Cycling in Bekasi; Between Fun and Pain

It has been already one year that I started using bicycle to office. People call it "B2W", which stands for bike to work, a new phenomenon among the city dweller who uses bicycle from his home to work place. They do it mostly based on the awareness of reducing air pollution from vehicle exhaust, a part of campaign to keep environment green and healthy.

I honestly cannot stand with them thoroughly.The distance between my house in Bekasi Timur to Jalan Thamrin in Central Jakarta, is 33 km away. Nobody will ride a bicycle for such a distance just for a commuting route. Even if he is able to do it, he will not be able to do anything else in the office due to exhaustment. The intention of keeping environment green, or to keep the life healthy, will be no use at all, because he will sacrifice the working hours for a rest after a long ride. That is why I decide to combine between riding bicycle and getting bus or riding bicycle and using train. And I prefer the second one.

Riding a bicycle in the morning (I start from home at 05.30 a.m) ideally would be very exciting. The air is still fresh, the sun has not rose yet (but street light will be very helpfull) and the street itself would be still empty. Once you turn left from second bridge after Bekasi Timur highway gate, you will find Kalimalang river in your left, giving more excitement and fresh, cool air. But, alas, everyone in Bekasi and other towns in the suburb of Jakarta such as Depok, Bogor and Tangerang, now will never let themselves being late by going from home at sunrise. Most of them start directly after completing Subuh prayer (around 05.00 a.m). And everyone uses their own vehicle, car, bus, truck, motorcycle -you name it- except bicycle! Then the situation becomes the opposite of what one can imagine before; the air full smoke from vehicle and the street full with vehicles that cause bumper-to-bumper jam. It is not a healthy environment anymore ofcourse. I myself do not recommend anyone to ride a bicycle in such a condition. The only way to ride safely in this condition is using a mask that can cover both mouth and nose, so that polluted air will be filtered by the mask.

However, the worse thing about riding the bicycle in Bekasi ( I assume the condition is also similar in other cities) is the way people behave with their vehicle, especially toward cyclist. Since the cyclist do not use any mechanical device in their tools, they are oftenly considered as pedestrian. A car or motorcycle driver have an opportunity to speed up their vehicle whenever they did something bad to pedestrian or cyclist without being ask their responsibility. They usually think that since they are motorists, they always have more right to use the street than the cyclists do. This is what I witness everyday whenever I take bicycle to the train station in Bulan-bulan, Bekasi Barat, from which I will take a train to Tanabang station in Tanabang Market, or Sudirman Station in Jalan Sudirman. The motorist will never let you taking a  right turn except after they are all gone. They will never let you stop next to their side except there is no enough space to fit their vehicle size. And they will always honk you rudely if you ride on in front of their vehichle, however fast your cycle will be. No matter what time you ride, whether in the morning when you are going to office, or in the evening when returning to your home (on my experience, even worse), the behaviour of motorists in Indonesia is almost equal: egoist and ruthless.

If you think that you may ride nicely and safely in holiday time such as in Saturday and Sunday, you are wrong. Just take a ride either in Saturday or Sunday in the morning or in the evening, in any housing complex around Bekasi. You will find both cases; dirty air and careless motorists are there, everywhere you go. This means that you have to have a mask and be extra-cautioned.

I never believe that Indonesian government, from President to Governors, Regents, until the smallest unit of administration will dare to provide rights in the street for the cyclists, similar to what they give to motorists. Eventhough that there was a campaign for cycling one year before, no significant change is made in favor of the cyclist. The government always uses vehicles-as-development-tools as excuse. Let alone the mayor of Bekasi who is famous amongst the the city dwellers as bokish, a term denoting a people who always promises to give something but never done it. In other word he is actually a liar . He did it because he wants to be known as generous but actually he is a miser. How can we expect a green (environment) awareness from such a people?

If I may have a dream, I would build an integrated light (electric) railway system that connect all part of Bekasi city, form the northest part to the southest one, and from the east part to the west.  The system can be used by everyone, office employees, students, housewives who want to shop. Only traders who will be allowed to use car and trucks. Others are compulsory to use bicycles or train. By this way, Bekasi will have clean and fresh air so that everyone can enjoy it.

It is just a dream. It won't hurt anyone, I guess..