Chapter 1: The Night It All Began
It was October 28, 2024.
I was 16 years old, and it was around midnight.
I was bored, scrolling through my phone, when I came across an app called Strava.
At first, I was just curious.
I wanted to see how it worked and what people were doing on it.
But that curiosity quickly turned into something else.
I wanted to try cycling.
There was only one problem.
My mother didn’t allow me to go outside at that time.
But I was too curious to let that stop me.
So, I climbed over the wall, took my bicycle and phone, and went out for a ride while everyone at home was asleep.
I had no proper cycling clothes.
No proper shoes.
No water bottle.
Just me, my bicycle, and a phone with Strava installed.
I started riding.
The wind was against me, and I quickly realized that cycling wasn’t as easy as I had imagined.
I was getting exhausted, but I kept going.
I didn’t even stop for water.
I remember taking a different route when one road was closed, trying to find my way through.
Eventually, I completed approximately 10 kilometres.
For someone who had barely started, it felt like a real achievement.
When I returned home, my family was still asleep.
I had no idea that such a random decision would eventually become one of the biggest parts of my life.
My first Strava activity was titled:
“16 year old”
And its description was:
“1 closed routh but i took other route i got cooked while i was against the wind but didn’t stop for water and continued”
The following day, October 29, I recorded another activity.
Its title was:
“Testing speed”
And the description was simply:
“Ez”
Looking back, those first two activities were nothing special compared to the rides I would eventually complete.
But they were where everything started.
I wasn’t thinking about racing, long-distance challenges, or becoming a better cyclist.
I was just a 16-year-old who wanted to ride his bicycle.
I didn’t know it yet, but that night was the beginning of a journey that would take me much further than I ever expected.
