The Place Around You And Me, Jakarta
Making my Jakarta debut ride as part of Sim Works, I invited the Sorride community to hang out, cruising urban paths with friends.
One of the things I love most about cycling is how it rekindles friendships while opening the door for new ones. I still remember being introduced to Icha years ago when she visited Bandung for a group ride. At the time, she came with Mas Boy, one of the people behind Sorride, and what started as a brief introduction eventually turned into a friendship that stayed somewhere in the background, waiting for the right moment to resurface.
Sorride is a Jakarta-based cycling community built around a simple idea: riding at a pace that leaves room for conversations. They're about spending time together, discovering familiar streets from a different perspective, and making cycling feel easy for everyone.
After a few conversations with Icha, my husband and I finally made good on a plan we'd been talking about for a while: riding together in Jakarta.
So we put together an invitation:
The ride was open to everyone and I didn't really know what to expect. What surprised me most was how many people showed up. Different bikes, different backgrounds, different reasons for riding—but somehow everyone arrived with the same energy.
The ride itself felt secondary. The real highlight was everything happening around it: Meeting with strangers, chitchat at stoplights, shared tables over coffee, and how naturally bonds form when people gather around a common interest.
There is something special about seeing a city through the people who live in it. Jakarta felt softer that morning. Less like a destination and more like a collection of small encounters.
Looking back, that’s what The Place Around You And Me is really about. It’s the place we passed through—whether for a fleeting second or a little longer. The place where conversations began, and where memories ultimately took root. Between you and me.
Until the next city!
The ongoing community ride series will be continue across Indonesia—creating opportunities to connect, explore, and share slow moments on two wheels.
Neighborhood Friends:
Ayu Monika / Photographer
Rori Syarif / Producer
Fildzah Byani F / Employee
Agung Saputro / Designer
Boy Bayu Anggara / Designer
Prass / Musician
Robbyansyah / Music Marketing Consultant
Rukmunal Hakim / Artists / Illustrator