Bike-to-Work Challenges in Jakarta

Yesterday I decided to bike 14 km to meet a colleague in downtown Jakarta at nine-thirty in the morning. It took me 40 minutes through a huge traffic jam that always occurs every morning along Jakarta's main throroughfares. Had I driven a car, it would have been a lot longer. Biking during Jakarta's mad rush hours is a good alternative: cheap, healthy, and fast.

One big challenge of bike to work in Jakarta, however, is the hot weather. It makes me sweat profusely. My shirt was wet. Luckily, when I arrived at Wisma Mulia, the security staff gave me a run-around to park my folding bike and get a visitor tag; my shirt got dry during this delay. The motorbike and bike parking area is tucked way at the back of the office tower and is not easily found. (Office towers in downtown Jakarta are friendly to cars but not to pedestrians and bikes.)

The sweat issue is what concerns me when I want to bike to meet friends and colleagues. I have to pick what I wear carefully so that the sweat does not produce smell. A synthetic material wicks sweat fast but produces smell, while cotton can reduce smell if not too thick. A blend of the two seems the perfect combination so long as it is not thick. It is a good thing my head is bald; otherwise, my hair would still be wet despite the delay.

Another big challenge is the lung-clogging exhaust fume from cars and motorcycles. This problem worsens during a stand-still traffic jam since heat and fume conspire to choke a cyclist. I have resisted so far to wear a bike mask, but I have been thinking about it more and more since I bike everyday to work.

Yet another challenge is the rain season where roads will be wet and slippery. Not to mention messy and dirty clothing from dirt and muck splashes. My backpack has a rain cover and I have a thin raincoat, but I still have to get mud fenders for my bike. The prospect of mixing sweat, rain, and mud is not as exciting as mixing snow and sweat.

As it turns out, biking in a hot weather is more challenging than in a temperate weather around 0-20 °C. No wonder there are not many people biking unless you are physically fit to deal with the aerobic/agility demands or a daredevil - such as yours truly :-). The challenges of biking in Jakarta can be lessened by having dedicated bike lanes. Bike to work is actually a viable, healthy, and cheap alternative to rapid mass transit to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. During morning weekend, biking in Jakarta is very pleasant due to much less exhaust and less congestion. But the Jakarta government has done little to make the bike lane idea a reality.