“I WANT to cross the ASEAN nations by bicycle and show that we are capable of doing such a solo trip,” said U Zaw Min, a Myanmar cyclist who has ridden twice across the nation on a bike he built himself.
 U Zaw Min poses with his bike on February 26 before departing on his second solo trip from the Myanmar Cycling Federation headquarters near Thuwunna Sport Stadium in Yangon.
U Zaw Min, 45, is the eldest son of a family of six from the village of War Yaung in Ayar Taw township, Sagaing Division, not far from Mandalay.
“When I was 23, I practised by riding 50 miles between Monywa and Ayar Taw every day. I like bicycles and I did it for my pleasure,” he said.
He said he once returned from his Yangon home to his native village, about 1,075 kilometres (663 miles) north of Yangon, on his bicycle.
At the end of 2004, he started his daring, solo trip through the country, from Kawthaung in southern Tanintharyi Division to Myitkyina in Kachin State in northern Myanmar.
He left from Yangon on December 18, 2004, and returned home safely on January 12, 2005.
The Myanmar Cycling Federation approved his trip, helped him along the way and held a ceremony to honour him after his trip.
On February 26, 2006, he started his second trip from Yangon to go around the country in a big loop. That trip took him 57 days to complete and he arrived back to Yangon successfully on April 25.
“On the way, local authorities and sports associations helped and arranged everything for me. I received K160,000 from various organisations for the trip,” U Zaw Min said.
He used most of the money on spare parts for his bicycle and food but ate only snacks and tea for his breakfast and lunch, and had a proper dinner after he finished his daily trip. He said some shops did not charge him when they knew he was a solo cyclist.
“On the way, I felt well and everything was fine except for some bicycle damage. I could easily repair it as I assembled the bike myself using easily available spare parts,” he said.
U Zaw Min runs a bicycle repair shop at his house, and also repairs carpentry equipment and sometimes builds customised bikes for his customers.
The Myanmar Cycling Federation honoured him by donating a new Japanese-made training bike for his latest trip, but he said he prefers his own bike as it is easy to repair and spare parts are easily available.
“I expected nothing from this trip. My only aim was to successfully finish the trip and I am very happy that I did it. “In the future I wanted to go on international tours with the help of the federation,” he said.
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