Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

When Huang Chong focused on riding, he generally concentrated on monitoring his heart rate.

This was to ensure his own health, and it was also the most crucial stat for increasing his natural power output.

For him, the focus of his future training would undoubtedly be building his long-distance endurance.

After all, for UCI-sanctioned international races, whether at home or abroad, single stages were often incredibly long.

With the exception of individual time trials, multi-day races started at a minimum of one hundred kilometers, while one-day races were over two hundred kilometers long.

For example, the Tour of Lombardy, one of the five Monuments of Cycling and the last of the year, was over 200 kilometers long with a terrifying elevation gain of more than 4,600 meters.

Faced with a stage like that, a rider without exceptional endurance would struggle to even finish.

Huang Chong’s cardiopulmonary function had already been enhanced by the system to a world-class level.

There was only one way for him to maximize this advantage and fully tap into all the potential that had been optimized:

He had to accumulate mileage by riding, day after day.

Among these efforts, Zone 2 aerobic training was the absolute priority.

It was the foundation that determined whether a rider could stay with the peloton throughout a five- or six-hour race and still have the energy to attack or counter-attack in the final phase to fight for the win!

However, because he was only paying attention to his heart rate—trying to keep it between Zone 2 and Zone 3—he didn’t immediately notice that while his heart rate was holding steady around 140 bpm, his average speed had reached a terrifying 37 km/h.

"Huang Chong, what’s your heart rate right now? We put you on the front to pull, but is it really okay for you to be setting such a fast pace?"

A voice suddenly cut through his concentration as he pulled at the front.

Huang Chong was taken aback by the question.

He could clearly hear a mix of intense curiosity and a hint of helplessness in Wang Qiang’s voice.

It dawned on him in a flash. He quickly glanced at his system’s bike computer and realized that while his heart rate was holding steady around 140 bpm, his average speed was far beyond the comfort zone of Wang Qiang and the other two.

’Crap, I was too focused on my riding. I didn’t realize the average speed was so far off the charts—

It looks like my riding ability is already at least a whole level above Wang Qiang and the others.

Sigh, I guess I won’t be able to train with them anymore!’

Huang Chong mused to himself.

It was an unfortunate reality. When the skill gap was too large, it was impossible to ride at the same pace and have everyone get an effective workout. You couldn’t have your cake and eat it too.

For example, an average speed of 37 km/h was a perfect Zone 2 aerobic workout for him, but for Wang Qiang and the other two, it was already pushing them toward their Zone 4 threshold.

If he pulled the three of them at this speed for 100 kilometers, even if they didn’t do any attacks out of the saddle, it would be like they had just competed in a high-intensity race. They’d probably have to stay home and recover the next day.

With their normal physiques, they most likely wouldn’t be recovered by the next day after such a high-intensity effort.

The cruel reality was that they were no longer suited to train together.

"Sorry, Brother Wang. I was concentrating too hard on my riding, worried about an accident on the greenway, and I completely forgot to check my computer. I accidentally pushed the pace too high. I’ll slow down right now!"

Huang Chong didn’t answer the question about his heart rate. Saying the number aloud would reveal his true strength, which could easily discourage the others.

After a moment’s thought, he simply offered a polite apology for his overwhelmingly superior strength.

Sigh. It wasn’t his fault, but there was nothing to be done about it.

He was the one who had invited Wang Qiang and the others to ride today. He couldn’t just discover he was too strong and then turn around and ditch them, riding off on his own.

But even though he tried to be as tactful as possible, Wang Qiang and the others weren’t stupid. They immediately realized that in just one week, his riding ability had improved dramatically.

’What do you mean, you "accidentally" pushed the pace too high?’

’And what’s this about "I’ll slow down right now"?’

’So this kid has to hold back now, just to be considerate of us amateurs?’

Liu Junjie, riding in the middle of the group, silently rolled his eyes, feeling rather indignant. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

As a veteran who had been cycling for years, being completely outclassed by a rookie who had just joined the team—and then being politely deferred to—was no different from being offered a seat on the bus because someone thought you were old.

He replied with a huff:

"Don’t slow down. Just ride at your own comfortable pace. We three old-timers can still keep up for now. We want to see how long you can hold this pace at the front."

Huang Chong heard the pride in Liu Junjie’s tone, but he knew it wasn’t born of malice or a petty need to compete.

It was simply that indomitable boyish pride that all men share, which made him unable to stomach the kind and considerate gesture of Huang Chong slowing down for them.

This was the extremely complex nature of a man’s pride.

Sometimes, being shown respect feels more like being mocked.

Huang Chong could only smile wryly. Since Liu Junjie had put it that way, slowing down now really would be insulting. He could only reply with a simple, "Alright," and continue maintaining his most comfortable Zone 2 aerobic pace, riding further and further down the greenway.

km—

km—

km—

km—

After riding for nearly three full hours, Huang Chong finally stopped when a system notification told him he had ridden 100 km.

As expected, while Wang Qiang and the other two had managed to keep up the entire way, they were clearly exhausted.

After the training ride ended, they immediately started guzzling down the contents of their water bottles.

"You’re a monster, kid! What kind of improvement is this?!

It’s only been a week, and you dragged us for 100 km at an average of 37 km/h without even taking a break from the front.

Fess up, what’s your FTP Power now?"

Liu Junjie grumbled; he had truly been on the verge of getting dropped.

In contrast, Huang Chong wasn’t even red in the face or breathing hard. His condition was frighteningly good, as if he hadn’t even exerted himself.

"Huang Chong, your progress is absurdly fast. We never saw this coming.

We all thought that after you lost so much weight, your power output would take a hit. We never expected it to skyrocket instead—

Do you mind if I take a look at your computer’s data?"

Seeing that Chen Guangming wanted to see his data, Huang Chong didn’t try to hide anything. He nodded and readily agreed.

He had been riding in Zone 2 for the entire ride anyway. Plus, his bike wasn’t equipped with a power meter, so his computer only showed time, distance, average speed, and heart rate; it wouldn’t have generated any power data.

From those stats alone, they wouldn’t be able to gauge his true ability. At most, they’d just see that his cardiac fitness was excellent.

As a result, when Chen Guangming and the other two saw that his heart rate was only around 140 bpm while maintaining an average speed of 37 km/h, they were utterly dumbfounded.

’Hitting an average of 37 km/h in Zone 2?’

’Then what would his real FTP Power have to be?’

’250W+?’

Liu Junjie stared at Huang Chong as if he were a monster. After mulling it over for a moment, he finally joked:

"Huang Chong, I think you need to spend some money and get yourself a power meter.

Even if you have no desire to quantify your own improvement, at least let us know how big the gap is after you’ve dropped us. At least then we’ll know exactly how we died.

Otherwise, you just winging it like this and leaving us in the dust... it really hurts our feelings!"

Huang Chong: "..."