Wheels in Motion
Just two fingers are enough to lift a bicycle—it turns out that a sports bike can be this light!
Six years ago, Wu Guanfeng volunteered for the first time at the Tour of Chongming Island cycling race, and since then, he’s had a completely new perspective on bicycles. The 28-year-old Wu admits that when he first watched a cycling race...
At 28, Wu Guanfeng admits that watching his first cycling race was just for fun, and he thought the winner would simply be whoever had the most strength and endurance. “After six years of firsthand experience at the events, I’ve become something of an expert myself. It turns out that cycling is quite fascinating—there’s a lot of strategy involved in how to sprint or provide cover for teammates, and it’s really interesting to hear the coaches explain it after the races.” Wu also tells his friends, who only watch F1 races, “Cycling races and F1 have a lot in common—even when it rains, you need to switch to rain tires.”
In addition to participating in and watching races, Xiao Wu has now developed the great habit of leisure cycling.
Ever since he learned to ride a bike at age six, Wu had always seen it as just a means of transportation. After enrolling at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, he once struggled with the terrible traffic during his commute. “I used to ride my bike from Jianjun Road to Handan Road to attend classes at Fudan University. There was only about a few hundred meters of bike lane along the way, but it was often occupied, and I’d have to ride past many container trucks—it wasn’t safe at all, and there was lots of dust. Later, I preferred taking the bus rather than riding my bike.” Xiao Wu recalled.
Now, he’s very glad to have been assigned to work in Chongming after graduation and to have become a new resident of the island. His view on cycling has also changed—it’s now synonymous with fashion and health. As the Tour of Chongming Island enters its 11th year, local cycling groups have been formed, and Xiao Wu is one of them. Every weekend, he rides 20 kilometers with fellow cyclists, breathing fresh air and enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way—it doesn’t get more pleasant than that. “I feel my quality of life has improved as well.”
Xiao Wu explained, “I’m still just a beginner. I have a friend who’s made cycling to work a habit. He spends 45 minutes biking to work every morning and feels full of energy all day.”