Day 45: Polygon Cycle, You Have So Many Sides To You

May 17th, 2011
Days Left Until Journey: 6 Days

When Inept People Shouldn't Dance.
On Monday I found out that BikeJava will get sponsorship from Polygon Cycle for bicycles and helmets!!! A few of the staff at my school caught me do a flailing dance that involved my arms and legs going in random directions, plus an awkward kneel, and a fist pump. Just use your imagination and shudder. I can't believe we got to this point.

Memories - Lontong.

Although Lontong the Polygon mountain bike won't take me across Java, one of her siblings will. Once I get on that saddle and pump my legs down the road, all this ecstatic insanity will roll off me and only a smile will be left.

I seriously have to plug Polygon and Eiger for their willingness to support BikeJava. What they're supporting is a great mix of corporate responsibility and great marketing - adventuring and cycling + volunteer work. Is this what those self-help books mean by a win-win situation? I applaud them for their sponsorship to allow us to give back to Indonesia, but even then, Indonesia is still giving us so much more than we can possibly attempt to return. Maybe I charmed them with my superb writing skills like forgetting to use articles like 'a' and 'the'; I doubt it. We definitely got lots of help from our Indonesian cycling friends we met through the Bike2Work community. None of this would be possible without them.

Last Experiences in Indonesia.
After 9 months I finally: got soaked while riding a bicycle (from Jakarta's Car Free Day); was called "Mister!" by a gang of small children (yes... I know, it seriously took this long?); got asked by an angkot driver if I wanted to go to his home; waited for that same angkot driver to go to the bathroom; felt more comfortable sitting on the floor to eat than sitting at a table. I'm going to have a hard time adjusting to the States.