Yudha Wiratama's Sweat After Riding 250 Km Paid Off Completely When He Met Ganjar Pranowo

Ganjar Pranowo and Yudha (Photo via Central Java Provincial Government)

SEMARANG - The sweaty struggle of Yudha Wiratama (13 years) riding a bicycle from Cilacap to Semarang has paid off. His dream to meet the Governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo and ride a bicycle with the number one person in Central Java has come true.

Yudha is a student of SMPN 1 Kesugihan Cilacap Regency. This resident of Pesanggrahan Village is desperate to go from Cilacap to Semarang City to meet his idol, Ganjar Pranowo.

Yudha left his house on Wednesday (15/12) morning. Accompanied by his father, Tugiyo (50), Yudha traveled about 10 hours on a fairly heavy and incline route, namely Cilacap-Purbalingga-Pemalang-Pekalongan-Batang-Kendal and Semarang. Thursday (16/12) morning, he was already at Ganjar's official residence on his bicycle.

"You said you were traveling from Cilacap to Semarang? What's your name? What class are you? You're really great. How many hours to Semarang? How far is it?" asked Ganjar unable to hide his admiration for Yudha, Thursday 16 December.

To Ganjar, Yudha shyly said that he arrived in Semarang at night. He traveled about 10 hours with the distance listed on his bicycle along 250 km.

"I'm here to meet with Pak Ganjar. I also want to ride a bicycle with you," said Yudha innocently.

Ganjar Pranowo and Yudha (Photo via Central Java Provincial Government)

Ganjar immediately agreed to Yudha's request. He invited Yudha to ride around the city of Semarang. The path that is passed is also not an ordinary path. The route is full of extreme climbs, namely the Gombel climb, the Gajahmungkur climb and the climbs in the village.

Yudha seemed relaxed pedaling his bicycle beside Ganjar. During the trip, the two were seen chatting together. In addition to taking the route of extreme incline, Ganjar also took Yudha around the Old City of Semarang and had breakfast together.

"Yudha is amazing, he's only been learning cycling for a year, but he has good talent. At least we took the Gombel incline test, he didn't sweat. Even though I was just gasping for air," said Ganjar.

Besides being talented, Yudha continued, Ganjar was also reckless and brave. He cycled from Cilacap to Semarang with a distance of about 250 km and the route was very difficult. Ganjar knows very well that the route from Cilacap, Banyumas, Banjarnegara, Purbalingga and Pemalang is quite challenging.

"I know exactly that it is a route that has many challenges. Especially in Purbalingga, Banjarnegara because the incline is extreme. But he was able to do it," he praised.

Ganjar was so happy to see Yudha's spirit. According to him, from Cilacap there are talented children who can become the nation's future athletes.

"My guess is that there are many children like Yudha. Age like him, grade 2 junior high school already has good potential to become a professional athlete. Yudha only needs a coach, if you meet a good coach, he can become a great athlete. Passion is there, passion for sports is there. Keep practicing yes," he said.

Yudha himself could not hide his happiness. His dream of meeting Ganjar and cycling together turned out to be a reality.

"I was able to meet Mr. Ganjar, ride a bike together, it was really fun. Mr. Ganjar was really riding well, just now the route was quite uphill," said Yudha.

Ganjar Pranowo and Yudha (Photo via Central Java Provincial Government)

He said he was desperate to ride from Cilacap to Semarang because he was curious about his friend's posts in the Whatsapp group. In that post, Yudha's friend uploaded a photo of Ganjar riding a bicycle and said that Ganjar likes bicycles.

"I saw that, well, it means that Mr. Ganjar likes to ride bicycles. Then I thought about wanting to ride a bike with Mr. Ganjar. Because Mr. Ganjar likes bicycles, I like it too, so I want to ride together," he explained.

Not only meeting and cycling together, Yudha was also happy because he got a special gift from Ganjar. After the ride, Yudha received a helmet, jersey and gloves from Ganjar as prizes. The gift was so special because it was signed and handed over directly by his idol.

"I'm very happy, adding to the spirit of cycling and wanting to become a national cyclist," he concluded.