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TOUR
D'INDONESIA RELEASE - THE CRITERIUM
I didn't know what to expect of this event, but I was pretty sure
the cyclists of the BuGils Team knew they wouldn't get much input from their team leader. Three Danish and two Germans, one
of which just had been victorious in the Tour de Siam.
A bit nervous I entered the briefing room, where 21 other team
leaders where anxious waiting for the latest announcements and the
do's and don'ts. 'He Mister BuGils! ' Two
press guys from Kompas recognized me and enthusiastically followed
with a 'apain disini!?' (what are you doing here !?). I
nodded friendly in their direction and quickly moved to an empty
seat, a few rows behind them. After a few big smiles and thumbs up
they finally turned around to the committee again. 'I repeat',
said the speaker firmly, 'you cannot pee in populated areas'. A
guy from Kazakhstan next to me made a note of that. An Iranian
team leader to the left lightly shook his head if he was
disappointed. This was serious stuff. I wondered how far it would
be from Jakarta before we would be find an 'unpopulated area'.
Suddenly Matthijs, the guy who got me into this, tapped on my
shoulder. 'We've got a problem...'. I was surprised. We hadn't
even started yet. "What's up?' I asked a serious looking
Matthijs. 'One committee senior does not want the name 'BuGils'
on the shirts. He even contacted the main sponsor Dji Sam Soe,
who now is asking me questions about it.'. 'But the shirts have
been printed! It's too late now!' 'That's what I told him, and
finally he agreed. But in the announcements he does not want to
use the word 'BuGils'. A bad start.....
The Grand Opening of Eastern Promise was a huge success and went
on till 5 in the morning. Mathijs presented the BuGils Group
Cycling Team to the EP audience. We had to do it quickly, because
the guys wanted to sleep before 9. 'Not even one beer?', I
asked them in disappointment. They felt uncomfortable. This were
tough guys. They had been cycling all over the world. Three of
them finally agreed to a 'small' beer. I noticed one German
cyclist unknowingly putting some hot chilies on his plate. I could
warn him, but I didn't. I thought that if he eats that, he will
not sit comfortable on his saddle the next day. And you never win
a time trial if you stick to your saddle. I looked at
him with a grim when he chewed his chilies. Instantly he started
to sweat, but didn't say a word. Now he was obvious happy that he had
agreed to take a beer. I smiled in his direction. You are going to win
tomorrow meine freund, I thought to myself...
 The
start was scheduled for 6 in the morning. A long chain of 105
cyclists and just as many team cars rolled over Jalan Sudirman in
the early Sunday morning hours. And I was in one of them, with two
girlfriends of the cyclists in the backseat. Finally I felt a bit
more relaxed. I only had slept for two hours and almost fell a
sleep when suddenly the girls in the back started shouting! I
looked up in shock and I saw Max, the huge Dane from our team,
waving with his hand to our car. His face looked in panic while he
moved his bike to side of the street. 'Flat tire!' shouted the
Danish girl in my neck. 'Es ist die rear wheel!' screamed the
German girl. The Danish swung a spare wheel from the back seat
over to the front, in the process almost beheading Zul, our
Indonesian driver. I quickly opened the door and jumped out with
the wheel. 'Quickly! Quickly!' shouted Max. The adrenaline
was at a height. Max changed the wheel quickly. I held his bike in
balance. While jumping on his bike again, he shouted in broken
English to me over his shoulder: change die
inner toebe, change die inner toebe!' I went back in
the car and thought: how the .... do I change an inner 'toebe'.... I
turned around to the girls who were sitting at the edge of the
rear seat, their eyes still wide open. Very calmly I asked them:
'First of all, what is an inner toebe? Secondly, do you know how
to change one?' After one second of silence, they both shook their
head. 'I guess we just have to hope he doesn't get another flat
tire...', I turned around again. Max was in full
speed in front of us, trying to catch up with the peleton.
From the start it was the BuGils Team controlling the criterium.
Andre Schultze was our man, he was known to be a good sprinter.
And I felt confident that the chili peppers of Pak Heri, our
Eastern Promise chef, would give him that extra little bit of
fire. While the cyclists had a few rounds around the Senayan park
left, there was a sudden panic. Of course no cars where allowed on
the track, but somehow one driver had managed to pass the
roadblocks at a moment the athletes were at the other end of Plaza
Senayan. Panic. The car couldn't get of. Angry people. An older
lady on the backseat had no idea she was in the middle of the Tour
d'Indonesia and if she didn't get out of the way quickly, the tour
could end in an enormous accident. At the last moment people to
managed to shift the car a side, just before the peleton with our
5 men in the front past by again. There were 8 days of more
dangerous situations in front of us, and I could only imagine the
potential accidents awaiting to happen; goats crossing the roads,
children
collecting money for more Mosques, flying chickens, busses taking
over busses while taking over other busses, hot and slippery mud
on the road (especially near Malang), etc, etc.
The BuGils Group team had their tactics worked out fine. Andre was
launched by his team mates in the last few hundred meters of the
stage and he won! BUGILS WON! Agum Gumelar, the minister of sports
was there, and had to congratulate the winner of a team which name
he was not allowed to pronounce. Andre Shultze also won the
green jersey, in other words, it was an unusual BuGils
performance. We had taken it all!
Not long after the price ceremony (I could have supplied some
champagne from nearby BuGils, but Agum had left already) and the
press conference, we moved on to Bandung, where to next stage will
lead us to Cirebon. --- Bartele
PRICE CONTEST: WHAT TO I TELL UWE THE GERMAN (see above
picture) WHILE LIFTING MY FINGER IN THE AIR?
The right answer will receive one evening of
free drinks in BuGils. Send your answer to:
bartele@bugils.com
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CAZBAR NEWS:
The action in Cazbar's new
upstairs Sports Cafe will continue with the 2006 - 2007 English
Premier League Football and Formula 1. Draught beer @happy hour
prices all day & night on Saturday & Sunday. Stay tuned for the
Sports Cafes Grand Opening on the 9th of September! Email
jasper@bugils.com for the
complete program. Open for breakfast from 7.00 am onwards.
BUGILS NEWS:
New every Monday in BuGils: Singles Night & Margarita Monday!
Jakarta’s first weekly event where singles can meet up. Free
margaritas for single Ladies All Night long! For all guests 50%
discount on draught beer 25% off for other drinks. Every Tuesday
Ladies Night! Beer, Wine, mixed drinks and softdrinks for free
till 21.00
Just received a call from Indonesia's Nr 1 Punk Rock band
SUPERMAN IS DEAD that they want to play in BuGils COMING
MONDAY. If you want updates, send an email to
jasper@bugils
EASTERN PROMISE NEWS:
Tomorrow night (Monday) in the garden in Eastern Promise will be a
performance of the most promising Rock Band from Indonesia:
SUPERMAN IS DEAD. More info:
lens@bugils.com
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