August 24, 2024, was the second trainingday for the F1 at Zandvoort. This was also the day Extinction Rebellion organized a bicycle ride protest from Haarlem to Zandvoort. Together with Stichting Duinbehoud, Rust bij de Kust, Milieudefensie Haarlem and Grootouders voor het Klimaat, they protested against the 280 days per year the racetrack disturbs the Natura 2000 area it is located in.
One could argue why, o why, did they assign a protected nature area when there is already a racetrack since 1947? Another problem is the location of the track. Zandvoor is a costal town connected to the rest of the country by two roads. To avoid traffic jams, which are common on perfect beachdays, these roads are closed except for those who live in Zandvoort. To get to the track the fans can take the train, the bus or … the bicycle.
The bus service was running a smooth operation. Every few minutes a fully stuffed bus took the passenger directly to the track. For other bus lines the service was under par. The train between Haarlem and Zandvoort was also doing fine, but I understood it was causing chaos at Amsterdam and other stations nearby. The next question is… should people who have to travel, but are not fans of the races, be delayed by the logistics arranged for 100.000 fans?
The protest at the station, where race fans where gathering and running to the train or bus, started with a speech and a performance of the Haarlems Klimaatkoor (Climatechoir). Next was the bicycle ride to Zandvoort where it was time for more speeches, a second performance by the Haarlems Klimaatkoor and a beach cleanup event together with Bermbende.
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