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Fai
My window looks out onto a stretch of the bicycle trail that connects Taipo and Tai Wai. At some point around the Shatin Racecourse, the trail branches off to cross the Shing Mun River where one can continue to go to Ma On Shan and beyond. During the day, the trail is very quiet, but at night, aspiring professional cyclists would come to practice. In skin-tight(adj.緊身的、貼身的)sportswear and shiny helmets, they ride in packs of thirty on bicycles that are so well tuned that the wheels literally hum on the asphalt(n.瀝青路面). They speed down the road in an orderly fashion, with the cyclist in the front giving the rest of the group warnings of the approach of unwary pedestrians.
In the weekend, the trail is filled with another type of cyclists, made up mostly of people who are out in the New Territories for a day of outdoor fun. Many of them are either learning to ride a bicycle or have barely mastered the skill. They weave in and out of the trail, making sudden stops and unexpected turns. From my balcony, I observe the scene, sometimes laughing out loud at the improbable chaos of it all and sometimes gasping(v.吸一大口氣)at what appears to be an impending(adj.即將發生的) accident.
About two weeks ago, it occurred to me that instead of laughing and gasping from a safe distance, I should go to join the fray. My older son has a bicycle which he left out to rust on the bicycle rack on the ground floor of the building for more than a year. I put air in the tyres and did my best to polish the frame. Fortunately, the gears and the brakes seemed to work well, and did not need any repair. On a fine breezy weekday, I hopped on the bike and headed towards Taipo.
The ride was exquisite(adj.精美的). On my right was the Tolo Harbour, which, with all the land reclamation(n.填海)of the last few decades, has become much narrower than the time when I was a student at the Chinese University in the late 1970s. The view is still very peaceful, however. Conveniently, the bicycle trail makes it possible to appreciate the beauty of it with the least fuss(n.忙亂). Not having ridden the bike for more than a year, I had to shift my weight around on the bicycle seat at first to find a comfortable position, but gradually, the rhythm of pedaling took over, and I found myself, without even trying, adjusting to each little bump(n.碰撞)of the road.
On my second ride two days later, I crossed the Shing Mun River and headed towards the direction of Ma On Shan. This time, instead of looking out to the sea from the side of the Chinese University, I was treated to the view of the University campus from across the harbour. Compared to the tall buildings in Ma On Shan, those of the University looked almost puny(adj.細小的), and as a result, it was possible to see more of the sky. I stopped for a few seconds to catch my breath and to take in the view, which seemed familiar and strange at the same time. I know the University campus very well, but looking at it from a different angle seemed to make it a completely new place to me.
Those few seconds of immobility(n.停留不動)on the waterfront of Ma On Shan turned out to be a mistake, however, for the mosquitoes quickly descended on me. Before I took off against it, I was bitten on three different spots. Afterwards, I told a friend who lives in Ma On Shan about my little run-in(n.小衝突)with the mosquitoes, and she said that she seldom saw any mosquitoes, but now she'd rather suspect that the residents there were spared because the cyclists on the trail had kept the mosquitoes well-fed. She then laughed, trying to make light of the whole thing, but as an unwilling blood donor(phr.捐血者)in this case, I hardly found it funny at all. kingfaitam@gmail.com
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