Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Classic & Vintage
Reload this Page >

Bicycle racing in post-independence Indonesia

Notices
Classic & Vintage This forum is to discuss the many aspects of classic and vintage bicycles, including musclebikes, lightweights, middleweights, hi-wheelers, bone-shakers, safety bikes and much more.

Bicycle racing in post-independence Indonesia

Old 06-22-13, 10:25 AM
  #1  
Cisalpinist
Thread Starter
 
Italuminium's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Holland
Posts: 5,557

Bikes: blue ones.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 16 Times in 11 Posts
Bicycle racing in post-independence Indonesia

Just an interesting curiosity I stumbled upon during my research on colonial times in Indonesia. An old man recollects his memories of bike racing in Bandung. This story perfectly illustrates the transition from the bicycle-based cityscape of colonial times to the horrific, post-capitalist jumble of motorcycles it is today. I tried to translate the blocky prose, I hope you enjoy it.

"The lungs of Bandung"

In 1962 the first broadcast of the Indonesian televion aired. There was just one mast in the entire country, aimed at Jakarta and immediate surrounding. The government placed a second one on the Tangkoeban Prahoe mountain. Now there was reception in Bandung and Garut as well. The first broadcast was a report on the Asian Games. Mast after mast appeared on the mountaintops and after a few years the first televisions arrived in Surabaya.
The new technologies caught Indonesia by storm. The cityscape changed. The Solex, the Cyclemaster and the three-wheeld taxi's with a moped engine were introduced and displaced the bicycle. When I married in 1962 we hired a fleet of bemo's, three-wheeled cars, to take us to the banquet hall.
When I was a little boy, I raced in pushcart derbies, organized by the "Algemeen Bandoengs Dagblad". We hauled our carts up Damar lane, and at the sound of sound of the starting gun we screeched downhill on the cloed-off streets. The prize was a "Pietje Bell" novel. The "Bandoengs Dagblad" turned into the "Pikiran Rakjat", or "Thoughts of the people". The new owner didn't organize pushcart races, but bicycle races. Only the lucky few owned racing bicycles. Most competitors raced on the ordinary bikes of the Colonial era: Fongers, Burgers and Gazelle, those were the common brands.
The course ran from the Jalan Siliwangi through the Jalan Samplas to the quinine factory. There we made a big turn along the Taman Sari, to return to the starting line.
The course had to be ran three times. With my pre-war Fongers I usually ended halfway up the field.
Bandung had a great climate for sports. The densely forested area at Lembang supplied plenty oxigen to the town. We callled these forests "the lungs of Bandung".
It was still pleasantly cool in the mornings when I commuted to work. Sometimes the spiders' webs froze in the bushes. Schoolkids playfully hit them on in passing.
One day, the "Pikiran Rakjat" held a wildy popular competition. It was a brand hunt. The main prize was a BMW motorcycle. Competitors had to gather as much pictures of motorbikes and mopeds as possible. The entire city was in on the game. Through this competition many companies were able to promote their machines. They got what they wanted, because everybody just had to get one of these motorized two-wheelers. I was persuaded as well. I started with a Cyclemaster I bought second hand from a co-worker. He bought a Vespa. Later I changed to a Ducati, a four-stroke Italian. My wife didn't like the suspension. When I left church at Christmas, it was stolen. There were less than 1500 kilometers on the clock.
Due to all the noise and the exhaust gasses almost all the birds of Bandung are gone. The cool nights are also a think of the past now.

- Herrie

notes:
-Bandung, also written as Bandoeng in Dutch, is a city a few hours away from the capital, Jakarta. Known for it's pretty colonial architecture and pleasant climate, for a while it enjoyed the reputation of the 'Paris of Java'. Many companies of the colonial era had their offices in Bandung, and the first institute for tertiary education, the Technische Hogeschool, or engineering college, was found here.

-Algemeen Bandoengs Dagblad - a popular newspaper, obviously changed to an Indonesian name in post-revolutionary times

-Fongers, Gazelle and to a lesser extent Burgers still enjoy a cult following among Indonesian collectors. These 'sepeda onthel' (vintage bikes) are ridden and enjoyed throughout the land by clubs of collectors. Yogyakarta adopted the 'sepeda onthel' as one of it's symbols, and today t-shirts and caps with illustrations of these venerable bikes are for sale at every tourist trap. Many cities offer (guided) bicycle rentals, although these fleets mostly employ Chinese-made roadsters which are like their Dutch colonial counterparts copies of the timeless Raleigh DL-1 design.
Fongers bikes are especially sought after, since they were of the highest quality and were the official suppliers of the colonial government, providing civil servants, policemen and soldiers with beautiful, high-quality rides.

Young men in front of the Pikiran Rakyat office, bikes and a lone Vespa as a sign of things to come.


Untitled by ctjr, on Flickr
Original text, sorry for the bad pic.

Untitled by ctjr, on Flickr
Italuminium is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
djb
Professional Cycling For the Fans
13
06-16-17 12:28 AM
CV-6
Classic & Vintage
8
08-06-15 08:10 AM
Italuminium
Classic & Vintage
14
06-20-12 04:36 PM
randyjawa
Classic & Vintage
4
03-27-11 12:33 PM
gerv
Living Car Free
6
09-19-10 06:09 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.