Customer experience Fun2Go side-by-side tandem – Fietsmaatjes Schiedam to Paris

In May 2022, two sportive ladies, Romy Snijders and Whitney Schell, cycled from Schiedam to Paris on the Fun2Go side-by-side tandem. With this cycling trip, they wanted to generate more awareness for Fietsmaatjes Schiedam and the importance of movement and social contact for the elderly. In this customer experience you can read all about the Tour Paris including updates and videos.

Fietsmaatjes Schiedam

Fietsmaatjes Schiedam is committed to letting people cycle again. A volunteer and a guest take a ride on the duo bike. Guests are people with a disability, an injury, or someone of age; people who can no longer cycle independently or dare to. A ride on the side-by-side tandem means exercise, social contact, a bit of freedom and being outside in nature.

Romy and Whitney as volunteer cyclist on the duo bike

Romy Snijders and Whitney Schell are themselves cycling volunteers at Fietsmaatjes Schiedam. Using their own experiences, they dedicate themselves to a healthy lifestyle. Romy and Whitney have noticed that loneliness is a big problem among elderly. That is one of the reasons why the ladies want to make the concept of Fietsmaatjes more widely known. "The ageing population in the Netherlands is high. If no attention is paid to it, the loneliness among the elderly will only grow." Romy and Whitney go through all kinds of things with the guests. "You see the people really enjoy."

Fietsmaatjes to Paris

On the 8th of May, Romy and Whitney will take off. They will do this on the Fun2Go electric side-by-side tandem. The cycling trip is almost 500 kilometres and will take 5 days, during which the girls will cycle 8 to 10 hours a day. There will be bus as a back-up for calamities.

Objective

In addition to raising more awareness of the existence of Fietsmaatjes and the importance of exercise and social contact for the elderly, the ladies also want to raise money for a new duo bike. With an extra duo bike, Fietsmaatjes Schiedam can let even more guests enjoy a bike ride. You can sponsor the project via Doneeractie. Please note that the website is in Dutch only.

Donate here

Curious about the cycling trip?

Romy and Whitney will post a video vlog on the social media of Fietsmaatjes.NL every day in the week of the cycling trip. Prior to the cycling trip, there will also be regular updates about the preparation. For example, the first test ride on the side-by-side tandem has already been make, of 128 kilometres! The coming weeks, more updates will follow in this customer experience. Watch Romy and Whitney's first test ride here:

Update: 2 weeks before the start of Tour Paris

Romy and Whitney have meanwhile made three test rides on the duo bike. The second test ride went to Aalsmeer: 60 kilometres there, and 60 kilometres back again. The third, and also last, test ride was to Gorinchem. Despite the rain and sore muscles, the ladies are one step closer to their goal and are very much looking forward to their Tour Paris. Watch the compilations of the test rides on the YouTube channel of Fietsmaatjes.NL.

Ronald Ruesink, commercial director of Van Raam and fervent Feyenoord supporter, also introduced Fietsmaatjes to the Feyenoord Business Club (FBC). Together with Rob Kent, chairman of Fietsmaatjes Schiedam, he tells his story in the magazine of the FBC. "We want to inspire FBC members especially to get involved in charity." Read more in the article 'Van Raam introduces Fietsmaatjes to Feyenoord Business Club'.

Start of the Tour

On Sunday, May 8, 2022 at 9 am Tour Fietsmaatjes Paris will start. Romy and Whitney will leave on the duo bike from Het Zimmertje in Schiedam towards Paris.

Tour Fietsmaatjes Paris Romy and Whitney on the Fun2Go duo bike Van Raam

Update: the week of the Tour Paris

Day 1: Romy and Whitney left Schiedam on Sunday morning 09:15. Family, friends and cycling buddies were present to encourage the ladies. On day 1 they cycled 100 km to Antwerp.

Day 2: Romy and Whitney cycled on day 2 from Antwerp to La Louviere, 104 km. The last 15 km was difficult because they had to climb quite a bit, but with the donations they came a lot closer to their goal: a new duo bike.

Day 3: The ladies left a little earlier because of their long bike ride of 118 km to Saint Quentin. They cycled a total of 8.5 hours and fortunately the weather was nice. The donations keep coming in.

Day 4: Today's destination: Clermont. Romy and Whitney cycled a total of 132 kilometers this day. They cycled past several beautiful places and are getting ready for the finish line after a long day.

Day 5: The last day of the tour has arrived. Romy and Whitney cycle their last kilometers from Clermont to Paris. The duo bike has held up well throughout the tour and after some obstacles along the way, the girls have reached the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Romy and Whitney have now raised almost 4,500 euros.