With the arrival of golden autumn, it was once again time for Bunta City's annual road bicycle race.
Old Man Sakeqi left home early, riding the Xinfei men's twenty-eight-inch bicycle he had bought over a year ago. He left Mexilan Village and headed straight onto the Falling Rain Highway.
Quite a few others had also risen early and ridden out of Mexilan Village. After leaving the village, they naturally gathered around Old Man Sakeqi, forming a sizable group as they rode toward the race's starting point in Bunta City, more than forty kilometers away.
Once Mexilan Village lay far behind them, Sam, who had been following Old Man Sakeqi all along, finally could not hold back. "Hey, old man, are you really planning to enter the road race on that beat-up twenty-eight-inch bicycle?"
Old Man Sakeqi glanced back at the younger villager, who was a distant relative of his, and snorted. "What? Can't I?"
"You can, sure... but on that bicycle... you can't go very fast, can you? Why even enter a road race?" Sam asked with a frown.
Old Man Sakeqi chuckled. "Hey, I'm not like you youngsters, entering just to win. I'm only doing it for exercise. I don't care whether I win. Finishing the whole course will be good enough."
"Oh... well, that makes sense." Sam nodded. "But even for exercise, you don't have to ride a twenty-eight-inch model that weighs a ton. Look how light the one I'm riding is. It's so easy to ride, it hardly takes any effort."
As if to prove his point, Sam pushed down on the pedals and shot forward, leaving Old Man Sakeqi far behind.
Old Man Sakeqi shook his head with an amused smile. When he caught up with Sam, who had slowed down, he took a closer look