Palembang Day 3 - Jamselinas#9 The National Folding Bike Jamboree of Indonesia

Bravo ! Let's rock & roll for the 9 times. Last year it was held at Daeng City, Makasaar, South Sulawesi and this year in Palembang. I am truly happy to be able to witness this mega gathering of folding bikes in the southern part of Sumatra.

Good morning Palembang and Selamat Pagi Jamselinas 9. The event was scheduled to start at 7.30am we have to be at Jakabaring Sport City early. We took Grab cars from the hotel to the sport complex and breakfast was available by the time we reached the sport complex. 

Pak Datu, a friend of Andrew and his children were also taking part in the event. So nice to see so many friendly people in the Jamboree.

An estimate of nearly 1,800 participants were present with all kind of folding bicycles coming from all over the different regions in Indonesia. And there were a few like us from Malaysia and Singapore.

And the event began with the entire group slowly pacing out off the sport complex.

The ride went on smoothly with a lovely weather bestowed upon us and as usual armed with my trusted cameras I tried to capture as many moments as possible.

Everyone of the participants looking very cheerful and enjoying the long awaited moment. It was a great opportunity to meet new friends besides getting to know more of Palembang.

Then came the first bridge crossing at Jembatan Musi IV where we were heading northward coming from Jakabaring at the south of Palembang.

Surprisingly there were a lot of Brompton owners in the event and apparently the Indonesians are big fans of these awesome folding bicycles from England. No wonder Will Butler Adams was in Jakarta last June to ride with the Indonesians in the Sunday Ride Brompton.

The route was nicely laid out for the participants covering the various corners of Palembang with 2 check points and 2 water stations. It was a good opportunity to get a good feel of the road condition of the city and its nearby surroundings.

This crossing of Musi River was the highlight of the event with the event theme "Kilir Kulu" Kilir is the northern side of the river while Kulu the southern side of the river.

And this was the conquer of Jembatan Musi IV, one of the several bridges joining Kilir Seberang and Kulu Seberang of Palembang.

The first water station at Grapari Telkomsel, as expected at any water station it will be chaotic and the flow of the traffic will be disrupted. One has to be careful while going through the water station.

I met up the hero again Vidi Widyastomo the Radonneurs of the 2019 Paris-Brest-Paris Audax who has successfully finished the 1,200km ride in less than 90 hours.

Erlangga Barnas a friend of Vidi Widyastomo who I met them together a day before this event.

Checkpoint No.1 at Museum Bala Putra Dewa located at Jalan Srijaya GPS : -2.951065, 104.730799

Besides mineral water was provided, there were steamed corns, sweet potatoes and groundnuts for everyone.

Riding along Jalan Syakyakirti where a friendly patrolman was rolling by my side taking care of this Pak Cik with a camera.

Water Station No.2 at Taman Wisata Kerajaan Sriwijaya, Jalan Syakyakirti GPS : -3.016597, 104.734760

At this second water station there were a few food carts selling sugar cane juice and freshly cut fruits. Business was good for the vendors.

Meeting more new friends and this is Satria Setia Dharma another friend of Andrew from Jakarta. 

We have completed 70% of the ride as we reached the Sriwijaya Kingom Park.

The gateway as we finally left the Kingdom Park after a good break.

Masjid Rohmaniyah at Jalan Pangeran Sido Ing Lautan GPS : -3.010670, 104.746416

A typical congested traffic full of motorists with many Gojek riders on the narrow road. This was along Jalan Talang Kerangga.

At a sharp bend along Jalan Ario Kesuma I noted this big and beautiful mosque which later I found out that it is Masjid Raya Taqwa GPS : -2.988869, 104.743494

Passing by along Jalan Tasik at Kambang Iwak Park GPS : -2.989253, 104.745879

Checkpoint No. 2 at Benteng Kuto Besak where we got to taste pempek and as a foreigner I was curious as how the taste of pempek is like. Pempek is used to be made from Belida fish as one of the ingredients but now it is rare and expensive to use Belida fish. Musi River does not have as many Belida fishes as in the olden days. Belida fish has to be sourced from other places to meet the demand of the people. Belida fish have a lots of significance with Palembang and it is now kept as a display symbol of recognition. The Belida Fish monument was be built recently and has become another popular landmark in Palembang.

Two pieces of pempek, a pack of sauce and a mini skewer for you to savour.

So many of the foldies spending time taking pictures at the Benteng Kuto Besak Square probably one of the best stops in the event.

My Brompton and the Belida Fish Monument of Palembang.

Another favourite spot to take picture with the attractive signage "Palembang".

Masjid Agung Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin Jayo Wikramo and the prominent fountain at the Palembang round-bout as we gradually ascend to Ampera Bridge.

The busy street leading to Pasar Ilir 16 as viewed from Ampera Bridge.

Ampera Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge connecting Seberang Ulu and Seberang Ilir, two regions of Palembang. It can no longer be opened to allow ships to pass. It was opened 1965. We were heading back to Jakabaring and crossing Musi River for the second time in this ride.

Finally we completed the 43km ride at Jakabaring Sport City.

Lunch box for the participants.

Nothing was left I literally finished everything in the box and the hidden green sambal was my favourite, should have more of it. Yummy yummy.

Folding bicycle everywhere while the owners taking shade to enjoy the lunch.

Many of the stalls were enjoying good sales, most of the popular event merchandises were sold out especially those by the organiser.

While the participants were busy enjoying their food and drinks there was a live entertainment for a joyous atmosphere.  

The official route of Jamselinas No.9 covering a distance of 43km.

Having completed the day event we then took the LRT back to Demang feeling very relax and comfortable in the air conditioned train coach.

A wefie before we leave Demang LRT Station for our hotels.

In the evening we came back to Jakabaring Sport City for a dinner. We had a good opportunity to sample more Palembang local food such as Mie Celor, Tekwan, Murtabak, Pempek, Nasi Minyak and others. We were eating in a dark open field and could not take any pictures of the food. 

It was a wonderful day thank you so much Jamselinas #9 you are simply awesome!