The Alchemists
November 06, 2024 at 05:12AMOver the course of 20 years in a US-occupied Afghanistan, a group of young women led a cycling revolution. In an engrossing narrative for Bicycling, Kim Cross recounts the incredible journeys of a few of these women who shepherded a movement and fought for women’s freedoms in the country. Cross also reports on how, with the help of American cyclist and activist Shannon Galpin, these women and their loved ones were able to escape in 2021 after the country fell to the Taliban.
Reihana rode through waves of dust and dread, training her mind on the coming race instead of the nearing Taliban. Her drive to compete won out over fear. She finished the ride and went home to the house she shared with her parents, older brother, James, and little sister, Hania. She fell asleep in her room, surrounded by trophies, medals, and ribbons.
The next morning, her uncle called with a warning: The Taliban were coming.
“Take nothing—just run,” her uncle said. “If they find you, they will kill you!”
Reihana darted around her room, filling her arms with papers that identified her as an athlete. In the backyard, she lit them on fire and watched her identity burn. Years of dreams and victories vanished in a plume of smoke.
Her father gathered documents while her mother packed water and snacks. They would drive four hours to Kabul, where they could stay with family and try to catch a flight out of the country. Some of their treasured possessions—bicycles, snowboards, trophies—would identify them as infidels and put their lives in danger. Reihana’s heart ached to leave her bike. Would she ever see it again? There wasn’t much time to wonder.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/11/05/the-alchemists/
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