Club member profile - Peter Schmitt

Club member profile - Peter Schmitt

In the Clubmember Profiles section, we highlight the people behind Cycle Capital. Our club is built on a diverse, international community of riders, entrepreneurs, professionals, and cycling enthusiasts, each connected to the bike—and to each other—in their own way.

From competitive racers to social riders, and from mechanics to business founders: every member brings a unique story, background, and perspective. It is this diversity that defines Cycle Capital.

Through these profiles, we offer a closer look at our community. Not only what someone does on the bike, but more importantly who they are beyond it, and what connects them to the sport and the club. In doing so, we continue to build an open, international cycling community where connection, inspiration, and shared ambition are at the core.

In this first edition we will introduce our clubmember with an South African background, Peter Schmitt, to you.

Where are you from?
South Africa - I was born in Cape Town to a German father and Dutch (origin - Den Bosch) mother, raised in English and spent 21 years in Johannesburg, 6 years in the UK, 3 years in France and have been in Amsterdam since 2022. And to complicate things, I'm also a British citizen.

What do you do for work?
I help boards and leadership teams create the clarity, decision-making logic and strategic coherence needed to navigate major change - whether driven by acquisitions, leadership transitions, market shifts, brand repositioning or business pivots.
I also serve on the board of CIOVITA, South Africa's most loved cycling apparel brand, now headquartered in Amsterdam.

⁠What brought you to Amsterdam?
My partner is French and after 12 years in South Africa, we needed to get back to Europe to spend more time with her aging parents (her mother is in Lyon and her father was living in Montenegro), now Nice, so Netherlands (Amsterdam) seemed like a great location with easy rapid access anywhere.

⁠What was your first cycling experience here?
I'm a competitive masters category rider, so my perspective is split into two categories: training and racing:
A very cold training ride from our temporary accommodation in Sloterdijk the day after we arrived in Amsterdam. I was amazed at the quality and extent of the bike paths and struck by how flat it is. Also by how quickly you can get out of the city and into the countryside. I was very grateful that I'd brought proper cold weather gear with me (in my suitcase) and used it a lot the first few months I was here!
My first race was roughly a year later - riding the Saturday Trimmers race at Sloten. A big bunch, fast, very aggressive and highly competitive in shitty weather! I loved it!

⁠How is cycling here compared to your home country?
For training In South Africa there are no bike paths (worth mentioning) so we share very busy roads with cars, mini-bus taxis, trucks, buses and motor-cycles and plenty hills. And we have to ride for at least 60-90 minutes or more to country roads without traffic lights. And pot-hole dodging is a national sport - in all road using vehicles!⁠⁠ I did most of my training alone but rode in groups with friends or my team mates

Racing in South Africa is mostly large scale event organiser based, so fewer events but usually longer - 90+km on roads with rolling road closure. Recently some clubs have started organising smaller, more regular events with some crits, which is a great boost to the sport.
So generally, cycling in NL feels easier. Easier to train properly (without traffic lights) close to home throughout the year (as long as you've got the right clothing, winter training is great!) and easier to race more often (once you've worked out the KNWU licensing and racing structure and discovered all the incredible amount of racing opportunities all over the Netherlands from Road, to Time Trials, to Gravel and in Europe - especially the longer UCI Gran Fondo World Series. For me the Masters racing scene here is amazing, against some of the strongest guys in the world.
And then there is Cyclocross in winter, which I started last season and fallen in love with... it doesn't exist in South Africa so this is incredible fun!

What does cycling mean to you now?
It's become an even bigger part of my life - perhaps with such a lot of opportunity. I train every day, race several times a week (in Summer) and have built a load of social connections with some great new friends who share my "obsession".
⁠How did you find Cycle Capital?
When we arrived I emailed all the Amsterdam clubs listed on the KNWU website with my "story and cycling objectives" and Arjen replied promptly, with enthusiasm to support me. Then I met him and he told me about the club vision and it was a no-brainer for me to join. I thought the Cycle Capital Club kit design was the best I'd seen in AMS too, so that helped!

What makes this club special?
The vision: a club pro team, sustainably modelled on the football clubs, that is open to all and even expresses this physically on the club kit with a Rainbow Pride Heart on the sleeve. This says more than words.
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Fun:
Rain vs wind
Both. if you can't ride in both you may as well give up!

City bike vs road bike:
Road bike. Although i do enjoy riding my vintage city bike in the City

Coffee stop vs keep riding:
Most of my riding is alone, so i have a (usually much better) coffee when I get home!

Group ride vs solo ride:
Solo - for training, with the odd longer group ride with one or two friends.

Race vs social ride:
Race, most definitely.

⁠Best cycling moment in Amsterdam?
There are four best moments: achieving a hard training session target, with energy to spare, improving a focus area in racing, getting positive feedback from my coach and post race analysis with mates

⁠Worst Dutch cycling habit?
City bikers: riding with headphones on or several riders riding abreast (usually slowly on narrow paths) and blocking the route for others

⁠One word to describe cycling in Amsterdam?
Two words! Organised chaos (in general) but It's the Cycle Capital isn't it?