Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

"Honey!!!"

"Come here! Quick! Stop making dinner for a second!!"

"I’ve got something amazing to show you!!!"

...

In an apartment in the Tianhe District, Zhang Yi’s urgent, excited voice suddenly rang out from the living room.

Chen Li, who had just gotten home from her job at the Sports Bureau, was tying on her apron, about to head into the kitchen to make dinner.

Hearing her husband’s excited voice, she put down the fresh celery she had just picked up. She had been about to trim the leaves, leaving only the stalks to stir-fry with shrimp.

She walked into the living room and saw her husband on the sofa, his face flushed with excitement. She couldn’t help but ask curiously,

"What’s so great that it’s got you this worked up?"

Zhang Yi had always been a steady, level-headed man. She’d known him for over ten years, ever since they met on the provincial team, and she had rarely seen him lose his composure like this.

The only other time was the year he proposed; after she said yes, he’d been similarly speechless with emotion.

Zhang Yi didn’t answer her. Instead, he handed her his phone, his face ecstatic.

"See for yourself. You’ll understand once you’ve seen it!"

Chen Li, however, just furrowed her brow.

’Her husband was acting strangely today. He’d lost his usual composure and was being deliberately mysterious.’

’Normally, he’d just tell her whatever she asked, rarely playing these kinds of unnecessary games.’

But when she glanced at Huang Chong’s cardiopulmonary stress test report and saw the numbers clearly, the color instantly drained from her elegant face.

She unconsciously brought her free hand to her mouth and gasped.

"Oh my god, Old Zhang, this young man, Huang Chong... are these cardiopulmonary numbers of his real?

Max Heart Rate: 215; Resting Heart Rate: 36; VO2 Max: 98—

This... this... this—

His VO2 max, that has to be a world record, right?

How is that possible?"

"I’d also love to know if this data is real or not. But look where the report came from. He was tested at the Cardiology, Pulmonology, and Sports Medicine departments of Zhejiang University First Affiliated Hospital— 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

That’s one of the most advanced and authoritative testing centers in the entire country. A lot of athletes get tested there. There’s no way they would fake the data!"

"So you’re saying that based on his cardiopulmonary abilities alone, he’s a perfect fit for an endurance sport like road cycling... a once-in-a-generation talent, even!"

Chen Li stared blankly at her husband, thought for a moment, then shook her head in disbelief.

"But it doesn’t make any sense. Didn’t you say he’s been cycling for less than a year?

Was he a long-distance runner or swimmer before this?

Otherwise, without years of endurance training, it’s almost impossible to unlock that much potential, even if you’re born with a high natural ceiling—"

"That’s not my problem, honey. My job is to scout cycling talent for the country, not to be a detective and investigate someone’s life story.

Besides, the government has everyone’s official records. As long as his registration as a cyclist with the Sports Bureau gets approved, why do I need to know all that?

The only issue now is that his cycling power is still a little lacking. If he could just improve that a bit, he’d be a shoo-in for the municipal road cycling team selection."

Zhang Yi said with a sigh.

’But deep down, he knew the truth. It was precisely because of Huang Chong’s incredible cardiopulmonary gift that he could reach his current level in less than a year of cycling.’

’And this was just the beginning. He couldn’t even imagine what his future growth potential might be.’

’Compared to him, his own cardiopulmonary strength was light-years behind.’

He took his phone back from his wife and looked at Huang Chong’s test report again. Besides admiration, there were no other words to describe what he felt.

Because apart from his max heart rate, which was relatively common, his VO2 max and resting heart rate were in a league of their own, unparalleled in the entire world.

According to the standard data for a normal adult male, VO2 max is usually between 33-55. Only the world’s most elite endurance athletes, like marathon runners, can reach 85 or higher.

And yet, Huang Chong had smashed the world record for all of humanity.

As for his resting heart rate, if a normal person’s was only 36 beats per minute, it would definitely indicate a major heart problem, a severe case of bradycardia. After all, the normal range is 60-100, and lower isn’t always better.

But for a Road Cyclist specializing in endurance sports like Huang Chong, such a low resting heart rate only proved that his cardiac muscle was exceptionally thick and his blood-pumping volume was ferocious. He was a genius with a heart of frankly absurd strength.

"You’re right," Chen Li said with a smile. "What’s important is his present, not his past. All things considered, he’s just a young man fresh out of school. What kind of special past could he have?"

"Still, it’s a good thing you discovered his talent. At least a prodigy like him won’t be lost to time.

Otherwise, when he gets a little older, these numbers will start to naturally decline. That would be a true waste of such incredible cardiopulmonary gifts.

So, what’s your plan now?

With cardiopulmonary data like this, I think if you took him directly to your master, he could probably get special approval to join the provincial team, right?

As for his cycling power that you mentioned, that’s not a huge problem.

Get him into the provincial team first, even if it’s just as a reserve cyclist. At the very least, he’ll be able to use the bureau’s facilities and grounds for professional training.

Plus, your master can give him some pointers when he has time.

With Huang Chong’s ability, I think he’ll reach the standard of a Level 2 Road Cyclist very quickly. Then you can have him place on the podium at a few high-level competitions, and he’ll earn his spot on the provincial team fair and square.

Otherwise, if he really has to do it your way—going through the municipal team selections, getting results in low-level events, and then getting promoted to the provincial team—it would probably take until the end of next year.

For a talent like him, at his age, wasting so much time on promotions is a bad deal, Old Zhang!

After all, an athlete’s career is a race against time!"

Zhang Yi was indeed moved by his wife’s words. Although he was retired, he still had his old connections.

His master was none other than the head of the road cycling department at the Provincial Sports Bureau.

He hadn’t mentioned this connection to Huang Chong before because he was worried that while the young man had talent, he might not meet the standards for special recruitment to the provincial team.

Telling him would have just gotten his hopes up for nothing, and there was no need for that.

People like them, who came from within the system, always prioritized stability. They would never make promises—or "raise a flag," as the saying went—without absolute certainty. It was a major taboo.

But even though his wife’s advice was sound, he still wouldn’t tell Huang Chong about it beforehand. Instead, he found an opportunity to take Huang Chong’s test report and visit his master.

The result was the same as it had been for him and his wife. Even though he was in his early fifties, Zhang Guowei, the Director of the Cycling Program for the Provincial Sports Bureau, almost spat the mouthful of tea he’d just taken right into Zhang Yi’s face when he saw Huang Chong’s cardiopulmonary test data.

He wasn’t excited; he was in disbelief.

Zhang Guowei looked at his apprentice with suspicion, his tone heavy as he scolded him:

"Zhang Yi, are you that bored in retirement? You dare to come and fool your master with data that’s so obviously fake?

Have you not trained in so long that you’ve got an itch to get your ass kicked? Did you come all the way to the bureau just to get a workout from me?

I don’t remember you being the type to pull these kinds of pranks!"