Dozens of bicycle athletes from the archipelago Cycling Team were invited by the Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo to ride around Semarang City, Friday, February 17. They are currently preparing to attend an international event in China in April.
The archipelago Cycling Team is a bicycle racing club in Indonesia whose homebase is located in Yogyakarta. They have experience competing in Malaysia, Go Philippines Tour International, Tour de Singkarak, Tour de Siak, Oita Criterium Japan, and Tour of Japan.
In addition, they also participated in national championships, such as the Indonesian Road National Championship, Tour de Borobudur, Gmedia Race and Rise.
Ganjar said that these young athletes need full support to be able to develop their talents and achievements. Some of them have also been riding with Ganjar Pranowo at the Tour de Borobudur in 2022.
"This is from Sumedang, this is a great athlete. Earlier I was behind him when he climbed high (on Jalan Sumbing), he was just dancing," joked Ganjar.
Ganjar and cyclists ride with routes across the Semarang City protocol road. Departing from the Puri Gedeh Service House, heading to Jalan S Parman, crossing dr Kariadi Hospital towards Lenteng Sam Poo Kong.
Then on Pamularsih Street, Ganjar invited them to walk along Jalan Jendral Sudirman to Jalan Imam Bonjol. They were also invited by Ganjar to cross Kota Lama and invited to take pictures at several iconic points, including Rumah Akar and Blenduk Church.
The former member of the Indonesian House of Representatives said he was happy because this Friday morning's moment was accompanied by professional athletes, after not cycling for a long time. Moreover, in the near future they will be attending international events in China and Japan.
"They are very talented Indonesian children who need our attention, they need more competitive spaces to test their achievements, skills, abilities, enthusiasm, mentality, everything," he said.
During riding, Ganjar Pranowo heard a lot about the experiences of cyclists. According to him, they need support from various parties to be more advanced and develop not only achievements but also careers. They tell more stories, about their achievements. I tell you how to convey yourself while still young to pick up his future, so that in the future when there are many medals he gets, it's not just decoration but it's correlated with their welfare. Now these athletes from Nusantara Cycling need support," he said.
The experience of riding with the number one person in Central Java was also memorable for Imam, Fikri and Angga. Those who usually ride at high speed, feel the excitement of riding casually around the city of Semarang.
"I've only been to Semarang twice, so I don't know the way yet. Earlier, I was invited to ride cities, I went to Kota Lama. It's fun, it's fun, it's fun, it's rare to be with Mr. Gub," said Angga, a cyclist from Tangerang.
Imam said the same thing. The original Sukoharjo cyclist is happy to have the opportunity to ride a bicycle with Governor Ganjar Pranowo. "Yes, I'm really happy, this is the first time I've ride with Pak Ganjar," he said.
As for while with Ganjar, they got a lot of input. Imam said the white-haired governor asked them to stay open-minded.
"Earlier we were told, we had to be open-minded. In the future, we must not only be on bicycles, but if possible while looking for knowledge, whatever it is, both study anywhere," he said. Imam, Angga and Fikri hope that in the future there will be more support for their bicycle racing clubs. So, later there will be more national and international events that can be followed.
"We hope that whatever it is, we want to go forward together, we are still playing in Asia, so the target is to get the top 5 in Asia. One of the toughest opponents is the Kazakhstan Team," said Imam on the sidelines of the istsi to rest in riding with Ganjar Pranowo.
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