Why biking rocks

Almost every Sunday I have joined a group of men to go cycling. Before China I hadn’t really been on a bike since I was about 14 years old, but the opportunities to bike here are vast, visually interesting and fun!

When I began, I was a bit hesitant to join them. The group is mostly men and women rarely join them in the rides, plus all the guys are about 10-30 years older than me, but I digress. At the beginning of my time at SCIS, this was one of the first groups to welcome me with open arms. I have improved as a biker, gotten a new appreciation for cycling, I engage in a healthy social activity regularly, and it’s good for my health!
The regular distance that we ride varies, but we usually bike between 35-50k per ride. I think I wrote about it before, but it’s worth saying again: I’ve even ridden to the coast and back! (That was about 60k). It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to travel just by using myself- without using a subway, cab, bus, car, truck, etc. There are some cycling veterans/experts who ride with us and are familiar with the area, so each ride is an adventure. As the year comes to a close, and I only have 4 or 5 more rides left, I feel sad, but empowered that I tried something new, enjoyed it, learned/experienced a lot, and found a new hobby that I enjoy.

In March and April I missed lots of biking for two reasons: My Mom visited me for two weeks and I began to run outside more and more. I was in a biking withdrawal until two weeks ago. On 5-11 we went biking to the Huangpu river. We took a ferry across and biked through Puxi, then took another ferry back and biked through Pudong back home. We went past some scenic places including a (nuclear?) power plant, construction for a new bridge, and we saw many industrial boats. Included in our trip was an ice cream stop. Enjoy these pictures:

I’m a bit sad I won’t be biking on Sunday this weekend because that’s one less ride that I have in my remaining time here, BUT I will be in Beijing this weekend! I’m going to Beijing to run a half marathon ON THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Wish me luck!