A tandem cycle is a two-seater bicycle. It doesn’t matter who sits on the front and back saddles, but when a disabled person and a non-disabled person ride together, it becomes a little special.
The able-bodied pilot takes the front seat and acts as the “pacemaker” and “navigator,” while the blind rider pedals together on the back to amplify the momentum.
As long as they can balance their breathing and rhythm, there’s more than one synergy.
In Hangzhou this fall, South Korea’s tandem cycling chemistry could not be better.
Kim Jung-bin (Sport Class B) and Yoon Joong-heon combined for three gold medals in the men’s visually impaired (MB) cycling event at the Hangzhou 2022 ParaAsian Games. 바카라사이트
Kim won Korea’s first gold medal in the 4,000-meter individual pursuit on the opening day of the Games on March 23, followed by a second gold in the 18.5-kilometer road race on March 26 to become the first Korean athletes to win a double.
On the final day, he crossed the finish line first in the 69-kilometer individual pursuit in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 27 seconds to claim his first ever cycling triple.
“Today was my last race, so I rode with all my strength,” Kim said after the third national anthem. I came into the finish line screaming because I had already secured first place, and I cried as I realized all the twists and turns I had gone through. I’m so happy and overjoyed.”
“I’m grateful to (Kim) Jung-bin for sweating and suffering with me, and I’m grateful to him for choosing me as a pilot and making this an unforgettable experience,” said Yoon.
It was only five months ago that the two began to put the pieces together. It’s a short period of time, but the effect of finding my match has been significant.
In June, Kim won his first international gold medal in the road race at the Para-cycling Asian Championships in Thailand, making it three Asian Games gold medals in four months.
All of these accomplishments were achieved with Yoon Joong-heon.
The two share similarities, from their easygoing manner to their quiet personalities, and are 31 years old with birthdays two weeks apart. It’s a match made in heaven.
On the track and on the road, there were no barriers between them. “Especially on the road, there are many variables.
There are short corners and deep bends, and sometimes you have to speed up on the downhill or dance (stand up and pedal) together on the uphill,” Yoon said, explaining that he talks a lot so that (Kim) can recognize it before he feels it.
“I can’t see, so I ride while listening to (Yoon’s) words, and that’s how we synchronize,” Kim said.
A former amateur cyclist, Yoon was drawn to the world of tandem cycling after watching fellow club member Park Chan-jong, 33, make a comeback as a Para-cyclist after losing a leg in a car accident.
Park, who had his left leg amputated in September last year, became a prosthetic athlete and touched the hearts of cyclists with his rehabilitation diary. “(Park) met Kim Jung-bin through his older brother,” said Yoon Jung-heon. “After learning about the tandem, I thought, ‘This is a beautiful companion,'” he said.
Yoon is a firefighter (Namyangju Fire Department) by profession. While playing for the national team, he trained on his off-duty days and competed in international competitions on his own time.
Kim Jung-bin played guitar in a band. Now, he has given up music and is employed by a small business (Hive System) as a Para athlete and rides a cycling bike.
The sense of harmony he acquired in the band is somewhere in the tandem pedals, which means that their bike is a combination of a blind and a sighted person, a former guitarist and a current firefighter.
When Kim stepped off the second podium of the competition on Nov. 26, I asked him, “Is this your best moment in cycling?” He smiled broadly and replied, “Yes, it is today, and it will change again soon,” and he stood by his words the next day.