Meet towil, a man whose obsession is with antique bikes called onthel

Jogjakarta Onthel Community was established to preserve the old bikes from extinction.

Brilio.net/en - Cycling has surprisingly gone through a resurrection of interest by people in general. This phenomenon is exemplified by the emergence of various bicycle communities that carries certain theme.

Among those modern bike communities, a man named Towil prefers to rekindle interest on antique bikes or onthel as it is commonly known in Java.

On November 19, 2006, Towil and his two friends, Ananta and Bagus, took an initiative to embrace old bike lovers in Yogyakarta by establishing the Podjok Community (Paguyuban Onthel Djokjakarta).

Initially, I either send messages or directly approach people to let them know that there will be a gathering of onthel enthusiasts, said Towil to brilio.net/en, Friday (21/8).

Towil added that this community was intentionally established as a bridge for the old bike lovers trying to keep up with todays trends. The man from Boyolali is also able to prove that the community he made is unique by always having different themes in terms of appearance in each gathering. Themes in the past have included the Indonesian revolution, tribal themes, and many more to avoid monotony.

Towil with the members of the onthel lovers community

In this diverse community, you will find various members starting from students to office employees, with an age range from 6 up to 80 years old. Towil also said that he and his friends often attend old bike events in Solo, Kebumen, Semarang, Surabaya, Jakarta, and even Bali.

The other purposes of the community are recreation and getting to know other members because this small community is expected to be able to give a broad and huge effect, Towil said.