Inspirational, Former Traffic Corps Chief Royke Lumowa Completes Jakarta-Paris Cycling Mission to Support the Olympic Team

Jakarta, Todaysgist.com – The figure of former Kakorlantas Irjen Pol (ret.) Royke Lumowa has become a new inspiration because he successfully completed his mission by cycling from Jakarta, Indonesia to Paris, France. The “crazy” and extraordinary thing was done as a form of support for the Indonesian contingent at the 2024 Olympics in a unique and special way.

“My cycling action is to help make the 2024 Olympics a success and support the struggle of Indonesian athletes at the Paris Olympics who finally succeeded in winning two gold medals. As well as helping to make Indonesia’s campaign to host the 2036 Olympics a success,” he said at a press conference in Central Jakarta, Monday (2/8/2024).

On his journey, Royke began his mission to cycle to Paris from the National Monument in Jakarta on Saturday (8/7/2023) and arrived in Paris, France on Monday (29/7/2024). The former North Sulawesi police chief spent more than a year or 387 days to be exact, crossing 44 countries and covering a distance of 20,620.87 kilometers (km).

He had to overcome several obstacles ranging from weather, to non-technical factors such as cycling in temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius, to bursting and puncturing tires dozens of times and disturbances of crime. He was a victim of theft of money and belongings several times in the cities of Rome, Italy and Tehran, Iran.

“However, this trip was very impressive. The whole trip was very enjoyable, all packed with joy and that was indeed my wish,” he explained.

The man born on September 16, 1962, undertook the journey with the main mission of environmental sustainability entitled Cycling to Save The Earth.

The countries that Royke passed through while cycling to Paris, starting from Singapore, Thailand, China, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Tibet, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Italy, Spain, England until finishing in France.

“How to raise environmental issues to protect our earth, so that it remains preserved and can be utilized by our children and grandchildren,” he continued.

Upon completing his cycling in Paris, Royke was greeted directly by the President of the French Olympic Committee (NOC) David Lappartient, who is also the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

Also present at the reception were the Indonesian Ambassador to France Mohamad Oemar, the General Chair of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (NOC Indonesia) Raja Sapta Oktohari, the Vice President of the French NOC Joseph Pierre Luc Tardif and a number of representatives from sports federations.

This is also part of Royke’s mission to make the 2024 Paris Olympics a success.

Royke said that health is an important asset for him in completing this mission.

In fact, before carrying out his mission, Royke had consulted a nutritionist so that the food intake he received remained appropriate even though they were in different countries. Health factors are the main thing to maintain, because if you are not healthy, it means you are not in prime condition and are prone to accidents.

Royke said, the toughest terrain and challenges in Tibet, China. The elevation reaches 5,250 meters above sea level. As many as three mountains certainly drain energy, the oxygen content at that altitude is very thin.

In addition, the climbs since Yunnan Province have drained energy when trying the climbs in Tibet. “Other difficult terrain is the climb or Passo Mortirolo, Northern Italy, and other climbs in the Alps,” concluded Royke.