It is the time of year in Holland in which Oliebollen are cooked and eaten.  It is also about the time of year when a large number of velonauts gather for what is the world’s largest social velomobile ride – the Oliebollentocht.

Oliebollen are a spiced fruity dough-ball fried and traditionally eaten in Holland around the end of the year so in other words Oliebollentocht is Dutch Doughnut Time.  The Oliebollentocht velomobile gatherings have been held yearly in various locations in the Netherlands, and the 17th such gathering is to be held on the last Saturday of December in Zwolle, about a week from now.

The following video produced by David Hembrow and available on his blog – A view from the cycle path – illustrates the experience from a velonaut’s eye view in the 2009 Oliebollentocht held in Utrecht.

Organised through the Dutch HPV site ligfiets.net there is a page with more details for those wishing to participate.  This is strictly a velomobile-only event.  This year the exclusivity perhaps takes on more significance, as velomobiles have been excluded for the first time from participating in a similar event, the Elfstedenfietstocht, despite participating without incident in previous years.

Last year there was a record number of 149 velomobiles in attendance and there will be high hopes to break that record next Saturday.  The following video shows a selection of the assembled velomobiles presumably while most of the riders are inside consuming Oliebollen and coffee.

The following video is a Dutch TV report of the same event and contains some nice shots.  There are also English subtitles which helps for those without Dutch.

All-in-all good promotion of the velomobile helping to raise the awareness of the concept in Holland and possibly elsewhere too.