IN CONVERSATION: RAGY RIUPASSA JNR
We caught up with long time friend of the Soup to talk about cycling, Ramadan and family life.
SECTIONS
I: GROWING UP
II: ON FAITH
III: ON EXERCISE
Ragy has been a regular face on our Wednesday morning ride the SoupKPW for years now. Given he lives locally (we guess, as most of our Wednesday crew do) we see plenty of one another down at the shops, and cross paths on our commute.
As our Bootleg Classics kicked off at the start of autumn, one face that was missing from the four icons of weekly bunch rides was the man himself. In our DM’s was a man ruing missing out, but knowing that something much more important was taking place – Ramadan.
Giving him some time to observe Ramadan, then celebrate Eid, we eventually caught up with Ragy for coffee and croissants one Sunday morning to discuss life as a cyclist, more specifically life as a cyclist during Ramadan.
I: GROWING UP
Can you tell us a bit about your cultural background?
I was born in Indonesia, which of course used to be a Dutch colony so there was a bit of a cultural mix which was also helped along by the western influence in the media that I noticed growing up.
Indonesia recognises five religions – Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Buddhist and Hindu, so it's very multicultural. My parents also came from different areas. My mum's family is from Java and Sumatra, and dad has family from two or three different regions as well. There's a bit of Dutch in the family, and then there's some Portuguese too.
Tell us about the relationship you have with your faith, looking right back to your earlier years.
My background is really interesting – my Dad is Christian Protestant, and my mum is Muslim so I've been brought up in both traditions. I'd accompany my dad to church for Christmas or when he went on Sundays, and I went to an Anglican boarding school when I was 15. To me when I look at both religions, they're the same, just with some changes to the nuances.
How have you found it balancing the two religions of your upbringing. Has one moved to the front more than the other?
I wouldn't say one more than the other. It was interesting growing up because when I was born my Mum would say "you're Muslim" and that would register, but then I would be going to a Christian school and my dad and his family were Christian. Balancing the two has always been normal to me.
Ultimately it's between me and God, and I don't see any contradiction within both.
II: ON FAITH
Would you say that the personal relationship with God is the key thing to your faith?
I didn't learn how to pray properly in the Muslim Salat until probably my twenties. Faith is hard to explain because I think it should be something that is simply between you and God. You can be Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, whatever you want, but that connection and your faith is just for you. Even if you are from the same religion, that relationship and the purpose that you get out of your faith will be different from the next person.
With your young family how has faith and religion played a role?
So we've been trying hard to explain to our daughters because they were born here, and the culture is a lot different. In Indonesia, it's way easier because you'll be around family that is Muslim or Christian and because you have those traditions and that family unit it's quite strong.
Here it's just the two of us, my wife and I – and we've been trying to teach them the Muslim way. Teaching them how to do the Salat, how to do the fasting, but we don't force it because they're still so young. If they need to break for lunch that is fine, it is more about teaching them traditions within the religion and brings them a sense of belonging. My wife is the better teacher though that's for sure.
For anybody who might now know, or full understands – how would you describe Ramadan?
The easiest way to explain Ramadan is that it gives you time to think about those not as fortunate as you. A big part of it is self-reflection through the process of fasting, and cleansing your body and mind – in a healthy way through a daylong fast. Sunrise to sunset.
When I was younger it was hard because you get hungry and thirsty but these days I don't really. What I do miss is the caffeine hit though. In the morning's we will get up at 4:30AM to eat, but I won't have a coffee because I won't get back to sleep, or I'd probably crash later in the day.
Either within your family or just for yourself, are there any other kinds of traditions you observe during Ramadan?
So a big thing about Ramadan is about holding in your anger, and focus on being kind and hold onto your emotions. It's a time where you learn a lot of self-control and ways to manage the stress of day-to-day life. This is something that we are trying to teach to our daughters.
You spoke about teaching your kids about the purpose of fasting before, what importance does Ramadan hold within your family?
We want them to feel Indonesian, so it brings them back to their roots. They're Muslim, they're Indonesian – and we don't want them to miss out on feeling that just because they're living overseas. Of course, they were born here and they're Australian, but we want to remind them of who they are, and it's something that brings us together as a family.
How does Ramadan end in your household?
It's a bit different here compared to Indonesia because normally on the last night there are huge celebration parades in town. It's super fun – it goes until morning and people are just playing the drums, running around and singing. It's very different here.
Normally we have a quiet night in, then in the morning, we have a morning prayer just around 7AM, and then we just feast all day with some real traditional Indonesian food like sticky rice, Indonesian curries and plenty of spicy stuff.
III: ON EXERCISE
What does a typical week of exercise look like for you outside of Ramadan?
So I would do two or three decent rides a week. I'd come to Soup, and then some bigger rides on the weekend. Then throughout the week I would commute pretty much every day, then in the last year I've also taken up running which I try to do two or three times a week.
While fasting during Ramadan, how do you find your relationship with physical exercise changes, whether with your cycling or running?
It's a bit limited for me, especially in the first week because you don't have as much energy as you get used to fasting. For the first five days to a week, I don't do any exercise at all. Even when you break your fast at night and you have heaps of energy, all you want to do is chill out.
My mates in Jakarta just go for their regular rides like it's nothing, most of the time just before breaking their fast. It's so humid and hot and they still don't take any bidons or snacks for the ride.
During the first week, I normally get massive headaches while my body gets used to the detox. When it hits the second week that's when I normally start to commute and get some exercise in when I feel more comfortable with my fasting and with my body. Even then, I will only ride halfway to work, and get the train the other half. Or I'll get the train to work and ride home because knowing break is coming gives me so much more mental energy.
Thinking of your relatives or friends during Ramadan, how do you see their behaviours towards exercise change?
I haven't been home for a while but from what I see on social media they're still riding, running and stuff like that. I have no idea how they manage to do it. They don't go out and do a massive amount of exercise, maybe an hour or so a day, but that humidity is next level – kudos to them because I don't think I could ride in that.
Do you find that having the convenience and the outlet of a Kickr at home makes managing exercise all the easier during Ramadan?
Yeah, especially because I'm not going for those longer weekend rides. Even though I didn't do it as much this year during Ramadan, maybe just once or twice a week when I felt like, the convenience was nice.
I had to get some time on the Kickr in because I knew that at the end of Ramadan I was going to do the Dirty Pig & Whistle ride, and I knew that if I didn't put in any work I was going to suffer, and wow did I suffer. All my last-minute training was for nothing.
Recently the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Leicester was paused so players from both sides could break their fast at sundown. While there’s not a lot of Muslim representation in the pro cycling world, what are your thoughts a moment like this, where a competition as big as the PL can break and acknowledge this is something athletes celebrate, observe and practice?
It's great they acknowledge it, and the player needs that as well. I can only imagine how burnt out you would feel by halftime, so it was great seeing them break for a moment out of respect for the players.
Football is super high pace and it can take a massive toll on your body so you need a lot of energy – same with cycling and all the endurance and the fuel you need. It would take a massive toll.
Thanks to Ragy for taking some time on a Sunday morning to get candid over coffee. If you like content just like this, why don’t you subscribe to our newsletter.