In just a few days, 71-year-old Guo Bingjun and his wife Zhou Xiaofeng will set off on a coastal cycling trip with their fellow riders, and they’ve been getting busier by the day. Although this is their second inland cycling tour, they still spent nearly half a year preparing.
On March 19, Guo Bingjun, who lives in Korla, was at home discussing travel precautions with his teammates from the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture Elderly Riders’ Home who are about to embark on the trip together. They’ve held countless pre-trip discussion meetings like this, but every time they gather, they uncover new potential issues they might face during the journey.
Guo Bingjun’s riding companion Tao Jing said, “For this coastal cycling trip, we plan to take a train from Korla to Urumqi, then switch to a train heading to Guangzhou. Once we arrive in Guangzhou, we’ll start our journey using the folding bikes we’ve prepared. We’ll pass through Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin, and Beijing before returning to Xinjiang, with the entire trip lasting 75 days.”
“This is quite a challenge for us seniors,” she added. According to Guo Bingjun, a total of 16 people have signed up for this “coastal cycling” activity. The oldest rider is 78 years old, and the youngest is 53, all members of the Bortala Elderly Riders’ Home.
To save on expenses, this group of elderly cyclists has assigned specific individuals to handle bike repairs, arrange accommodations and meals, purchase tickets, and even a dedicated health worker responsible for managing common illnesses that may arise during the trip.
“We’ve even prepared valve cores, wrenches, pumps, spare parts, medications, sunshades, and rain ponchos,” Tao Jing said. Ensuring the safety of team members is their top priority, so they’ve also printed various materials for everyone to study.
According to reports, the Bortala Elderly Riders’ Home was established in 2004 and currently has over 40 members, most of whom are over 60 years old. Members of the group have set a rule to hold two activities per week, with each session requiring a minimum of 30 kilometers of cycling.
Over the past eight years, they’ve left their footprints in all eight counties and one city of Bortala, and have begun expanding their rides to other parts of Xinjiang and even inland China. In 2011, they cycled through Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, Jiangsu, and Shandong. Cycling isn’t the only joy for members of the Bortala Elderly Riders’ Home—promoting Xinjiang culture during their trips is also part of their mission.
“During our cycling trips inland, some riders who hadn’t been to Xinjiang were very curious about its culture, so we’ve also included learning Xinjiang dances as part of our preparations,” Tao Jing said. They’ve planned to cycle 60 to 70 kilometers each day, then spend afternoons sightseeing at rest stops or connecting with local cycling associations to help more people learn about Xinjiang and its culture.
Yang Guangjian is also among those participating in this “coastal cycling” trip. He said that part of the fun of traveling comes from the team spirit each member brings. When challenges arise during the trip, everyone works together to find solutions, which makes him deeply feel the power of teamwork, collective wisdom, and the warmth of mutual support among people.