CHASING POTATOES - Bicycle washerette Chasse Patate

Do you live 4-high in the city, but prefer showering alone to riding your bike? Or do you like to ride your steed through the mud, but are less keen on cleaning it? Then drop by the country's first bike wash, 'Chasse Patate' in Amsterdam's Pijp area. In just half an hour, owner Jeroen Buitenhuis there thoroughly 'pulls your bike through the bleach'. On behalf of Cycling Destination, Jens Olde Kalter went to visit this lovely shop in the capital. Whether it was worthy of the Cycling Destination Approved label? Read it for yourself.

Text and photos: Jens Olde Kalter

Cleaning in the Pijp

From a corner building in Amsterdam's 'Pijp' district, right opposite the Okura Hotel, a fat airbrush with two cyclists on it pops out at you through a shop window; 'FIETSWASSERETTE 'CHASSE PATATE', or 'hopeless enterprise' in cycling jargon. 'Come in!', shouts and gestures founder Jeroen Buitenhuis. He stands behind a thick coffee bar with an equally thick coffee machine. To the right is a row of racing bikes gleaming in a rack. They are from ''Maats Cycling Culture', the hip bike shop from the van Woustraat down the road. They apparently outsource the thorough cleaning of their bikes to 'Chasse Patate'. A cup of coffee?" asks Buitenhuis, who could pass for the twin brother of Formula 1 driver Robert Doornbos. First he was in recruitment. But since he discovered the racing bike six years ago and became completely addicted to it, he soon wanted to do something with it. What exactly he knew - living on the fourth floor with accompanying water pressure - after just a few bike rides. Surely he was not the only one who got a pointed head from having to shower after every ride on his bike.

Lucky Amstel Gold Race and Bicycle Eleven Cities Tour

Backed by his friend Floor -do this now, because you like this- he took the plunge. Although only twenty-four years old, Floor knew better than anyone the value of chasing dreams. She had been seriously ill for years and did not have long to live. To Jeroen, she gave a bottle of champagne; 'for when you open and I'm no longer here. I'll celebrate the party a bit anyway.' Floor died on New Year's Eve 2021. March 29 this year would have been her birthday. A great day to open the business -and her bottle of bubbly.

Timing is everything

Through word of mouth and some enthusiastic friends sharing their polish to their satisfaction on Instagram, things are starting to take off.
'I was lucky with the timing,' says Buitenhuis, referring to the Amstel Gold Race that is coming up then and in which half of cycling Amsterdam is participating. 'People wanted to travel to the hills with a clean chain and cassette. Fortunately, it was also shitty weather, at least for me, because afterwards they came by again. Not only with their bikes and a kilo of mud, but also with their matties plus bikes that could use a service.'

All happiness is welcome

Two months later, he is lucky again. Because in the early morning of 6 June, virtually everyone who travelled to Friesland for the cycle Elfstedentocht was blown over from start to finish by horizontal driving rain. Many would not make it to the finish line. But cross or no 'cross', bike (and participant) look afterwards as if they had just won gold at the NK cyclo-cross. And so the Amsterdammers among them know how to find their way to 'Chasse Patate' again.

Target

Six months after opening, he has six hundred unique customers. Who are these people who knock on the door for a wash even outside the Amstel Gold Race and the bicycle Elfstedentocht? Just cycling geeks without the luxury of a garden or ground floor? 'No,' says Buitenhuis. 'How many times have you taken your bike to the bike shop for a service or a repair, paying off - say - 200 euros, but then getting your bike back with a pitch-black chain. That's just irritating. Because apart from the fact that a clean chain (and cassette) looks clean, it just rides a lot nicer.'
Besides the convenience of outsourcing a polish, there are also those figures (like yours truly) who immediately call their wife when they have a flat. Something Buitenhuis laughingly agrees with. 'For that category (the slacker or the guy with two left hands, ed.), the prospect of a professional working on your cassette is downright reassuring.'

Sailing instructor 

Of course, Buitenhuis himself does not suffer from a second left hand. For years, he has been an instructor at a sailing school where he is in charge of ten boats -including maintenance. He is therefore himself in the workshop, which is located at the back of the premises. Polishing, brushing, raking and spraying. For € 17.50, your bike (city bike is also possible) is degreased and waxed. For €35.00 you have a thorough turnaround where the wheels are cleaned separately, the chain and cassette are window-cleaned and all other parts are waxed. It has to be said, after a good half hour my bike shines like the rims of a new Hummer. And it immediately cycles a lot smoother too.

Business model

Although Buitenhuis visibly enjoys polishing my bike, he does not plan to stand in the workshop with his cap boots forever. He wants to expand because not only in Amsterdam do left-handed people live on four floors. Utrecht is next up. After that, three more locations should be added to eventually conquer five cities in five years. Not a crazy thought with those six hundred unique customers in six months. 'Yes' nice huh,' says Buitenhuis. 'And that for a 'hopeless enterprise.'

Round 'Chasse'

Of course, if you do have a clean bike, a round from Bicycle Laundromat Chasse Patate is a must-do! Here's a great tip below!

Cycling Destination Approved

At Cycling Destination, we visit the most beautiful places around the world. Because as a platform we would like to help you plan your next adventure, we are introducing the label 'Cycling Destination Approved'. What does this mean? Cycling Destination Approved are catering establishments, hotels or other points in a location we would send you to blind. A place where we like to come ourselves and where you can expect quality. Key points:

• Places where cyclists are welcome. Where you can park your bike properly and where you are not shrugged off as a group
• High quality at the right price (so not necessarily cheap)
• Tasty coffee, especially at a catering establishment
• Good service

Naturally, Cycle Washerette Chasse Patate was immediately labelled Cycling Destination Approved. Rightly so! Do you know another place that could fit in this category? Drop it in the comments and we will investigate!