winners, we can’t wait to hear back what great stuff they get up to with their KEENs!
One of our Dutch media partners, SALT magazine posted this yesterday–what a unique view of ‘cycle rush hour’ in the NL! check out this quick synopsis of a typical busy street corner in Utrecht, the 4th largest city in the Netherlands…its estimated that 18,000 bicycles pass through this spot everyday. Makes the Portland bike scene look pretty mild!
KEEN Europe recently attended the Doe Dagen Bever, a.k.a. the Beaver Information and Action Day for those of us who don’t understand Dutch. Bever Zwerfsport is one of our retailers in the Netherlands.
The event took place April 17th and 18th at the Haarlemmermeersebos in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. During this outdoor event people checked out various outdoor products and participated in activities for all ages, included the ever popular KEEN Disc Golf Clinic.
