Dear readers, have you ever heard of CWNU’s workout club? CWNU is actively investing in table tennis and cycling equipment for athletes. Are you saying it’s too little? Well, no, it isn’t at all. According to the records of previous leagues, you might say that and then immediately withdraw your comment. Last semester, the table tennis club won consecutively and the cycling club had an amazing win recently. Today we are talking to CWNU’s pride of the cycling club!

Q: Please give readers a short introduction of yourself.
Ahn: Hello. I’m Jaeyong Ahn, a sophomore P.E. major. I’m a member of CWNU’s cycling club and I’m also working on the national team for MTB.

Q: I heard that you came in first at Gumi Saemaeul National MTB Challenger League on the 25^th of last month. Please give us a simple introduction of that competition.
Ahn: Gumi Saemaeul National MTB Challenger League is a huge competition with about 1,400 athletes participating, including a national team. This season I was in a slump so my record wasn’t good, even though I participated in several competitions. So I participated just for training and didn’t expect to win but I’m so happy that I got a big prize.

Q: I heard you are 21 and that is awesome. When did you start dreaming of being a cycling athlete?
Ahn: When I was in second grade in high school, my father was a member for mountain cycle and that was the reason I got into cycling. I got into MTB for a special reason, when I climbed a mountain it was so tiring. People tend to think cycling courses are like flatland or hills but that is the case for ordinary bikes but MTB is for real mountains. Simply put, you can think of the mountain roads behind the dormitory. So when I went there I decided never to do it again but as I went there for more it was kind of fun. I started getting special feelings of activeness and excitement. With that fun, I was a member of the cycling club since I was in third grade of high school and I was chosen for the national team for MTB last year thanks to my great score.

Q: It is the best to do something that you like for living and I envy you. I’m curious how much you should train to do as well as that.
Ahn: Actually, cycling’s training time is shorter than other sports. We train from 1.5 hours to 4 hours. But, the intensity of training is immense. To exaggerate a little, my mouth is filled with spit after I finish training. It’s hard even for walking. Since it is all body exercise, not only my thighs, but my stomach and face gets more stiff than I can bear.

Q: What training! How do you deal with training since your body and mind get exhausted?
Ahn: I just get over it. Other people think of their parents, family and their girlfriend or boyfriend, but there is no time to think about that when you are really tired. I just bear with it for every moment. Even if my score isn’t good, I feel sad or the training is too tiring, I just do it. When I think more, tired and wanting a break from training is separate thing. I think that’s why I won. I think there isn’t a special method for anything. Also whenever we train on electric bikes our coach cheers us up as we go around all the courses and it gives me lot of strength. He gives a schedule customized for each of us, so I feel like I’m improving just by following his plans. You asked me for a secret method and I think our secret method is our coach.

Q: Finally, please give students a last comment.
Ahn: Although cycling is unpopular in Korea, it is very popular overseas. There is no better thing for a great body than cycling. But still, it isn’t popular in Korea. The number of people in cycling is more than 10 million, but the number of cycling athletes is decreasing. Your small interest is a big help for us so please cheer us on to cycle.

By Lee Hun, cub-reporter  pjh327s@naver.com

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