Over 100 SCU Riders Complete Round-Island Cycling

From March 23^rd to April 3^rd, a total of 119 bicyclists from Soochow University pedaled across Taiwan in a counter-clockwise route, concluding a 12-day, 1,170-km feat. This cycling challenge marked its seventh year as all participating students showed enthusiasm and perseverance along the way.

As a part of celebrating Soochow’s 119^th birthday, the event recruited 119 riders, including 15 service squad members and 104 students, to take on the challenge. This round-island cycling activity had been organized and prepared by the University’s Socialization and Aesthetics Education Center under the guidance and help by the head coach Da-Ren Chen, teachers Wei-Jun Cheng, Ya-Jie Song, military instructor Zheng-Jie Zhang from Office of Military Instruction.

A tough challenge for all participants, the event presented a myriad of difficulties that needed to be solved, including weather conditions and unfriendly terrains, with endurance and perseverance. After finishing the western part of Taiwan, what the bikers had to face next was the rigid mountain roads of Shouka, which is located at the border between Pingtung and Taitung, and nicknamed the “paradise road.” In Shouka, while uphill sections pose great challenge to bikers’ stamina, dangerous downhill sections require bikers’ control. Other parts of the journey were also full of long uphill roads, sharp turns and continuous headwinds, but the riders never gave up.

In addition to challenging cycling, there were also other activities arranged along the way, such as visiting corporations and experiencing local cultures, in hopes of instilling every bicyclist with a deeper identification and affection to their homeland.

With preparation for almost a year, the Socialization and Aesthetics Education Center hoped that this event could leave all the participants an unforgettable memory and help them witness what they have experienced and achieved along the way, and that more and more students would join next year and fulfill the dream of round-island cycling.