Its name after the great Saladin the Sultan of Egypt and Syria and his forces defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin. His noble and chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers and he won the respect of many of them including Richard the Lionheart. It is become my true obsession in life to visit his route of history before I die.
So my folding bike name is Saladin J it is not just the folding bike, it become my friend at any occasion. When I had a broken heart in 2010, I was singing out loud and cried at the same time on the road from utan kayu – monas- utan kayu with saladin. We will stop by any park just to stretch my leg, having bars of dark chocolate and read a novel for awhile. We have our great times.
Now in Bandung, Saladin once again is with me at any interesting spot, including the famous GASIBU… not so huge football field names Wihelmina Plein during the Dutch Colony then turn to Gasibu, gabukan sepakbola bandung utara, but some said the real name was Gazebo then people misspell to Gasibu. There is a Sunday Market, very crowded and most of bicycle club will gather here at Gasibu during weekend. Me and Saladin not yet join any club… I mean just a folding bike club.
It wasn’t easy to get to Gasibu for a folding bike like Saladin. It is at the highland and Saladin needs to climb to get to Gasibu. I failed 3 times before I finally reached Gasibu using a good alternative route which is not too high. It took us about 30 minutes to get there including the time when we were lost somewhere which actually just behind the Gedung Sate, across the Gasibu J here are the pictures of Saladin at Gasibu, Gedung Sate and Momument Perjuangan….
Oh one thing I learned from Saladin… it is not about what you ride, it is about HOW you ride it! Push yourself to the limit then once again you’ll know that there is NO limit!
nroshita 