Long ride on bicycle is good activity for youngsters who want to have a challenge (whose hearth is beating for new adventure). Before it, I must recall painful incident from second grade when I was injured riding a bicycle near a bustling bus stop by my house. The only cause for such injury was my curiousity to check whether it is possible to cross the small stones in the road without touching them with the front tire. Despite my early mishap, my curiosity to cycle long distances along well-maintained cycling roads was immense. My stamina was in very good condition.
I bought the bicycle a day before the race and forgot to check the masters consultation for the long ride. It was classical "Sirrus sport" bicycle for $150 from neighborhood. Miko, an experienced cyclist and a developer by profession, advised me to check the gears and brakes. After a quick inspection, I rode it home, eager for the next day's adventure.
The journey started late at night as I headed to Tim’s house. Tim, an athlete with a passion for running, had planned for us to meet at Yeouido at 4 AM. I managed a few hours of sleep before we woke at 3 AM, had breakfast, and started our ride. I found the streets the same busy with people as in the daytime. We arrived at Yeouido at 4:10. Miko and Yahyo were waiting for our arrival. Yahyo is graduate from KAIST and close friend of Miko. We got our first stamps there.
We progress from Yeido to the Jamshil station. The cycling road was almost empty and we were 4 people cycling as a professional group. I liked Miko's choice to cycle on the same rhythym and do not avgot each other. It allowed me to enjoy peaceful night of Seoul. We could get know each other better and exchange some thoughts. We reached next stamp stop after 20 km. I paused to pray Fajr with Yahyo. Yahyo had some mechanical troubles with his bicycle, therefore he decided to stay back. After the seperation, we started to move faster. As the night was slightly going down and brights lights were coming from the mountains. We crossed the asphalt, wooden roads, soometimes great elevation and great descent. I started to feel the joy of the travelling and felt the pleasant cool wind. My eyes were enjoying how the sunlights gave color to the fallen leaves of trees near the road. The dark river turned into a peaceful blue river. As I reach the speeds higher than 20 km/h, I played with the sunlights filtering through the leaves of the trees. It was pleasant morning.
At 9am, we had almost crossed 70 km when we stopped for breakfast. I had two boiled eggs, chocolate bars and a bottle of drink. I applied suncream to my face, back of my neck and from shoulders to my hands. After the breakfast, I was full of energy again, we easily covered next 20 km. After that, my seat started to cause some discomfort and my legs begun to feel increasingly heaivy. At some points I could easily loose energy if I exerted myself incorrectly. Later, I understood that when facing the elevation I should not increase my speed; instead, I needed to keep my current speed by switching to lower gear level. And if there was a downhill stretch, I needed to adjust the gear to the most comfortable level for my legs. This saved a lot of my energy, because I used to switch to maximum and I did cycling with full power, which exhausted me. I hope you, the reader, understand the suffering I endured. As the sun reached the midpoint of the sky, the temperature rose.
At one point, where there was no significant elevation, we encountered a small tunnel that housed a two-way cycling road. After passing through the tunnel, all of us felt refreshed and energized again. At the end of the tunnel, we were greeted by a wide and empty road that gently descended and was covered with solar panels for about 5 kilometers. This was the most joyful part of our journey. My eyes delighted in the mesmerizing combination of shadows from the solar panels and the bright sunlight on the road, reminiscent of an old movie cassette. My joy ended when the road narrowed and became sandy, cutting through a farmers' territory. While crossing a small bridge, my eyes had an unpleasant encounter with flies. My right eye experienced some difficulties, while my left eye was still functioning well enough. After blowing air into my right eye with my mouth and blinking rapidly, my vision restored. Once we reached a wider road, there were no obstructions, and we cycled peacefully. However, my speed had decreased to an average of 18 km/h, not the usual 20 km/h, and I took more frequent breaks, slowing down more than the group's pace. Thanks to Tim's and Miko's patience, they took breaks between stamp stops to allow me to keep up with the group and not get lost.
It was 2:24 PM when we finally received our final, 9th stamp at the Chuncheon stamp stop. I could barely feel my legs; they felt like very heavy slabs of meat. All of us were extremely hungry, as if we hadn't eaten for a month. Although I knew the chances of finding Halal food were slim, fortune smiled upon me—a Halal restaurant named "Musafir" was open. Though they were out of Manti, I enjoyed Hanim and chicken Shashlyk instead. After a satisfying meal and Dhuhr prayers, we reconvened at Chuncheon Station for our journey home. I was back home before 10 PM. Even though my legs were uncooperative, I managed to say my night prayers and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Thank you, Miko, Tim, and Yahyo, for such a memorable experience. While I could share images of the sunrise we witnessed, I believe words convey the depth of our experiences more profoundly. I hope my essay proves the belief.