URUMQI, June 12 -- For elderly Kazakh herder Burlik Kangjebay, riding on horseback is the best way to trek from Wenquan county to the Sayram Lake. But his son Tursunjan Burlik, 21, prefers to use the winding mountain road as a cycling track.

Leaving the flocks behind and instead choosing to be a cyclist, Tursunjan has forsaken the herding life of his ancestors on the grasslands in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Earlier this month, the young herdsman has just participated in the 11th Tour of Sayram Lake, a national road bicycle race for amateur cyclists.

Born in the pastoral area near the Sayram Lake, Tursunjan has spent his childhood on horseback.

"As a child, I didn't realize that it would be a bicycle, not a horse, that would carry me ahead," he says.

Tursunjan's hometown, Wenquan County, has held the national cycling race for the past decade.

It was always happy memories for little Tursunjan when he watched the event. Every year he cheered for the athletes beside the racing track, envying the dashing cyclists and their flashy costumes.

"Cycling seemed really cool to me," Tursunjan recalls.

His life changed in 2017, when he received a gift from his father-- a mountain bike. He loved it so much that he began to ride it tirelessly.

Two years later, he entered into the Tour of Sayram Lake, this time as an athlete who was ready to compete with the contestants he had once envied.

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