With only 3 hours sleep when Clinton and I left Brisbane for Perth and met up with Sheeny and Seb, all four of us jumped aboard the Garuda flight which made an unscheduled flight to Denpasar (Bali) before we finally made it to Jakarta.

I think we had a few ‘learner’ pilots though, one needed to get some new suspension on landing because we were bouncing all over the place and another flight we thought the plane was going to swap from side to side and end up with high-siding.

Well we did arrive alright in Jakarta after 16 hours of flying and headed to our hotel and when we arrived at midnight we were given the great news we had to get up again at 4:30am to head back to the airport and fly to Malang where the first round is being held. Awesome, so we have only 4 hours sleep again and we don’t even get to have the awesome buffet breakfast I had been raving on about.

We met up with Lewis Woods and Mason Phillips in the morning down in the lobby and the boys are over in Indonesia for the supercross racing. Lewis finished 6th overall in the Pro Lites SuperX in Australia so he’s definitely got some speed while Mason has just returned from racing in Canada and America to have a crack at the Indonesian circuit.

I thought the Jakarta international airport was full on. Ha! The domestic airport is a sight to be seen. You couldn’t fit any more people into the cattle class lounge with basic facilities and everyone falling over themselves trying to get onto their flight before it leaves. The airport works very similar to the roads – just keep pushing forward until you get there.

Poor old Mason Phillips had a crap time though. On his flight from New Zealand to Indonesia he was told he checked in really late but his bags would still arrive in Jakarta. Well, one did anyway that contained all of his riding gear. The other bag had somehow made its way to Singapore so Mason has been getting around in the same clothes which hasn’t been pleasant on the nose haha.

We arrived in Malang on the east coast of Java island and we headed off to the hotel. We stopped in for some lunch at ‘meatball’ shop. We thought the meat ball option was better than the chicken and duck option next door but I’m not sure if we made the right decision now. The food was pretty ordinary, and I thought I’d tackle everything they had on the menu but that turned out to be a bit of a mistake. The food is displayed cold and you put what you want into a bowl and then move to the counter where the shop-keeper then cuts up your food and gives you another bowl of hot water to put your meatballs, dim sims and whatever else into to heat up and eat. Some of it did actually taste pretty good, but the ‘Prawn tail with shell coated in batter’ wasn’t exactly a delicacy I wanted to have a go at.

Just as we were getting back on the bus to head to the hotel where I finally wanted to sleep after so long in transit I was sidetracked when Kim asked me to do some radio interviews. I thought why not, we’ve seen posters with our names up all around town promoting the event so there’s obviously a lot of hype in the town of Malang about the Powercross series.

We did 3 radio interviews and had to drive 30 minutes through town to get to each one and it was pretty cool trying to do a live radio interview in Indonesia. The very first station we were at Kim Ashkenazi and I had to say Welcome in Indonesia to the listeners. “Selamat seang rekan muda saya Steve Sommerfeld” Haha, it doesn’t really roll off the tongue. I even got to play some Metallica – Master of Puppets on the radio, you just don’t get that in Australia.

At the second radio station it was more of a live radio dating session. We had 3 Indonesian girls ringing in, obviously speaking Indonesian so Kim and I had no idea what they were saying, but with the translation they were asking us if we were single, if we had a girlfriend and all that. Hahaha so I let Ashcan field those questions which was pretty hilarious, and since he’s been here roughly 15 times they just love him in Indo.

After the 3rd radio interview we finally could head back and chill with the boys but were finding out the Powercross series was coming under problems with protestors trying to stop the race, the stadium owners wanting $200,000 bond that it wouldn’t get wrecked, the army were nervous the protestors would blow up the machinery and they had run out of dirt. The Powercross first round is looking doubtful of happening but we think we can still get the event run and won. So check back soon and hopefully there will be pictures from the event to show!

Now that's a bike stand - perfectly done so the chair leg holds the bike up and the other chair leg stops the back wheel from rolling forward. Clever haha.

Team Evalube's bikes for Aussie FMX'ers and Racers.

Garuda flight landing in Malang. There's farms on the side of the runway with cows just standing there. Now that would suck if a cow just happened to be sitting in the middle of the runway!

Powercross track from Malang - All the big jumps were dug into the ground since there was not enough dirt

I think the Indonesian people were a little excited about Powercross. Roughly 10,000 spectators in Malang

Mason doing the hard work

That's right! I got Metallica - Master of Puppets played on Radio.

Advertisement for the 5 round Powercross series. A few mistakes obviously but there it is. It can be seen on almost every street in Malang

Selecta Water park entrance. They love their statues over here

My first dose of speaking Indonesian on the radio. I think it means Good afternoon, my name is Steve... or something like that.

Me and Kim Ashkenazi doing the radio interviews. Long day doing 3 radio stations with 4 hours sleep trying to understand Indonesian

Yep - that's a 4stroke under my graphics kit. Didn't think I'd see that again. Brand new KTM 250SX-F but I boiled her over in the hot conditions riding 2nd on the limiter to make 75ft.

Kim at the first radio station

Where we spent most of our time in Malang - little cafe over the road from the hotel that have the best mango and cookies and cream smoothies you'll ever have

We thought we were just riding 3 of the Mayor of Malang's bikes on our own. Word got out and there was about 30 riders who turned up for the full adventure ride into the mountains. Best day ever!

Sheeny enjoying the coy pond. Pretty relaxing until those big ones want to take your finger or toe

The Mayor of Malang's home and council headquarters. Very nice place!

Checking out the Mayor's range of photo's from the local Malang area and places we should go. Edi was one cool guy

The Mayor's bikes. Edi knows what he wants thats for sure. Fully customised KTM 250EXC-F and 450EXC-F's. There's something missing (yeah look for the brake pedal) Full automatic clutch so it's got back brake on the bars.

Lunch with Edi at his compound. Biggest prawns you'll have

The Mayor's meeting room. Looks like a university theatre. The boys decided it was time for work. Order... Order!

Army marching up the middle of the road in the middle of nowhere.

Lewis getting inked up... nice spelling too mate :)

Jogja museum with a 3D model of Indonesian island

MMmmmmm MM! Deep fried BAT! Heads and all

Sheeny and the boys chilling in Jogja

Clinton 'Runny Arse' Moore feeling worse for wear after a huge night

Mason wearing a boob tube to get a massage... I don't know why.. don't ask, i just think he wanted to wear it.

Yeahhh that's a lot of scooters going for the one bowser

Semarang radio station promo's with all the boys this time, oh and Rrrrrrrinnnyyyy

Parade through Semarang - Harley rider was classic - anything to get in a photo

Me on top of the Jeep during the parade

Semarang track getting built. Good track but plenty of rubbish mixed into the dirt

Adam the track builder.. even with the communication barrier he managed to build good tracks really really quickly!

Clinton taking the hacksaw blade to his 04 YZ... apparently jackhammers with a full plate just weren't working when he almost kicked it away

We need one more stand for the KTM... Stat! This is right at the Semarang track, just so happened to have a bloke with a welder and grinder to knock up a new stand for us on the spot

Qualifying on race day. Lewis going over the single-tabletop

Press conference that was swamped by the crowd

If I knew the photo I emailed was being used for a life-size poster for press conferences I would have at least smiled. Still cool but haha

Oh yeah, tick that box. I was opening the show by playing background drum beats for Sheeny and Clinton and then had a 45 second solo before my introduction. Closest I'll come to being a proper Rock Star haha

Kim Ashkenazi reviving his glory years in practice. Qualified 2nd only 1/100th of a second behind Lewis Woods

Blown CRF150 after it overheated in the mud

the ramp we were delivered... 3 stages don't work. Curve, flat, curve.

Dr. Steve taking care of poor old Sheeny

The new promo ad for Evalube? It's so smooth

Extra Joss... or Extra Josh? It's an energy drink in Indonesia that's made from grape juice.. Either way Sheeny is a celebrity

Hanging with the band. Typical rock star life, a few bottles of JD were empty and we had to drink straight out of the bottle. Ahh I'm not a bourbon drinker. It hurts.

Kim and his 'bencong'. Or Lady-boy. Haha, she picked him out from a mile away for a photo.

Lewis taking out top qualifier

Yep - It was muddy alright. This is the 'downramp'

Adam trying his best to work with what he had. Mud sucks

Parade through Purbalingga. Jeeps without rollbars or something to hold on to are a bit of a death-trap

First shower at 4pm. And we were still trying to work out how to do an FMX show?

Kim's bike getting the rebuild it needed before he went out and almost blew it up that night again

Sheeny and his fans

Part of the waterpark at the hotel.

Bit hard to get grip boys?

Dad used to tell me standing in cow-poo makes you grow 6 inches. I still got some growing to do.

And then I cut my toe while walking in the mud. Mmmm infection here we come. Hopefully the antiseptic will fix that one up.

Kicking out the jams! Back on the drum kit for another solo.

Other part of the water park. This place kicked arse. Green Valley resort, thank you!

Kim belting out Enter Sandman at Karaoke

Lewis singing his metro songs

Blake's mate, 'ranga' couldn't handle his thickshake and it went all over him!

Now that's a TV remote!

Sheeny finished off the night in the toilet... he was there for a good few hours

.... I don't even know what this was about

Drummer's shouldn't be singers as I proved

2 tickets to the Guns show

Clinton working the guns in Bandung Gym

Raining again in Bandung. Hoping the mud dries out and we can get a track happening

99ers radio station interview

Band playing the last set at Bandung Powercross

My bike after riding the Bandung show in the mud

Mosh pit in the mud and ruts watching the band rock it out

Ruts left in the downramp from landing. Some were up to the swingarm as we landed in them

Getting ready for the 'rolling thunder' parade. Riding TS 185's haha

Now that's a bike stand - perfectly done so the chair leg holds the bike up and the other chair leg stops the back wheel from rolling forward. Clever haha.

Team Evalube's bikes for Aussie FMX'ers and Racers.

Garuda flight landing in Malang. There's farms on the side of the runway with cows just standing there. Now that would suck if a cow just happened to be sitting in the middle of the runway!

Powercross track from Malang - All the big jumps were dug into the ground since there was not enough dirt

I think the Indonesian people were a little excited about Powercross. Roughly 10,000 spectators in Malang

Mason doing the hard work

That's right! I got Metallica - Master of Puppets played on Radio.

Advertisement for the 5 round Powercross series. A few mistakes obviously but there it is. It can be seen on almost every street in Malang

Selecta Water park entrance. They love their statues over here

My first dose of speaking Indonesian on the radio. I think it means Good afternoon, my name is Steve... or something like that.

Me and Kim Ashkenazi doing the radio interviews. Long day doing 3 radio stations with 4 hours sleep trying to understand Indonesian

Yep - that's a 4stroke under my graphics kit. Didn't think I'd see that again. Brand new KTM 250SX-F but I boiled her over in the hot conditions riding 2nd on the limiter to make 75ft.

Kim at the first radio station

Where we spent most of our time in Malang - little cafe over the road from the hotel that have the best mango and cookies and cream smoothies you'll ever have

We thought we were just riding 3 of the Mayor of Malang's bikes on our own. Word got out and there was about 30 riders who turned up for the full adventure ride into the mountains. Best day ever!

Sheeny enjoying the coy pond. Pretty relaxing until those big ones want to take your finger or toe

The Mayor of Malang's home and council headquarters. Very nice place!

Checking out the Mayor's range of photo's from the local Malang area and places we should go. Edi was one cool guy

The Mayor's bikes. Edi knows what he wants thats for sure. Fully customised KTM 250EXC-F and 450EXC-F's. There's something missing (yeah look for the brake pedal) Full automatic clutch so it's got back brake on the bars.

Lunch with Edi at his compound. Biggest prawns you'll have

The Mayor's meeting room. Looks like a university theatre. The boys decided it was time for work. Order... Order!

Army marching up the middle of the road in the middle of nowhere.

Lewis getting inked up... nice spelling too mate :)

Jogja museum with a 3D model of Indonesian island

MMmmmmm MM! Deep fried BAT! Heads and all

Sheeny and the boys chilling in Jogja

Clinton 'Runny Arse' Moore feeling worse for wear after a huge night

Mason wearing a boob tube to get a massage... I don't know why.. don't ask, i just think he wanted to wear it.

Yeahhh that's a lot of scooters going for the one bowser

Semarang radio station promo's with all the boys this time, oh and Rrrrrrrinnnyyyy

Parade through Semarang - Harley rider was classic - anything to get in a photo

Me on top of the Jeep during the parade

Semarang track getting built. Good track but plenty of rubbish mixed into the dirt

Adam the track builder.. even with the communication barrier he managed to build good tracks really really quickly!

Clinton taking the hacksaw blade to his 04 YZ... apparently jackhammers with a full plate just weren't working when he almost kicked it away

We need one more stand for the KTM... Stat! This is right at the Semarang track, just so happened to have a bloke with a welder and grinder to knock up a new stand for us on the spot

Qualifying on race day. Lewis going over the single-tabletop

Press conference that was swamped by the crowd

If I knew the photo I emailed was being used for a life-size poster for press conferences I would have at least smiled. Still cool but haha

Oh yeah, tick that box. I was opening the show by playing background drum beats for Sheeny and Clinton and then had a 45 second solo before my introduction. Closest I'll come to being a proper Rock Star haha

Kim Ashkenazi reviving his glory years in practice. Qualified 2nd only 1/100th of a second behind Lewis Woods

Blown CRF150 after it overheated in the mud

the ramp we were delivered... 3 stages don't work. Curve, flat, curve.

Dr. Steve taking care of poor old Sheeny

The new promo ad for Evalube? It's so smooth

Extra Joss... or Extra Josh? It's an energy drink in Indonesia that's made from grape juice.. Either way Sheeny is a celebrity

Hanging with the band. Typical rock star life, a few bottles of JD were empty and we had to drink straight out of the bottle. Ahh I'm not a bourbon drinker. It hurts.

Kim and his 'bencong'. Or Lady-boy. Haha, she picked him out from a mile away for a photo.

Lewis taking out top qualifier

Yep - It was muddy alright. This is the 'downramp'

Adam trying his best to work with what he had. Mud sucks

Parade through Purbalingga. Jeeps without rollbars or something to hold on to are a bit of a death-trap

First shower at 4pm. And we were still trying to work out how to do an FMX show?

Kim's bike getting the rebuild it needed before he went out and almost blew it up that night again

Sheeny and his fans

Part of the waterpark at the hotel.

Bit hard to get grip boys?

Dad used to tell me standing in cow-poo makes you grow 6 inches. I still got some growing to do.

And then I cut my toe while walking in the mud. Mmmm infection here we come. Hopefully the antiseptic will fix that one up.

Kicking out the jams! Back on the drum kit for another solo.

Other part of the water park. This place kicked arse. Green Valley resort, thank you!

Kim belting out Enter Sandman at Karaoke

Lewis singing his metro songs

Blake's mate, 'ranga' couldn't handle his thickshake and it went all over him!

Now that's a TV remote!

Sheeny finished off the night in the toilet... he was there for a good few hours

.... I don't even know what this was about

Drummer's shouldn't be singers as I proved

2 tickets to the Guns show

Clinton working the guns in Bandung Gym

Raining again in Bandung. Hoping the mud dries out and we can get a track happening

99ers radio station interview

Band playing the last set at Bandung Powercross

My bike after riding the Bandung show in the mud

Mosh pit in the mud and ruts watching the band rock it out

Ruts left in the downramp from landing. Some were up to the swingarm as we landed in them

Getting ready for the 'rolling thunder' parade. Riding TS 185's haha