The Netherlands has always had to fight water, and Friesland's battle was won in part by a single building on the shore of the IJsselmeer near Lemmer. The Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal, a steam pumping station opened in 1920, is the largest steam-driven pumping station ever built that is still in working order, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. When the water in Friesland's canals and lakes rises too high, the old steam engines can still be fired up to pump it out.
The station was named after the engineer Dirk Frederik Wouda, who designed it, and its brick building, in the style of the Amsterdam School, houses four steam engines driving eight huge pumps. In full operation it can pump an enormous volume of water per minute, and it is still used in emergencies, usually a few times a year after heavy rain. A visitor centre explains how it works, and on certain days you can see the engines in action, with steam and the smell of hot oil.
The riding in Friesland is flat, with wide skies and long straight roads along canals and dykes, and the wind is the main challenge: it blows steadily from the west, often strongly, and can make riding tiring. The dyke along the IJsselmeer offers views across the water, and the roads through the Frisian lake district pass villages, windmills and farms. Watch for cyclists, who are everywhere, and for narrow bridges and roads. Lemmer itself is a busy water sports town, with locks and harbours full of boats in summer.
Lemmer, two kilometres away, is a town of ten thousand with fuel, shops and restaurants along the canals. Balk and Sint Nicolaasga are smaller villages. Frisian food includes suikerbrood, sugar bread with cinnamon, and smoked eel from the IJsselmeer. Friesland has its own language, Frisian, and you will see bilingual signs. The Elfstedentocht, the legendary skating race through eleven Frisian towns, is held only when the canals freeze hard enough, which is now rare. In the evening, the light over the IJsselmeer is vast and golden.