by Bohua (a.k.a. Henry) Kou

In May I took my first bike trip in the U.S. It was also the longest, the most tiring, and the most enjoyable one I have ever had.

I learned to bicycle when I was 11. I often rode my bike to go to school or to go shopping. I like riding very much. But I also found out that although bicycling is a really important means of transportation in China, it is more like an exercise or a competition here.

I came to the U.S. in January to go to boarding school in Tennessee. However, I do not have my own bike in the U.S. so it was hard to find a partner with an extra bike back at my school. As a result, I had not ridden for over 5 months since I came to the U.S. However, that will change soon.

I am spending the whole summer vacation with an American woman who taught my father when he studied at Stony Brook. She found a bike I could borrow and two cycling partners, Huy and Tuan. She said Tuan is crazy about riding and he really is!

On that day, they came to the house to pick me up around 7 in the morning. Tuan said we would not race but we would ride a long distance. Then they told me some basic rules about riding. I was already used to them except that helmet. In New York it is against the law to ride a bicycle without a helmet. If the police see you they will give you a ticket. After putting on sun screen to protect our skin, we started the trip.

At the beginning, I was between Tuan and Huy. After passing a few intersections, we went onto a hilly road. I have never ridden on hills before because there are none around downtown Beijing. After a few downhill roads, the first long uphill road showed up. I still remember now how tired I was after riding up and I was not feeling good at all. At the first intersection up the hill I stopped because my head hurt so much and I was so dizzy. I put down my bike and took off my helmet as quickly as I could and drank some water. I felt much better after awhile. When I got on my bike again, I hoped they had not ridden too far. Actually, they just waited for me at the next intersection.

Around 8:30 a.m. we arrived at our first rest place - a gas station. It seemed that nothing happened to Tuan because he was not tired at all. Huy was a little bit tired and I was a lot. Then, we started to ride on the highway and it was much easier for us. Tuan rode really fast. He always stopped and waited for Huy and me when the distance between us was too long. I also found out my knees easily got tired from rotating the bike wheels for a long time.

It took us a long time riding on the highway. Then, we turned into the countryside and suddenly rode on hills again. They said we were close to the destination - the beach at Wildwood State Park in Wading River. We rested inside a store for awhile and bought some food. I was so tired that even the counter assistant asked me if there was anything wrong. Later on, we kept riding on steeper hills. When the time came that I could not ride anymore, the road stopped and we saw a wide beach and sea. We quickly found some rocks to sit down on and started eating. The weather was not really clear so we could not see far out to sea.

Tuan chose another way to go back. Still, there were lots of hills waiting for us. However, this time I saw the steepest hill that I had ever seen before. I almost used all my energy to go up that road but then I heard something blowing. That was my front tire!! Although a very considerate passing cyclist stopped and patched the tire, Tuan said it was still dangerous for me to ride, so we called to have me picked up.

Although I did not finish the entire trip, I am still very impressed with what I did – 28 miles! Although it was tiring, it was still enjoyable to me because I saw the beach, the sea, and the beautiful countryside. I hope I can have such a nice trip again someday.

Here is a link to a few more of the photos Tuan took.
http://family.lethien.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1096