One-legged man cycles 2,800 km to reach Mount Qomolangma

Sun Youzhi and his cycling team member took a photo at the base camp of Mount Qomolangma at an altitude of 5,200 meters above sea level in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region on Aug 6. [Photo/IC]

A man with one leg cycled 2,800 kilometers and reached the base camp of Mount Qomolangma at an altitude of 5,200 meters above sea level in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, after crossing 21 mountains more than 3,000 meters high, zynews.cn reported.

The Sichuan-Tibet cycling lane, which has both beautiful scenery and dangerous sections, is famous for its difficulty, said 27-year-old Sun Youzhi on Aug 8 when talking about his trip. The lane includes snow-capped mountains, original forests and torrential rivers.

"I made preparations before starting the journey, but I still worried that I could not reach the destination", said Sun, "I can draw a conclusion to this cycling dream now."

Sun Youzhi, a native of Miaogu village in Huixian county, Central China's Henan province, had his left leg amputated after an accident when he was a freshman in 2009.

He was depressed because of his deformity during the one year he had to take out of school and overwhelmed by repeated rejections when he sought a job after graduation in 2013.

"I am still young and I can't give up on myself," he told himself. He chose to travel alone to border regions such as Xinjiang and Heilongjiang. In Southwest China's Yunnan province, he came across a handicapped cyclist, who moved Sun and motivated him to start cycling.

In his first real challenge two years ago, he rode 2,000 kilometers from his hometown to South China's Hainan province in more than one month, each day covering more than 100 kilometers.

Many difficulties occurred along the way: flat tires, losing his bicycle, torrential rains and etc. But he overcame all this with his then cycling companion and now wife, surnamed Mi.

"Cycling was addictive. It helped me regain the courage of running and the confidence for life," Sun said.

In the latest journey on July 5, Sun led a team of more than 20 cycling amateurs to ride along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway from Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province.