national day seven days of action: heishanzhai leisure ride

"Don't pretend to be invincible, yet live weakly.

Don't be full of ambition, yet lose yourself in distractions.

Be a charming person.

Kind and capable, but not pretending to be cheerful."

— Lao Yang's Owl

Seven days of National Day 'zuo', the 'zuo' in 'no zuo no die'. Why is it called 'zuo'? Because two days ago, I was hit by a wrong-way Codoon bike while commuting by bike. The hospital took an X-ray, nothing serious. But my arm and leg are bruised in multiple places, and my left rib hurts when lightly touched or when taking a deep breath... I should have rested for a while. However, as soon as the holiday started, I began to 'zuo'.

When cycling becomes a habit, not cycling feels as uncomfortable as not brushing your teeth.

I had originally planned to ride a loop around the Ming Tombs with a few friends. The road to the Ming Tombs is easy, with little elevation gain, and low difficulty... especially suitable for 'injured' people like me and newbies. After all, I have injuries, so I need to take it easy. Plus, there are real newbies in the group, newbies to the extent that they need to rest after running a kilometer, ride a knockoff Giant bike with a spring seat... truly 'die on the hill', pushing the bike up any slope.

We agreed to meet at the bike shop, about a fifteen-minute walk from my house. During that fifteen minutes, I had breakfast and drank some porridge. By the time I got to the bike shop, I changed my mind: Let's go to Heishanzhai to pick dates! 'You're still thinking about those dates?' Of course, last time was too rushed, I didn't get to enjoy the scenery and fun properly—women are always changeable, and I'm no exception.

Actually, the main reason was that the weather was good, and I felt good, so I thought I could increase the difficulty a bit. It's like running; after running 10km for a while, 5km feels like just a warm-up. The round trip to the Ming Tombs takes just over two hours. On the first day of the holiday, I wanted to have a blast!

We set off immediately, our five-person team, a true leisure ride, cruising at less than 20... We lost three guys at the Changping roundabout! Later, we found out it was because the newbie He's bike had a problem.

We took a break at the roundabout, chatted, and took some photos. We ran into a group of long-distance cyclists with panniers and couldn't help but ask: Where are you from, and where are you going? 'Back to Inner Mongolia!' It was a middle-aged group, with an average age of around 40+. I thought, I hope that many years later, I will still be on the road, forever young, forever full of energy.

We continued from the roundabout, passing the Ming Tombs scenic area... Usually, there's no one around, but during National Day, it's different. Even someone like me, who knows nothing about history and culture, felt that the Ming Tombs were particularly beautiful that day, genuinely! Because the sky was exceptionally blue and the clouds exceptionally white.

The focus of this picture is the Ming Tombs, look carefully at the background! Please forgive me, I didn't take a close-up on the way there, this is the only picture with the Ming Tombs on the way back.

We walked and stopped along the way, waiting for the newbie He (the big piece of fresh meat in the picture above). I felt that this kind of leisure ride was very warm, unrelated to speed or destination, just enjoying the process.

We could chat, take photos, buy fruit from roadside vendors, pick chestnuts from under chestnut trees, laugh all the way, and sing all the way... When tired, we sat down to rest or lay down to look at the sky. Tired, but simply happy.

While climbing a hill, we ran into a handsome foreigner who greeted us and said, 'Keep it up!' I chased him for a while but couldn't catch up and gave up.

We planned to pick dates... but found signs on the roadside trees saying: 'No picking, violators will be fined.' Did I miss this last time? Or were the signs newly put up? It turns out these date trees belong to someone, not wild! Reluctantly, I decided to be a good girl. But there were still wild date trees along the way... wild dates are also delicious.

While picking and eating, I said, 'This tastes like childhood.' Lanbai asked, 'Do you have these in your hometown?' Yes... Then I told him, when I was in elementary school, around the National Day holiday, the school would assign labor assignments to collect a certain amount of wild date seeds... these wild dates were cooked, the seeds extracted and dried, and it took several pounds! When I was young, I would carry a bag and pick wild dates all over the mountains for this 'homework'.

He was very curious: 'What do they do with the wild date seeds?' I don't know, they are said to be medicinal and can be sold for money.

After eating the wild dates, we continued climbing... the road was full of cycling slogans. My favorite was: 'All you need is a free heart and a bike.'

Not enough! Some people always think that living a wonderful life is about having money. They think:

You can fly all over the country to run marathons because you have money; you can quit your job to cycle the Sichuan-Tibet line because you have money;

You can do anything you want because you have money.

Little do they know, these things they think they can do with money, they can't do even if they have money. Because running, cycling, and fitness are never just about spending money, but about a healthy lifestyle and a positive attitude.

The same gym membership, the same money spent, the same income, the same nine-to-five job with weekends off. You leave your gym card untouched in your wallet, go to various dinners and drinking sessions after work, and sleep through the weekends. Others head straight to the gym after work, and spend their weekends training hard. Eventually, you see others with the body you want, and you say you don't have time or money. Even if you had time and money, could you be like them? Are you serious? Stop making excuses for your indulgence and laziness! You can't do it because you're not disciplined enough.

We rested at the top of the hill, then coasted down to the local famous Huaqiang donkey meat. Why do we run? To eat! Why do we cycle? To eat. Don't ask me why when I'm hungry, it's all for eating! Because of eating, I forgot to take pictures, only took photos of two dishes.

We set off with five people in the morning, and another one joined us in the afternoon. Beiguo said, 'Last year around this time, we took the same photo here. This year, we need to take another one.' Sometimes, the reason for setting off is that simple, just a photo is enough.

On the way back, Beiguo suddenly stopped, saying he would wait for He and help fix his bike. Teacher Zhou said: 'Cyclists are all very enthusiastic.'

Then I told her about my bike accident—the guy who hit me didn't admit his mistake and argued with me, but a passing motorcyclist stood by my side and helped me handle the traffic accident. Afterward, I thanked him, and he said, 'Cyclists help each other'—at that moment, I was moved to tears. Cyclists around the world are like family, it's not just talk.

He struggled with his bike, which made noise all the way... the same distance, but it felt like he used at least twice the effort. Erpang stayed behind with him all the way... Cycling fast is easy, cycling slow is really hard. Knowing how to take care of your teammates is the most valuable thing.

It's said that He kept asking 'How much longer?' and 'How many kilometers left?' from 15km onwards... until the end, he no longer believed 'just around the corner' or 'all downhill from here'. However, he rode faster and faster, almost keeping up on the return trip, riding and walking, completing his first 70km ride.

People often ask me: Kuangshen, I've never run a full marathon, how long do I need to train from a half marathon to a full marathon? I've been running for so long... can I run a full marathon?

I always say: Just run! If you can't run, walk, if you can't walk, you can always quit the race. If you don't try, how will you know your level? Once you try, you'll understand yourself better and know how to train specifically. If your endurance is lacking, train endurance; if your speed is lacking, train intervals; if your stride is too short, work on hip flexibility and stretching; if your cadence is too low, adjust your cadence...

I don't advocate blindly running without knowing yourself. Instead of piling up junk mileage, it's better to understand yourself first, then learn scientific training methods to improve training quality. This is something many runners need to learn.

Whatever it is, just do it! Don't ask for methods (if you don't act, you'll never reach the point where you need methods), don't doubt yourself (practice will prove everything).

Lastly, thank you for reading my story patiently.