I learned to ride a bicycle for the first time in 2nd grade of elementary school, so I think it was around 1967.

Since I was born in 1959, that's probably correct hehe/

Back when children's bicycles didn't exist, when you sat on an adult bicycle saddle, your feet couldn't reach the pedals, so I would stick one leg through the front triangle and pedal while standing. I think anyone who has ridden a bicycle this way or seen someone riding it would be quite old.

Anyway, after learning to ride a bicycle with such difficulty, I got quite good at riding that large bicycle.

During middle and high school, I commuted by bicycle about half the time.

My grandfather's bicycle(with a large chain cover wrapping the chain) I loaded my schoolbag on the rear rack and commuted about 10km one way, going to and from school energetically regardless of whether it was cold or hot.

When I went to college, I had no reason to ride a bicycle.

In 1983, I joined the military as an Air Force officer, and since the Air Force base was large, I needed a bicycle to get around the base.

A civil employee working in the same department happened to be a former racing cyclist, and he suggested we exercise together, so I bought a road bicycle for the first time.

It was a high-tensile steel road bicycle with the name Goldwin from Samcheonri,

I remember it weighed about 13kg and cost about 200,000 won.

At that time, for a bicycle that an ordinary person would ride, this was not considered inferior.

Professional cyclists at that time were riding chromoly bicycles.

Colnago and so on… weighing around 10kg, with Shimano Dura-Ace or Campagnolo drivetrains, aluminum wheels + tubular tires, clip pedals(a style where your feet are strapped to the pedals with leather straps, very different from modern clipless pedals) and similar components, with prices around 2 million won at the time.

Since that was a price from 40 years ago, in today's value it would be worth around 20 million won.

Thinking about this, that price exceeded the price range of today's modern full carbon bicycles with electronic disc brakes,

so it seems we can't say that modern bicycles are expensive. hehe

Of course, they were so rare that even if you had the money, it was hard to find one.

It was an era when we had to find used frames that professional cyclists had ridden.

Anyway, after getting into road cycling that way, I traveled around western South Gyeongsang Province, including Jinju, Goseong, Samcheonpo, and Sancheong, every weekend.

Since it was right after I graduated from college, I was in good shape.

About a year later, I discovered that the Goldwin I bought carelessly and without knowing anything at a Samcheonri bicycle shop was actually too small for me

and I realized that it didn't fit at all,

and fortunately I was able to find a chromoly frame in the right size that a professional had ridden, so I was able to get a proper bicycle.

When the bicycle became lighter and the fit was right, it was a whole new world. I was really excited and rode it enthusiastically.

After discharge, I got a job and lived in Seoul. Even during difficult work life, I tried to make time to ride a bicycle,,

80s mid-to-late Korean conglomerate newcomer like me wasn't in a position to enjoy such hobbies,,

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday, Friday…from dawn until late at night… It was a time of endless slave-like work…

In the midst of all that, my bicycle got stolen…. And so the bicycle drifted away from my life.

While working myself to death, I couldn't even dream of exercise, spending my 30s and 40s that way.

But I wasn't doing nothing.

In winters I'd ski,, and briefly play tennis…

In my 40s, I was fortunate to work as an expatriate in Europe where I learned horseback riding,, played golf… and went scuba diving…

I managed to carve out time and enthusiastically enjoy various activities.

When I reached my 50s and became a manager, I found my health had deteriorated.

My weight had increased, my stamina was at rock bottom, and I suffered from daily migraines and gum disease.

Thinking all of this was due to stress, I looked for a breakthrough and decided I should commute by bicycle.

The distance to my office was about 25km, which was perfect for cycling commute.

When I went to buy a bicycle, I found it was a different world from what I knew.

There were many types, diverse genres, and enormous prices…

Although I rode a road bike in my youth, I thought I should ride a mini velo now that I'm older, so I bought a Dahon mini velo.

It performed better than expected. Commuting enjoyably improved my health, increased my stamina, and boosted my confidence.

My humble heart gradually faded and my eyes kept turning to sleek road bikes.

It felt like I would fly if I rode that.

2011, I finally got a titanium frame from the secondhand market and assembled an 8kg class road bike by hunting down components one by one.

I still ride the bicycle I assembled back then.

Of course, the drivetrain, wheelset, and components have changed a lot from when I first assembled it,

but the frame is still the same titanium frame. Of course, it's rim brakes.

More than 40 years have passed since I first started road cycling. Time sure flies…

These days after retirement, I have plenty of free time, so I spend my days riding 50~70km a day.

Even though I pass the same road every day, I ride happily while feeling the seasonal changes that differ day by day.

Of course, I don't ride on rainy days haha, and I can't ride fast. I only manage to ride at around 30km/h,

Although there was a long period when I couldn't ride a bicycle,, after retirement, the exercise that takes care of my health is indeed cycling.

If I hadn't learned to ride a bicycle back then, I don't think I would be as healthy and happy as I am now.

Each person may have a different purpose for riding a bicycle, and there are many ways to enjoy cycling,

and the satisfaction and benefits gained through cycling will vary as well.

However, we are people who communicate with one another through the common medium of the bicycle,

so let us not criticize others for being different from us, nor bicker with each other over who is right.

I hope we can embrace one another with the mindset that we are simply different, not wrong.

No one can outrun time, and everyone grows older.

Once you get older, you come to realize that choosing cycling as a hobby and form of exercise was one of the best decisions of your life.

I hope people won't be too hard on older folks who ride their bikes a little clumsily.

They are veterans who, like me, have struggled through the long and difficult journey of life and have only now found a moment of peace —

so I think it would be wonderful if we could look upon them with generosity, as one would honor an old soldier.

Memories of the time when this old-timer, racing toward his late 60s, suddenly took up cycling came to mind, and I ended up rambling on with a long and uninteresting story.

If there is anyone who read this all the way to the end, thank you ^^