The Trend of Bicycling in The Middle of Covid-19 Rising Number in Indonesia

        The Covid-19 pandemic, which is spreading throughout the world, has also been affected by Indonesia. Even since its first appearance in Indonesia, to be precise on March 2, 2020, the number of Covid-19 victim has continued to increase. Until December 6, 2020, there were 575,796 people who had tested positive, with an increase up to 6,089 in a day. This pandemic has prompted the government to take several steps to prevent the spread, including social distancing schema called Pembatasan Sosial Skala Besar (PSBB) and healthy living.

 

        PSBB which was launched by the government made the people saturated and looked for activities to make them healthier. Several trends emerged as an effect of this PSBB, one of which was the cycling trend. People choose to travel by bicycle to get rid of boredom at home rather than visiting malls or crowd centers. In addition, they also choose cycling because it is safe, environmental-friendly and affordable. This is because by cycling they can get fresh and clean air.

    This cycling trend is still active, as evidenced by the increase in sales of bikes from the start of pandemic to its peak in June 2020. This increase in sales are up to three or four times than usual. Despite a 30% decline in August to September, bicycle sales are still relatively stable and there are even several types of bicycles which sales have crept up from previous months. The bicycle trend is predicted to continue to increase as people become aware of the health and other positive effects of this trend. This sales increase gives advantage to bicycle seller such as Tama, a bicycle seller from Bekasi. Although he can not open his store, he still can sell it online using marketplace. "There's a lot of people who order my bike from Tokopedia because most of them can not go outside and our store also do not have the permission to open because of Covid-19", said Tama. He also explained that most of sales are made by Polygon, a local brand of bicycle. "Many of buyers buy Polygon because it is a local product and the build quality is quite good.", he added.

    

        Although the number of Covid-19 victims continues to increase, it does not discourage people from cycling. They continue to do cycling, especially during weekend or another holiday. Dharma, one of the cyclist, said that currently there are still many people who cycle and the trend of cycling is also expanding. "I see that more and more people are cycling, maybe because people are already bored and need healthy activities. Related to the increase in the positive number of Covid-19, I think we should not be afraid because cycling make us not hold anything much, it will be safer", he said.

Source :

https://www.suara.com/news/2020/06/18/150829/pemprov-dki-buat-jalur-sepeda-sementara-sudirman-thamrin-di-badan-jalan

https://tirto.id/kecelakaan-sepeda-meningkat-pemerintah-wajib-penuhi-hak-pesepeda-fLKG

https://www.detik.com/tag/kecelakaan-sepedahttps://ekbis.sindonews.com/newsread/255096/34/penjualan-sepeda-melonjak-industri-kecil-menengah-harus-ambil-peran-1606983164

https://tokopedia.link/OUGiXqgE5bb