Okay, for some of you, the veteran bike athletes, 40kms is nothing. But for us, the reluctant folding-bike cyclists, this was an epic ride!

Committed to use my Brompton more often, I asked Rafif to join me for Car Free Day (CFD) cycling session. Initially I planned for riding at elevated road of Antasari, but alas, the road was only opened for CFD last week, hence we had to detour.

Of course, the Sudirman-Thamrin is the most likely destination.

But first, stop for photo at Pattimura:

Geez, Sudirman-Thamrin area on Sunday is fuuull of people! But it was actually fun to watch. The big crowd attracts many kind of sellers and “service providers” (e.g. pengamen). The last time I joined the CFD was about 3 years ago, there’s definitely bigger crowd this time around.

But it’s actually good, for the economy, and for the lasting of Indonesian harmony. There are so many different people with different attires and activities, but people can see we’re one big happy nation!

Apparently Rafif is very keen cyclist. Doesn’t seem to be content after arriving at Bundaran Indonesia runabout, I offered him to continue our ride to Jakarta Old Town, another 6 km from there. He happily accepted, so there we go.

Arrived in the Old Town plaza, surprisingly I met Iwan, husband from my old friend Dini. He is also Brompton rider and an avid cyclist. Of course, as what people do these days when they meet old friend, we took picture together:

Jakarta Old Town is so much better these days. The large plaza now becomes one of the most favorite tourist place in Jakarta.

As we haven’t had breakfast and proper coffee, we decided to go to Kopi Kota Tua, a nice coffee place there. I write my review of this cafe in my next post.

Then it’s already 09.20 in the morning, which means there were only 40 minutes of CFD time, so the option was to quickly cycle back through Sudirman-Thamrin, or grab an Uber to conveniently back to home. But Rafif, had thoroughly enjoyed the ride, was adamant to ride the bike back. Gosh he is strong, stronger than me. “It’s because you’re older”, that what he told me. Exactly that, son.

Hence, we rode back to home. This time around, with depleted energy, I had to make some stops along the way, to catch my breath. But I couldn’t do that very long, given we’re running out the CFD time.

But finally, I pushed myself to the limit, cycled my bike hard, and 1 minute past 10.00 am we passed Semanggi bridge, and safely used the CFD exclusive zone for going back. Soon after, I was exhausted and sat down near Energy Building for a good nice rest.

And I offered again the idea for getting an Uber, which again was denied by Rafif.

Well done son, for pushing your old man. But it was so much fun. It was really father-son bonding time. Let’s do this again more often!