Kilometers Cycled Today: 60km
Majalengka To Cirebon
Break.
Our journey was shortened by 40 km because we chose a more northern route the prior day to avoid a steeper climb. We got to Cirebon quite early in the day. The cycling day ended as soon as it had started.
Bikers.
From left to right: Glenn (coach), Seklie, Rini, Tense, Meika, Aristi, Lucy, Evie, Rahma, Rifa, and Rahmi.
Bomb.
About an hour after we arrived in Cirebon there was a suicide bomber, supposedly 500 meters from our hotel. The target was a mosque inside of a police complex. This section of my blog isn't meant to scare you, the reader, or warn you against coming to Indonesia; it's just how I can appreciate the countless juxtapositions of Indonesia. While something spurred the bomber to hate (or love) something so much to hurt and divide Indonesians, we were riding through the streets escorted by the young with fixies, middle-aged men with antique Dutch bikes, middle-class people with cyclist accouterment, and children with rusted bikes and missing brakes.
Beauty.
We stopped at the gathering point for the antique bike enthusiasts. There, a man named Nico, his family, and friends run an afterschool art program for kids. The photos below are just a few of the art works. The sculptures are made from everyday items - ice cream spoons, rolled up newspaper, metal spoons, miscellaneous plastic and metal gears, etc. Inspiring; and the kids were cool too.
Bus.
Later that afternoon, I had to take a 4 hour bus ride to Tasikmalaya to speak to Siliwangi University English teachers. I had no idea what I would speak to them about.
Burger.
I was put up in the best 3-star hotel available in the city. My first partial guilt-free ordering of room service. I wish I had gone all out, but it was all so foreign and exhilarating! This is about the time my Indonesian friends would call me "village boy".
Majalengka to Cirebon.
April 15th, 2011
Days Left to Journey: 44 Days
Training Kilometers Cycled: 252 km
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