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The gojek rider

Nyoman Mardika

You never know who is really is under the helmet of a Gojek bike. The short journey I took in July 2024 from Kerobokan to Seminyak was largely uneventful. However I remember thinking the rider really handled his bike well, especially on the corners. Turns out Nyoman Mardika was a professional motor racer in a former life!

We sat down for a cold drink at Ti-Amo Gelato on Jl Petitenget and Nyoman graciously revealed what lead him from a 1000cc bike to a 100cc scooter.

Born in April 1978, Nyoman has spent most of his life in and around Denpasar. He is in the middle of six siblings – four brothers and two sisters. His parents, both of whom have passed away, worked in a warung in Denpasar, toiling to make sure there was always enough food and school fees covered for the family.

Nyoman was a good student, excelling in Mathematics at his Denpasar high school, where he graduated in 1996. Despite the opportunity of furthering his education, he decided to follow a childhood dream of becoming a motor racer.

This career started straight after school and he retired from racing in 2016 – 20 years in the sport. Motor racing gave him an opportunity to see many different areas of Indonesia and race the MotoGP track in Lombok. As a sponsored Yamaha rider he was able to make a part-time living from this.

Although a decent rider, there were a lot of crashes in his beloved sport and Nyoman pretty much pointed to every part of his body when I asked about broken bones! Collarbones, both legs, both arms, ribs and wrist being the prominent ones.

Nyoman has tried his hand at several jobs since, citing being a t-shirt supplier as his favourite job. During the pandemic he took a lead role in getting Balinese authorities to publish data around testing, tracing and treatment of patients, commonly called 3T data. “3T data is also considered as our indicator for assessing our government’s performance in handling Covid-19 cases in Bali. So in my opinion citizens must be informed to assure the validity of the data between the current Covid-19 cases and the current Covid-19 patients in Bali.” Mardika said in a 2021 article.

With no rural background or property in the family, Nyoman was forced to fall back on some of his motor racing savings to ensure his family survived during the
pandemic.

He fell in love with a neighbour in Denpasar and they married in 2009. Together they have three children, all girls. Providing for his children is his greatest pleasure these days.

It was somewhat of a natural move to become a Gojek rider and he has worked in this role for a couple of years. Usually working 7 days a week, except when there is a ceremony to attend, he does a long day shift from around 8am to 5pm. On a good day this may be 20 or more trips and he carries an even mix of locals and tourists.

Pressed on what this translates to in money, he cagely said he is happy to clear Rp300K in a very good day! Apart from the financial reward, having the freedom to be his own boss and do the job whenever he wants appeals greatly.

It is hard to separate a man and his bike, however Nyoman still rides one of his big bikes for fun when time permits. I asked if he would ever consider resurrecting his former career and he laughed whilst feigning having too old a body for it. Instead, he said his new dream is to open a Balinese restaurant in Denpasar, something I don’t doubt he will achieve!

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