Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

With the photos taken, the first day of competition was officially over.

Chen Junyi quickly brought over the team-issued warm-up jacket and personally helped Huang Chong put it on. Then, she handed him a thermos filled with a warm, cold-preventing tonic and had him drink a few sips to warm his body.

This kind of meticulous care was actually quite common on the team.

Chen Junyi was his dedicated one-on-one coach, handling everything from logistics to training.

On top of that, she was also in charge of nutrition management, so of course she had to ensure every aspect of Huang Chong’s diet and health was perfectly handled.

At first, Huang Chong wasn’t used to it. After all, having a pretty girl his age take care of him every day, managing both his training and his personal life—she was even more meticulous than a girlfriend.

He always felt a bit guilty and embarrassed about it.

But over time, he realized that Chen Junyi’s care was a manifestation of pure professionalism.

Moreover, all her efforts were aimed at helping him improve his professional results, so he gradually forced himself to get used to it.

As an athlete, if he wanted to repay her, the only right thing to do was to achieve great results, matching her professionalism with his own.

After returning to the hotel and eating lunch, the entire afternoon and all of the next day were scheduled for routine relaxation and rest.

Huang Chong took advantage of the downtime to claim his system rewards:

[Congratulations! You have successfully won your first career ITT championship. Reward: 20 Basic Optimization Value, Anti-Cold Heart and Lung Adaptation Pills x1]

...

The reward amount was exactly as he had expected. The system’s rewards started calculating from tenth place in the overall standings; for each higher rank he achieved, he earned an additional 2 Basic Optimization Value.

Therefore, the champion received 20 points.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Huang Chong allocated all 20 Basic Optimization Value points to his FTP Power, bringing the value to 348W.

’Hmm, even with these "cheats," after working hard for over half a year... my progress seems lightning-fast, but in reality, I’ve only just reached the Zone 2 aerobic riding level of the "Martian" of the cycling world, Tadej Pogačar—’

’Sigh, for a Road Cyclist to fulfill the dream of riding in the Tour de France... it truly is a long, arduous, and seemingly unreachable path!’

He sighed to himself, feeling the subtle changes in his body from the increased wattage as he swallowed the newly acquired Antifreeze Pill.

This was the gap in strength between him and the current number one.

His own maximum threshold ride for one hour had only just reached 348W, whereas the other man’s baseline power for a five or six-hour Zone 2 aerobic ride was 350W.

The difference was immense and glaringly obvious.

Still, compared to his initial level of only 160W, his overall strength had more than doubled in half a year, so he had no real complaints.

In any case, his plan was to receive an offer from a World Tour Team before the end of next year’s domestic season and then start competing in the World Tour beginning in ’24. He still had plenty of time to close the gap with Pogačar, so there was no need to rush.

The most important thing was to focus on the path ahead, taking it one step at a time and advancing steadily, without arrogance or impatience.

was set to be a crucial year for domestic road cycling.

Not only were major UCI-sanctioned events resuming one after another, but the China Cycling Association was also establishing China’s own domestic road cycling league.

Furthermore, a critical race was scheduled for next year in Thailand: the Asian Road Cycling Championships (Asian Championships).

This competition would directly affect qualification for the Asian Games, which had been postponed to next fall, as well as spots for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

As someone with knowledge of the future, Huang Chong already knew that in his previous life, no one from the National Team at the Asian Championships had managed to place first or second.

But now, he had the chance and the potential to rewrite that history, so he definitely had to prepare well!

Regardless of whether he made the National Team next year or if he would even be sent to compete, the top priority was to improve his own abilities first.

「The next day.」

While Huang Chong was training on a stationary bike in the hotel gym, he received a message from Dewey on his phone.

The provincial team had very strict rules about phone usage; athletes were required to turn them over to the coaching staff before sleeping and during training.

However, because Huang Chong was so self-disciplined—never late or leaving early, and never showing issues like lack of sleep or a decline in performance—Chen Junyi stopped managing his phone after the first few days.

Only after finishing his workout did Huang Chong open WeChat to see a flood of messages from Dewey:

[Bro, I raced in the Tour of Qiandao Lake today with Eldest Young Master Zhou. That punk used his domestiques to grab third place in the amateur division, and now he’s been rubbing it in my face all day. It’s pissing me off so much!]

[I was fucking stuck in the peloton and had a mechanical failure. Those son of a bitch amateur riders don’t even know how to fucking draft, and I ended up crashing and scraping my knee.]

[When’s your next break? You have to come back and be my top domestique again. I need to get revenge for Young Master Zhou’s taunts.]

[How’ve you been lately? It’s almost winter. Are you short on clothes or money? If you need anything, just tell your big bro. I’ll send it over right away.]

[Also, how’s your training with the provincial team going? Have you gotten any stronger? Don’t tell me you made it to the provincial team just to stagnate.]

[Finally, one more thing. Wu Fang and I are having our engagement party on New Year’s Day. You have to be there. I don’t care if you have to request leave, you better come, or we’re not bros anymore.]

...

A warm feeling spread through Huang Chong’s chest as he finished reading Dewey’s long rant.

The guy actually messaged him every few days, always asking if he was doing okay or if he needed anything, just like a doting father.

But he was always busy with training, with no time to look at his phone from morning till night. Sometimes he wouldn’t even touch it for days, so he rarely replied.

Huang Chong felt truly lucky to have such a close friend.

Taking advantage of the free moment, he quickly replied:

[Are you okay? You need to get that treated immediately after a crash. Get to a hospital and have them clean the wound. Be careful of tetanus.]

[I’m fine over here. The team provides everything, so I don’t spend any money. Don’t worry about me.]

[Don’t worry. No matter how busy I am, I’ll request leave in advance for New Year’s Day to be at your engagement party.]

[As for my training and my current strength? Is that even a question? Of course I’ve been improving by leaps and bounds.]

[I’m actually competing in the Provincial Games this weekend. Just won the ITT championship yesterday, and I have the road race tomorrow.]

[I’ll take a picture for you after I win both titles. The medal is in my room right now, and I’m training in the hotel gym, so I can’t go back and take a photo.]

It was true that Huang Chong had no photos on his phone. He never carried it during competitions or training. The photos were all on Chen Junyi’s phone, and she hadn’t sent them to him.

When Dewey received Huang Chong’s message, he had already returned from the Hangcheng hospital where he’d had his wound treated. He ignored everything else and immediately started replying: 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

[Provincial Games ITT champion? For real? You’re not bullshitting me, are you?]

[Hold on, let me look up the news for the Provincial Games. If you dare lie to your big bro, you’re in for it.]

But as soon as Dewey loaded the official Provincial Games website, he saw a familiar figure on the front-page banner.

It was a freeze-frame of Huang Chong on the Lightning TT Car he had gifted him, drifting through a U-turn.

A look of utter shock on his face, Dewey stared at the cool photo of Huang Chong, then glanced at the text on the banner to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

[Absolute Dominance: Provincial Team’s Road Cyclist "Huang Chong" Seizes Gold in the Men’s Group A ITT on the First Day of Competition with an Overwhelming Three-Minute Lead]

"Holy shit, it’s actually real?"

Dewey was completely dumbfounded, but his shock was quickly followed by a surge of ecstatic joy:

"My bro, he’s really made it!!"

Without a second thought, he quickly opened the desktop version of WeChat, took a screenshot of the news about Huang Chong’s gold medal, and sent it to Zhou Ming.

Having won third place in the Tour of Qiandao Lake’s amateur division, Zhou Ming had spent the entire day lording it over Dewey. That evening, he was sparing no expense hosting a lavish victory banquet. When he received the message, his world went dark.

He tossed his phone onto the sofa as if it had given him an electric shock, then couldn’t help but curse:

"Fuck!"