The Maats Van is ready to rumble for the second season of Local Loops! As of this summer, we're driving the van to various cities in The Netherlands and organize Maats Local Loops. We started with this concept in the summer of 2023 and hosted rides in seeveral cities around the country. This summer we visit: Den Haag, Arnhem and Haarlem. 

Location: Den Haag / Date: Sunday July 14th 2024

Details

• We gather on Sunday morning 09:30h at a near the centrum of Den Haag (t.b.c.) for coffee from our van
• As of 10:00h we ride a between 80km and 100km road ride in the region, created by local legends
• Midway the Maats Sprinter will treat us again to coffee, cold drinks and a snack during a short break
• After finishing, we go to a local brewery and have some drinks!
• 30 spots available, registration is mandatory
• Participation at own risk

A couple of days before the event, we will send you all the info you need.

Local Legends

Who better to ask to create a local route than a Local Legend? We have a few friends that comes from Den Haag or live there and would like to show us around. They help us out with creating the perfect route, tell us where to stop for coffee and know where you can best finish your ride for cold beers and snacks. We will tell you more about these local legends when the date comes closer.

Maats Membership: Looking Ahead to 2026

Maats Membership just turned one! Over the past year we’ve grown towards 100 members, learned a lot, and built a solid foundation for the future. We also asked for your feedback through a survey, which gave us many valuable insights. Based on this, we’ve gone back to the drawing board to take Maats Membership to the next level in 2026.

We’d love to invite you to our Rotterdam store, where we’ll present our plans for the upcoming year. During the evening we’ll share:

• The key results from the membership survey
  
• How Maats Membership will look in 2026
  
• The annual calendar of events

Of course, there will also be plenty of time to ask questions and share your ideas — we’d love to hear your thoughts on how we can further shape Maats Membership together.

• Maats Rotterdam
• Friday, October 17, 2025
• Doors open at 18:30, presentation starts at 19:30

Sign up via the link below, and we’ll make sure there are drinks and bites waiting for you.

While the Maats crew is off to the Pas Normal Brand Summit in Copenhagen, we’re rolling out our Sprinter into Germany again. And like last year, we're hosting a ride in Hamburg, as part of the Maats Local Loops concept!

For this Germany trip, we’re teaming up with a great bunch of friends from the International Cycling Club by Pas Normal Studios. Including photographer and Pas Normal Studios ambassador, Rik de Voogd

The ride from Hamburg takes place on Wednesday, June 4, and we’ll ride from Hamburg alongside fellow Pas Normal ambassador Sebastian Friedrich.

Fancy joining us? You're invited! Expect a spot-on blend of good riding, cold beer, and proper bratwurst, all while discovering fresh roads with familiar faces. 

Event Details:

• Date & time: Wed 4 June, 17:30 meet, 18:00 ride
  
• Location: Fleetschlösschen, Brooktorkai 17, Hamburg
  
• Ride: ~50km road ride, social pace (~30 km/h)
  
• After: drinks & snacks at the restaurant Fleetschlösschen
• Download the route here
• Register via this Strava link

Maats loves to ride, sharing time together on the bike to connect, to meet new people and catch up with friends. Maats invites you to join our Amsterdam community rides!

What is our Advanced Ride? 

This ride is meant for more experienced riders, who are comfortable with maintaining a faster pace.

• Faster pace, average speed: 30-32 km/h
• Cruising speed (on longer straight segments): ~34-35 km/h
• This ride type is a bit more challenging, but still meant as a community ride where a no drop policy applies.
  
• Ride leaders will still lead the ride but do not ride at the front all the time - all riders can take turns to ride at the front position. 

If someone is struggling, we'll bring the pace down a little bit. If some people have to wait at a traffic sign, we all wait at the other side of the street. In Dutch there is a saying: “Samen uit, samen thuis”, which means we’ll stick together and leave no one behind, from departure till arrival. 

General Rules

• Helmet & click pedals are mandatory
• Make sure you're aware of the signaling on the bike (voor, tegen, paaltje etc.)
• Respect the indicated pace 

• Respect traffic rules

What is the level? What do we expect from you? 

Although we love all cyclists, Maats Rides might be unsuitable for absolute beginners. If you register for our rides, we expect you to be able to ride continuously (no breaks) for a minimum of 2+ hours on the indicated paces. Experience with group rides is a plus but not a requirement.

Routes:

The routebook for our rides consists of approx. eight fixed routes that are well planned and recon'ed from time to time. Route lengths vary from 60-80km. Routes are designed for variety, safety and an optimal riding experience with groups. Routes will not be adjusted midway unless there are construction works etc. This will always happen in consultation with the ride leader.

How to join: 

By scanning or clicking the below QR-code, you will enter the Maats Amsterdam Community Ride Whatsapp group, where all weekly rides will be announced. In this group, you can indicate if you want to join a ride by responding to a poll. This poll will be posted a couple of days before the ride. After that, all further details will be shared in this group, such as a GPX file, a route link to Komoot, who are your ride leaders, etc.