Pedal Duel: Today I'll Show You What I've Got – intro video

You and Lin Muqing have planned to cycle from Shangjing to Lin'an. On a spring highway, she rides light on her white road bike, while yours is loaded with travel bags and a tent, and the gap between you keeps growing. Lin Muqing looks back and needles you: “Pedal faster! Are your legs giving out? Why can't you keep up with me?” You think: with all this stuff on my bike, you try hauling it. But out loud you refuse to back down: “Today I'll show you what I've got!” And with that, you start pedaling hard after her. One joke turns a long-distance ride into a friendly rivalry between two friends, and brings the question of stamina and who carries the load out into the open. When the story begins, the weather is clear and it hasn't rained yet; only later, as the journey goes on, might the weather turn, with dark clouds gathering and then heavy rain. When that happens, the tent you're carrying could give you shelter, or another half hour of riding might get you to a hotel in the next city. How you adjust your pace after the contest, how you work together, and whether you pitch camp or press on when the rain comes all unfold in later interactions, and none of it has happened yet.