A VISUAL FEAST
“Tomohon is one of the best in North Sulawesi, and we want to increase the number of visitors going here. Cycling is a good way to showcase its potential. It complements well the natural beauty of the city,” said Dedy Irawan, General Manager of Garuda Indonesia Manado Branch Office.
Riding along the route spoke for Tomohon itself. It was a ride on the scale of Gran Fondo cycling tour, a mini-edition at that, as we were taken around picturesque routes, delighting in the slower paced lifestyle of the village people, who were throwing friendly greetings at us.
“Riders began pedaling uphill Linow, exiting onto the highway, and stopping at the checkpoint in Fish Village Seeding Kayawu, North Tomohon sub district. After around fifteen minutes of rest, the convoy of cyclists pedaled back to the rice fields with Mount Lokon as the backdrop,” Ferry said.
The ride could be a bit tough for first timers, but the views and the experience were definitely worth the steep climbs, especially up the border villages of Kayawu and Wailan, just before we finally stopped at the Pagoda, Village Kakaskasen. Quite a number of participants had to push their bikes up.
We exchanged conversations with local bike enthusiasts from Jakarta, Semarang, Surabaya, Banda Aceh, Medan, Batam, Denpasar, Timika and Balikpapan, indulging in the authentic taste of Indonesian culture, not to mention the local snacks served to pump up the journey.
