Last night (December 16, 2024), I received an email from Logan Watts, the founding editor of the well-known and much-loved Bikepacking.com. He was letting me know that Wheels to Waves: Lombok Island was included in the 2024 Bikepacking Awards.
I gasped. My heart probably skipped a beat.
I opened the article and found my title located somewhere in the middle. I then browsed through works from others who had been included on the list. Angus Morton, Emily Bei Cheng, Evan Christenson, Ryan Le Garrec.
Wait, I know of these people. I've adored their work for years.
I ran through the entire article and recognized more names. This is a serious list and I'm somewhere in there. Madness!
To receive such recognition is a big deal. One of the main reasons is because the film itself was a showcase of my hometown of Lombok Island, which is not known as a cycling destination. Since I started exploring the island on a bicycle in 2020, I have witnessed, digested, captured, and fell in love with the place where I was born and raised. And then I started thinking about forming a riding crew because I wanted to share all the good things this island has to offer with my friends.
I poured my whole heart, time, and energy into this project. It is a projection of my (relatively) newly-blossomed love for adventure cycling, my long search for the best riding crew, my obsession with films along with the intriguing complexities behind the lens, and ignited purely by my passion and love for the island of Lombok.
With the project being so niche and segmented, executing it wasn’t easy. Let me try to break down the basics and make it as short as possible:
Route building. For this particular project, this part wasn't a main concern because the routes were ready to use after I curated them for three years.
Recruit the right crew. You know how people reveal their true selves if you travel long enough with them? I was actually more nervous about my crew seeing my bad sides and not the opposite. Fortunately, we got along okay. There were moments when I looked at everyone and said to myself: "I'm so happy to see these people get along and share a laugh." I'm forever grateful for all the people involved.
Documenting and editing as first-timers. Although the crew are professional in their fields, related to cycling or not, none of them had any experience in executing an adventure documentary beforehand. No doubt, it was challenging. Long hours of discussions were needed to keep the concept evolving. But diving into the process to the point where I said to myself: "Okay, I think this is final now" was a joy as the team was motivated by their determination, constant experimentation, a grand sense of curiosity, along with naiveté and stupidity (the good kind).
Now onto the biggie and the hardest part: finding the money. I think it's obvious that finding sponsors to fund such an idealistic and niche project that wouldn't benefit from ticket-selling or a similar procedure is tricky. This is where networking is important. It's also very handy to have a confidence boost by having a sense of, once again, naiveté and stupidity because such an attitude will strip overthinking and over-worrying of rejections. Bad news, you will get a depressing amount of rejections. Good news, some people will trust you if you're stubborn enough and believe in yourself. KEEP. FUCKING. GOING.
In the end, all the thorough planning, pushing myself to stay positive, and stubborn perseverance led to something I’ll carry with me forever: a love letter to my hometown, now recognized on a global stage.
Chase your dreams.