EF #12: The Motorcycle Story

I have been a motorcycle rider since 2002. At that time, my father bought me a red Shogun for my 17^th birthday and I started to celebrate my freedom to go everywhere I liked (without my parents to drive me or nebeng a.k.a sharing ride with friends). 

Since Yogyakarta had a lot of motorcycles, I was able to ride my motorcycle in a way that made me fast enough to reach my destination. Well, if you can imagine it was like riding between cars, driving towards the traffic lamp when the timer was counting down from 5 (although I was mlipir-riding on the side of the queue/marked line), including waiting for the crossing train right behind the bar on the right lane. Ya, ya, I know it was wrong, but I quickly twisted the grip as soon as the bar went up *defensive*

When I moved to Bogor in 2012, I brought my red Shogun with me using courier service. The driving style here is a little bit different. In my residential area, people barely wear helmet although the complex is big enough and the roads are crowded.

Soon after moving, I got a job in Cileungsi, which is 30 minutes driving from home. The problem was, I had to ride on a road where most vehicles passing there were trucks! Don’t imagine trucks with wooden box behind, they were all kinds of truck I could imagine since Cileungsi is full of electronics, garment, and cement factories.

At first, I was scared. Then, I started to feel reallllyyyy satisfied when I could overtake a long truck, hahah… I still can feel the pumping adrenaline..! I became even more satisfied if I could arrive 10 minutes earlier ;D 

The experience with trucks ended when I moved to a school around Cikeas. The road was 80% smooth during dry season, but it was 80% in really bad conditions during rainy season. My riding skill was again improved since I needed to go zigzag to avoid big holes and… I had to memorize where the holes were since they were covered by water if it was raining. Crazy. I feel like playing a “how-deep-is-the-puddle” quiz.

One day, I miscalculated the puddle’s depth. It was showering and my speed was under 40km/hour I’m sure. When I passed that puddle (it was small but deep), I pulled the hand brake too hard and I fell to the left side. What I could think at that time was to cover my stomach (I was 3 months pregnant) and luckily there were bushes so I didn’t get hurt. After the accident, I always took an ojek to school. The driver was really careful since I told him that I was pregnant. The 15 minutes ride to work became a 30 minutes one! Hahah.. Safety first!

Now, I am not working anymore so I don’t really ride motorcycle. I returned my red Shogun to Yogya, and I use my husband’s Supra X instead. I only ride it inside the housing complex to go to the market or supermarket, but I walk mostly. If I am back to work, I will definitely ride a motorcycle again. Hope that happens soon :)

Wanna share a story about you and your vehicle? Visit Blog English Club's site and do the challenge. Good luck!