Longride Polygon Wonder

My old Polygon Wonder had been revamped,
just recently it got stem suspension,
triple chain ring, new wheel set,
and re-fit with new set of brake pads

it has been my primary bicycle for long time,
proven itself able to haul load as heavy as full cement sack,

and also covering one of the hardest ride I have ever made.
Back at the end of 2010,
just few weeks after been hospitalized for 10 days,
I rode it with my cycling buddy as far as Samarinda,
about 120km from Balikpapan,
and with my body just barely recovered,
I managed to finish on 7 hours,
including few stops for rest and changing tire tube.

A year later I got a new job,
and moved my family to another part of Balikpapan,
on my new job I am working on rotational schedule,
so I no longer commute to the office daily as previously,

but my old Polygon Wonder is still my primary bicycle,
it hauls mineral water from grocery stores,
brings my youngest daughter to her English class,
and of course for weekend ride with my buddies.

it is showing some tears and wears,
and despite new parts being put in,
there is always some squeaks somewhere,

anyhow, I will not stop riding this bike,
just because of another bike rides better,
on the contrary, I will keep riding it,
for many miles and good memorable time in the past.

a bike that moving around

This is our Bridgestone bicycle, heavy steel frame, belt driven with unique transmission, 4 speed internal gear on its crankset, and equiped with child carrier.

This is the first bike I amused with on my adult life. At that time we were back from an assignment in France, and we stayed in my sister in law house in Jakarta for while. My sister in law, Rina, wanted to clean her garage out, and the bike, that she bought in Japan, was included on her list.
Rina was using the bike daily when she lived in Japan, going to groceries, bringing her kids to school, running errands, etc.
Once she came back to Jakarta, soon she realized that around her neighborhood in Fatmawati area was almost impossible to bike safely. So the bike was abandonned for a while in her garage.
My wife asked her if we could use the bike, and to our blessing, Rina didn't mind. So we transported the bike to Malang with the rest of our personnal belonging, and I found a bike shop in Malang to recondition the bike.
It required a new tire set, truing, greasing and cleaning,....and it was ready to go. Few months in Malang and we moved again to Jogyakarta, and again we transported the bike to Jogya.
The bike showed its greatest utility when we were in Jogya. At first we lived in a small house with a small access alley, so the bike was much more practical than our car.
Our daugther Carla, she was 3 years at that time, was our regular passenger on this bike.
After moving into bigger house, I bought another bike, a UNITED 20" folder, for myself, and then just like an addict, I bought more bicycles. A low end MTB - Polygon Premier, then road bike, also a low end - Polygon Wonder, and then a nice build folder, 16" Hasa F2.
With so much bikes, this Bridgestone still had a lot of usage, mainly for my wife. It served us very well at that time in Jogya.
End of July 2006, new chapter started, we moved again, this time from Jogya to Balikpapan. I packed all my newer bikes, and I planned to left United folder and this Bridgestone behind. Sure enough my wife complaining, saying that she was never enjoy any bike I bought more recently and the best one for her was the Bridgestone.
So the bike went to Balikpapan with the rest of our belonging.
Few months passed by in our new home in Balikpapan, I gained milages on my other bikes, except this Bridgestone. It was too heavy for hilly area of Balikpapan where we lived, and its 4 speed was just in-adequate.
Soon it was left on one corner, and finally I asked a good friend to send the bike back to Malang.
So here it is now, the bike hanging in our stairs in my parents home in Malang, waiting for us to come.
It still looks strong and sturdy and heavy,..it is buit for last, and it will,...
It has been in Nagoya, Jakarta, Malang, Jogya, Balikpapan, and back to Malang,..and maybe more cities next time.

Starting point

At the beginning, I created this blog to memorize few of my short bicycle trips around Jogyakarta between 2002 and 2006. Living for four years in this town, having some spare time to wander around, made me back to bicycling. Bicycle in Jogya is really parts of daily life, everywhere you go in the morning you will find people around with their bicycles. Bicycle has been first choice of transport for most of street vendors and commuting workers.
After moving to Balikpapan on 2006, I continue to cycling, and log around 50km per week, mostly commuting from home to office.