Car-free Bukittinggi back on its bike!

It was Car-Free Sunday in Bukittinggi! Turns out it's only car-free for a couple of hours or so, and I suspect it was only applied in a small central area of the city.

It's a great idea though, and I gather it's happening in many Indonesian cities most Sunday mornings.






It took me a while though to work out what all the bikes were about. There were dignitaries by the dozen making speeches, and a lot of the starters looked extremely fit and mean. I thought a high level  bike race was about to break out.  The Tour de Sumatra maybe?






 
But no, when the starting siren eventually sounded, it was a rather slow and wobbly procession that gradually warmed up and headed off down the road for a gentle little circuit or two. In hindsight I realised the front row was probably the police and military contingent, and most of those behind seemed to have hardly ever ridden a bike in their lives.

And they're off!

Anyway, long live the car free Sunday!