Pedalling love: Woman cycles 20km to deliver care package to sick boyfriend

The things we do for love.

For some, it's the small deeds that stick in the memory while others, quite literally, go the distance.

Last Sunday (Jan 15), Vanessa Lee cycled from Pasir Ris to Canberra to catch a quick glimpse of her boyfriend who was down with Covid-19.

That's a distance of 20km, mind you. 

The business development executive told AsiaOne that she "only saw him for one minute" because he did not want her to get the bug from him.

Vanessa delivered a care package that included herbal cough syrup, an order of iced tea and a Chinese New Year mahjong shirt. 

Although it was a brief meet-up, her boyfriend mentioned that he was "surprised and happy" to see her at his door.

Vanessa shared bits of her cycling trip in a 51-second clip on TikTok on Monday. 

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@vannielyz/video/7188803029573897474[/embed]

In the comments section, netizens were teasing her, mentioning she could run the distance faster.

"Slower than you doing a 20km run eh," a TikTok user said.

Starting from Pasir Ris Park, Vanessa rode past Punggol Park Bridge and Yishun Dam on an Anywheel bicycle.

The 24-year-old started at 2.30pm and took 106 minutes to reach her boyfriend's home.

She managed to burn off a fair share of calories too, 483 to be exact. 

Impressive as it may be to some, she said the cycle took her "quite long" as this was her first time trying out the route.

Vanessa explained that there were moments she had to stop — to check Google Maps and take videos.

"I also stopped at Canberra Plaza to get him a teh peng, I’m pretty sure the next time I cycle there would be much faster," she quipped.

The couple has not seen each other in a week and their interactions have mainly been via video-call.

But that can never truly replace being in the same space with your partner, can it?

Vanessa decided on surprising him at the door, and with a care pack to hopefully help her boyfriend with the cough he was having.

She shared with AsiaOne that she was "glad" to have done the cycle, knowing that it made her boyfriend happy to see her.

Vanessa is a competitive long-distance runner, so cycling 20km was "not difficult at all". 

In fact, the New Balance ambassador plans on running the full distance between her place in Pasir Ris and her boyfriend's home in Canberra sometime this year.

"For an easy run pace, 20km would take me around 110 mins," she said. 

At the recent Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, Vanessa clocked in a net time of just over one hour and 28 minutes for the half marathon.

She ranked 49th among 9,084 participants and was also the eighth fastest female runner. 

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amierul@asiaone.com

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