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For most, the idea of navigating the heaving disaster of Jakarta’s traffic jams using nothing but your legs for propulsion appears too daunting to even consider. But one group is steadily building pedal-powered momentum in the capital, and even the president has gotten on board.

To the members of Bike2Work, commuting by bicycle means a bit of exercise, a clear mind, and a piggy bank full of rupiah saved on gas, parking and bus and taxi fare.

“It’s healthier, it costs much less, you’ll become ill less frequently and you’ll have many friends from every part of the country: a brotherhood,” says Toto Sugito, a 47-year-old architecture consultant who helped found Bike2Work almost six years ago.

“I’ve been a part of many communities, but with a fellow biker there’s a special bond where even if you’ve only spoken through e-mail, once you meet it’s like you’re already best friends.”

Toto started Bike2Work almost six years ago with friends from a mountain biking group. It was after he started riding to his Kuningan office from [Cibubur] that he realized he might be onto something.

The timing was easier to predict than with a car, and his new mode of travel kept him in shape and emitted no fumes.

Toto and his friends quickly realized that cities nationwide would be much more pleasant places to live if more people got around by bicycle.

They decided to call attention to the idea through massive, highly visible group rides, which they put on more or less monthly.

Despite its name, Toto says Bike2Work is for everybody. “High school students, university students, housewives — anyone can join us,” Toto says.

The group’s organizers have always worked to make sure Bike2Work does not become an exclusive community for people of a certain social or economic background.

“From the beginning, we asked ordinary working folks like the [bicycle] food vendors to ride along with us,” Toto says.

The group’s first official ride was a tour around the Sudirman area on Aug. 6, 2004.

The organizers spread the word via e-mails and text messages, recruiting 150 cyclists for the afternoon ride, said Fannie Waldhani, the group’s spokeswoman.

The idea behind the massive rides is simply to call attention to the cycling community and the ease of riding in the city, Fannie says.

And it has worked. Membership has steadily grown, and with it, the schedule of events and the public profile.

To date, the group has registered more than 30,000 members, not counting people who participate in rides without registering.

Toto says that 2007 was the year Bike2Work found its momentum. The membership swelled and in November of that year, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took part in one of the group rides for the first time, boosting its profile even further.

In 2008 the president rode with them again, this time unannounced.

“That second time was actually a surprising one,” Toto says. “I was on the way to pick up Andi Mallarangeng, the president’s [former] spokesperson and an avid cyclist, and he told me that we would have to stop by the Presidential Palace to pick up the president.”

The 700 cyclists participating in the event were invited to breakfast at the palace as the president prepared himself for the day’s ride.

“We were all wearing bicycle pants inside the palace. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, otherwise I would’ve been beheaded,” Toto says laughing.

He recalled that along the route — which snaked through the Sudirman area — snipers were set up on top of buildings to protect the president.

Despite the Bike2Work’s growing profile, the founders acknowledge that it is difficult to persuade people to trade their cars and motorcycles for bicycles.

More than a few ministers have lent their support, but the change will have to come from the grass roots level, Toto says.

These days, Bike2Work has branches all over Indonesia. It also hosts an active online community at b2w-indonesia.or.id.

Toto hopes that in time, everyone will realize the benefits of riding a bicycle. “Riding a bike, I can predict how long it will take me each day to go to work. You’ll never be able to do that with cars.”