Cycling in Ubud

I had stayed in Bali for two weeks before deciding to rent a mountain bike to explore areas of this island. My base, from the beginning, was Ubud - the meeting point between artists and art lovers who want to see the beautiful artworks and dance performance of the Balinese society. I asked a neighbor about the rental cost of a bike per day. His name was Pak Kade. He answered that he would find a mountain bike for me the next day so that I could use it for cycling around the town and villages of Bali. When handing the bike over to me, he mentioned the price. It was 20,000 rupiahs per day equivalent less than 2 Euros. It's quite cheap. From a small home-stay in Tebesaya village of Ubud, I began riding "my new bike" through the Sukma street. Arriving at the street junction of the Ubud main street and the Sukma, where on the right side of me was a big Balinese temple, I turned left. I continued pedaling my bike along the Ubud main street passing by the market where thousands of tourists come to by paintings, and other handicrafts from souvenir vendors. I turned right at the Cokorda's Palace where Legong dance performance is held every day. Opposite the palace was the famous Babi Guling restaurant of Ms. Oka. I rode my mountain bike again up the slope of Suweta street. Here the landscape of Ubud gradually changed from eating stalls and handicraft shops to villas and resort spas. The slopes here were getting higher forcing me to change the rear gears to a bigger one whereas the front gear to a smaller one. I rode a mountain bike that was made by Wimcycle - an Indonesian bicycle manufacturer. In my hometown, Manokwari, I usually ride Polygon Cozmic DX 2.0 or Polygon Celine 3.0.

After cycling for 20 minutes, I was able to see terraces of rice fields that were being cultivated by Balinese rice farmers. On one rice field a women was planting seedlings in a muddy patch that had been neatly arranged in rows while on another field, I could see one man was plowing his muddy field with a power tractor. In the past, Indonesian farmers used buffalos to pull the plowshare. Now, most of them use mechanical tractors.

Finally, I arrived at another street junction several kilometers away from Ubud market. I turned right. This time, I rode my bike down the hills or slopes where rice terraces were mixed with buildings of villas and spa resorts that offer comfortable sleeping accommodation combined with deep tissue or relaxation massage service to their guests. There were some temples along the way. People were decorating them with flowers, golden cloths and bamboo poles (penjor) on both sides of the road making the Sriwedari road looked extra-ordinarily beautiful. I only needed less than 20 minutes to ride back to my place at Ibu Ratna's guesthouse on Sukma street of Tebesaya village. It was really a nice solo cycling tour.

Ubud in all directions can be explored by bike. But the most demanding route is to the east after Gunung Sari street. If you are not a tough biker, I suggest that you ride a motor bike or scooter. Another interesting route is the Penestanan street that is located behind Blanco's Museum. Here, you will see painting galleries that sell original as well as copies of paintings from famous Balinese artists. There are some villas and bungalows in Penestanan too. by Charles Roring