Cycling Mount Rinjani
By Alham Samudra
Piknik bersepeda di Lombok, hari ke-1 dimulai dari Praya (Lombok Int Airport) melalui Lombok Utara menyusuri pantai sebelum nanjak ke Sembalun. Hari ke-2 ditemani P’Makzilah (porter) mulai mendaki dari Bawak Nao ke Pos 3, walau bisa digowes tapi capek sisa hari-1 bikin lebih banyak sepedanya didorong/pikul. Hari-3, mendaki 7 bukit sebelum sampai ke Pelawangan Sembalun tengah hari – banyak waktu bermalas-malasan di Pelawangan sambil menunggu kawan2 copipanas yg mulai mendaki dari Sembalun. Hari ke-4, mendaki ke puncak Rinjadi 3726mdpl – bibir kawah Rinjani bisa digowes, punggungan Pelawangan tentu saja bisa digowes, setelah Pos 3 – Pos 2 – Pos 1 sampai Bawak Nao/Sembalun nikmat sekali digowes…. sampai Sembalun lanjut cari mobil kembali ke Praya.
PERSIAPAN !!! — sepeda harus yang sesuai dengan medan yang akan ditempuh (shock travel 200mm, very low seat posts, wide tire 3.0, full suspension (downhill bike or all mountain bike)) dan pakai BODY PROTECTOR lengkap. Bawa kamera yang bagus dan temen yang mau fotoin dan videoin.
A quick note from the trip:
Going up — you can ride up from Sembalun to Pos 1, Pos 2 , and Pos 3 (3-4 hours from Bawak Nao to Pos 3). From Pos 3 to Pelawangan you have to carry the bike, I carried it on my back/shoulder – did the same thing from Pelawangan to the peak. It took me about 3hr from Pos 3 to Pelawangan, and 4 hours from Pelawangan to the peak.
Going down –the scree near the peak is not possible to ride through … it is very steep 72% according to my GPS). After that part you can ride the bike till the end of rim – very exciting but have to be very very careful and focus. Pelawangan is nice part to be on the bike. After Pos 3 you can speeding down to Sembalun, the most fun part 🙂 It took me less than 3 hours descending from Sembalun to Bawak Nao.
What to prepare — bring a PROPER BIKE (shock 200mm travel, low seat posts, wide tire 3.0, full suspension (downhill bike or all mountain bike)) and wear PROPER BODY PROTECTORs. Bring a good camera :D.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4xRZG7Ah4Q