Exploring Java, Indonesia with Matej Charvat - Video

Matej Charvat is the first World Cup rider to ever travel through the whole of Java, East to West and ride the most famous tracks. When we say Indonesia, most of us will think about the Island of Gods, Bali…but Matej saved the surfing for later. First he pointed to Java, where he managed a CharvatBros Bike Camp for a local racing team. They traveled the whole island of Java with the Spartan Racing Team and rode seven of the most famous tracks along the way.


Matej, do you have any word for us before we just go and check your video?

It was my first time in Java. I read and saw all available information before my trip, but it was still a bit of a blind spot. It was a great time, though! Beautiful nature, nice people… I really liked some of the tracks too and the enduro trip to Mount Bromo was a great addition. We were not super lucky with the weather, as it rained almost every afternoon. Well, I expected that, as we’re in the middle of rain season. A lot of trails are going straight through some paddy fields so every morning it felt like a super slippery slide was waiting for us to crash. One of my favorites was definitely Pamitra Bikepark. The character of the track was the closest to Euro tracks, which I like. Paralayang was also a good and steep one with a nice view. Last two days we spent in Cikole. Probably the most famous track in Java, where foreigners are coming to ride. It’s nothing special, but a lot of fun and also good for training.


As I mentioned, I trained a group of Indonesian racers. I was having fun with them all the time on and off the bike. We rode for days and did some theory, video coaching and bike maintenance in the evenings. They showed me everything, we travelled the whole island, I tried everything available and met some cool local riders. The travelling was pretty long. There are almost no highways from east to west and the roads are one big hole in another one. We changed the day off for sitting in the truck. Thanks to it we were able to see a lot more, though. I was really surprised how big the difference was between the city and village life. The people still live almost like in middle ages. We had to wake up around 3am a lot of times and just go to the track, so I deserve a rest now….in Bali! It took us a bit to fly from Java, hope all who follow me on FB and Instagram know the story of the wrong flight tickets and had fun with me. I’m really looking forward to rest and swapping the bike for a surfboard for a while!


Follow Matej and his Travel/Bike Vlogs on his Youtube Channel and don’t miss any of the news on Facebook and Instagram @matejcharvat. This is just the beginning of a long journey. You can expect a lot of adventure from Matej along the way.

---

MENTIONS: @charvatbros

---