A Capital City Without Traffic Jam

I believe every single person totally agree with this writing..

Last Sunday (Sept 20th), was the day we called "Hari Raya Idul Fitri", which is actually the 1st day of Syawal in Arabic Calendar, the glory day after a month of fasting in Ramadhan. Indonesian people have tradition to come to their hometown to meet the elders and having some kind of gathering with relatives (The Muslim celebrate this day by asking for forgiveness to others).

So many people will take advantage of this glory day, not only Muslim but people with other religion might also visit their hometown because government had set almost a week off. It means a week of holiday, who doesn't want to use this chance to do what they can't do during normal working days?

And guess what happen to the capital city since so many people having a week of holiday in their hometown, yes, Jakarta regain its beauty once again.. Can you imagine a capital city without traffic jam??! Beautiful! Since i don't usually visit my hometown i can see a very significant decrease of cars and motorcycles during this holiday. The public transportation still operating, doing their duty, of course it is reduced since not too many passengers will use them. Yeah, beautiful days with only acceptable amount of motor vehicles on the streets of Jakarta. I believe everyone would love to have this kind of traffic condition everyday.


A city without traffic jam.. Who doesn't want it? We all want no traffic jam. This nation is actually lucky to see an example of solution for a severe traffic problem. The solution is actually much more simple than you think: Stop using your private cars!! Use public transportation and your bicycles. This will surely take the traffic jam we all hate away from this lovely city. Too bad, since they are not in Jakarta to see how wonderful Jakarta is in last few days.. They can't see this simple solution of traffic jam.

Most people will be back to Jakarta tomorrow, and in Monday, Jakarta will be the way it used to be.. Traffic jam.. everywhere.. I wish people can see through these last few days, how wonderful a city can be by controlling the number of cars in the street. I wish everyone can rethink about how to commute everyday, start to do some walking, take the public transportation to their office, or use their bicycle to go around, and experience a city with no traffic jam, a city with its beauty..

But I also believe no one agrees with the idea of not using their cars to commute.. XD

No-Sweat Bike-Commuting

After reading some blogs about bike commuting which tell us how to not be soaked by our own sweat, i decided to give it a try, and... quite satisfying result.. hehe..

Want to know how did i do it?

1. The first thing to keep the sweat away is : NO BACKPACK! Seriously, put your bag on the rack.. or if you have no rack, change your backpack with some kind of bag with a concept of messenger bag. So you can easily move your bag to the front of your body without dismounting the bag from your back. When you feel it is about to sweat, you can just move the bag away from your back.
2. Sit in upright position. Adjust your bike so the saddle is lower than the handle bar so you can sit in upright position. With this position you can ride your bike with more relax, and the sweat will of course reduced.
3. And the important thing to keep you out of sweat is..... to slowdown. Come on, stop pushing yourself too hard. Just relax, slowdown, and enjoy the ride. Riding a bike is actually the same with walking, both use your own power. But one you can do with your bike is, coasting. Some people say coasting is a bad habit, okay, somehow i agree, but it is a very useful feature to keep you sweat-less. Or you don't have to do the coasting part, just ride it in a slow to moderate speed. Why so hurry when riding your bike? We all know the joy of riding a bike, so enjoy it.

Those are three main things to commute by bike without sweat i found in some blogs. The first two tips can be done with not much problem i believe. But in Indonesia, it's not easy to slowdown, because we share the lane with motorcycles.. And another issue is our tropical climate. The heat will definitely make you sweat. That's why it is not easy to keep your body out of sweat if we have to go by bike in midday, but still very feasible if we commute in morning time.

Well, i hope the tips will be useful..

Bike for Work

Some kind of works in Indonesia do need something to transport their goods, bicycle and tricycle are somehow chosen because it's cheap, no fuel needed, and low maintenance.

Here's the goods list and some pics:

Indonesian traditional crackers called "kerupuk"

Ketchup and sauces


Milk


Indonesian meatball called "bakso"


Ice Block


Bread

and also
- Newspaper
- Vegetables
- Fish
- Tofu
- Chicken Porridge
etc..

That's the list, i'm gonna update it as soon as i get more pictures and goods list.

Riding Safety

These are basic rules about riding safety i found in Dahon manual:

1. You are sharing the road or the path with others - motorists, pedestrians and other cyclists. Respect their right.
2. Ride defensively. Always assume that others do not see you.
3. Look ahead, and be ready to avoid :
   - Vehicles slowing or turning, entering the road or your lane ahead of you, or comming up behind you.
   - Parked car doors opening.
   - Pedestrians stepping out.
   - Children or pets playing near the road.
   - Petholes, sewer grating, railroad tracks, expansion joints, road or sidewalk construction, debris and other.
   - The many other hazards and distractions which can occur on bicycle ride.
4. Ride in designated bike lanes, on designed bike paths or as close to the edge of the road as possible, in the direction of the traffic flow directed by local governing laws.
5. Stop at stop signs and traffic lights; slow down and look both way at street intersections. Remember that bicycle always loses in a collision with a motor vehicle.
6. Use approved hand signals for turning and stopping.
7. Never ride with headphones.
8. Never carry a passanger.
9. Never hitch a ride by holding on to another vehicle.
10. Don’t weave through traffic or make unexpected moves.
11. Observe and yield the right way.
12. Never ride your bicycle while under influence of alcohol or drugs.
13. If possible, avoid riding in bad weather, when visibility is obscured, at dawn, dusk or in the dark, or when extremely tired. Each of this conditions increases the risk of accident.

And keep this one in mind.. expect the unexpected..

Keep riding safely!

People's Reasons

Indonesia is a beautiful tropical country which lies between Asia and Australia. Why do I start this post with that sentence? Because tropical climate, with constant hot temperature, and a lot of rain, is one of reasons why people in Indonesia don't like to ride their bike to get around. They don't like the sweat. Riding on a bike will definitely soaks you in your own sweat. And they don't want to get wet because of the rain which its rate is very high in tropical rainy season. Of course, this condition will make you think twice to ride your bike.

The second reason is cyclists need to struggle against the traffic. This is considered very dangerous by most people live in big cities in Indonesia. As i mentioned in earlier post, too many people see bikes as hindrance for other vehicle's mobility. And many drivers don't expect to find cyclists because not many people ride on their bike. This is very dangerous. Because you usually don't see what you're not looking for. As for the very basic rule for cyclists to commute is to ride defensively. Because bike will lose in collision with any vehicles. Remember, bikes don't kill people, cars do, a lot..

Third reason, most people, especially who work in Jakarta, live quite far from their workplace. They mostly live in suburban area of Jakarta or near the border between Jakarta and provinces around Jakarta. So they think riding a bike is not an option to go to work. They will end up driving cars, motorcycles, or public transportation.

Next reason, facility. No bike lane, no parking area for bikes. This is also reason why people don't use bike to get to somewhere. Facility for bikes is a simple way to know whether a society has a bike culture or not. Because government will definitely provide people with those facility if bike is part of people's daily life. Yup, Indonesia has not established bike culture. Even though many people in small town use bike a lot, but still, inside people's mind, once they get enough money to buy motorcycle they will but motorcycle and leave their bike, once they have enough money to buy car they will definitely buy car and leave their motorcycle.. But i think, considering the global warming issue, the government will think to provide us with bike lane to encourage people to ride their bike instead of drive their car.

Fifth reason, some cities in Indonesia are hilly. Bandung, my second city, lies in a very hilly ground with elevation around 600m above mean sea level. The contour of the city is not friendly for cyclist. People will definitely chose motorcycle and car. I think there are some other cities with same geographical feature. And this is a very strong reason not to ride their bike.

Hmm... I don't think these are all reasons. Maybe there are more.. But it's time to work now.. hehe.. 

Welcoming Myself to Cycling World Once Again

Two days ago, June 14 2009, i finally bought my bike, with my own money, of course :p. The bike lucky enough to be mine is Dahon Vitesse D7 Sage colored. I bought this bike in Pekan Raya Jakarta (maybe it could simply translated as "Jakarta Festival"). The price was good, and I kinda like the shape of the frame, and the color, i didn't actually know what colour it was, i am colorblind, but later i know it is green (in Dahon official website it is "Sage"). And the most important thing, it is foldable! I think it is unique, with 20" wheel, it can be fold to be small enough to be carried on a bus, train, or just put it in someone's car.

My Dahon Vitesse D7

Finding Way Out of The Crowd

To be honest, i always see a bike as a personal transportation just like all engine-powered vehicles. I never discriminate bike as something different. But that is the impression I get nowadays. If you live in a car-based society, where people are judged by the car/motorbike they have, you will feel the same feeling as i do. Somehow, it feels like people looking down on the man-powered transportation. They give us an impression that bikes are not supposed to be on the road. Bikes are only hindrance for engine-powered vehicle's mobility. I also get the feeling that they think bikes are only kids toy or for sports or recreational. And this is what really happens in car-based society. Almost every household has bike(s), but they never use them in their daily need of mobility. In their mind, motorcycle, car, and public transport are the options to meet this kind of need. They simply exclude the bike..

Well, let's stop this first post here. This is only the beginning. I have a dream to bring bike culture to this society (a stupid dream? yeah, i think so.. haha). But first, welcome to my new blog and my new cycling life!! yay! (but i still need to have it fully adjusted by the mechanics, because at the festival, there's no mechanics available to set my bike.. hehe XP)