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A local university student learned one big lesson during his attempt to ride a bike from Shanghai to Tibet - he's not Lance Armstrong.
Sunburned, exhausted and mentally frustrated, Wang Fei gave up his quest just 10 days into what he thought would be a 40-day ride - but he says he hasn't given up his dream of one day completing the ride.
The second-year student at Shanghai Maritime University covered 1,300 kilometers over 10 days, making it from the city to Hunan Province, before taking a train back to his hometown in Henan Province yesterday.
"I wasn't properly prepared for the lonely ride in bad weather, which seriously frustrated me physically and mentally," Wang said during a telephone interview before getting on the train yesterday.
Wang had spent a year preparing for the trip, mapping out a 6,000-kilometer route that would take him through Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, as well as much of the Tibet Autonomous Region. He planned to finish at the Potala Palace in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
Wang planned to ride 150 kilometers a day and carried a minimum of supplies. He left his cell phone at home, only packing some clothes, a first-aid kit, a bike repair kit and 2,000 yuan (US$247) in cash.
He forgot to carry suntan lotion, however, which proved to be a major mistake. Wang said he was surprised by the lack of shade along the roads he had chosen, and admitted his body was seriously sunburned - especially his arms.
He also said he pushed too hard to stay ahead of schedule. On the fourth day of his trip he covered more than 200 kilometers, a feat he was impressed with until his legs gave out after just over a week.
Chen Wenhe, a health expert at Shanghai University of Sports, said it can be very dangerous for people to jump into adventures they haven't properly prepared for.
"People who haven't received special training are sure to suffer from serious illness when taking a bus to the Tibetan plateau, let alone riding a bicycle," Chen said.
Despite his failure, Wang says he is thinking about trying again this fall.
(Shanghai Daily August 3, 2005)
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