Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Huang Chong was undoubtedly delighted to get confirmation from Chen Junyi.

Although there were two higher ranks above Level 1—Athletic Champion and International-level Athletic Champion—reaching the Level 1 standard this quickly was still quite an achievement.

Not only would this improve his benefits on the provincial team, but it also gave him the eligibility to participate in international-level competitions.

Of course, in road cycling, spots for international events like the World Championships, the Olympics, and so on were extremely difficult to obtain.

In past competitions, the country either had no spots at all or just a single, lonely one.

You could say there was only one path to representing the country on the world stage: becoming the strongest cyclist in the nation.

And then, you still had to rely on your own strength to earn enough UCI points for the country.

Huang Chong glanced over the information on the forms; it was all about his performance at the Provincial Games.

Chen Junyi hadn’t just been thorough; her writing skills, organization, and prose were all excellent.

In any case, she was leagues better than him, someone who had been a mediocre student his entire life.

It was enough to make him want to crawl into a hole from shame.

She was a top student, through and through. Even though she majored in a sports-related field in college, for her to get into a top-tier institution like Birmingham, her academic performance in high school must have been outstanding.

"Assistant Chen, I have no changes for these forms. You’ve written everything out perfectly. When it comes to writing, I couldn’t catch up to you in two lifetimes. I’ll just sign them!"

Huang Chong gave an embarrassed smile, quickly took the pen from Chen Junyi, and signed his name.

Luckily, his handwriting wasn’t too bad, so he managed to save a bit of face.

But the thought of Chen Junyi, who handled all his logistics so perfectly, possibly being transferred away after the New Year made his heart sink a little. He subconsciously added in a joking tone:

"Assistant Chen, you handle everything for me so perfectly, everything except the actual cycling. If you were suddenly transferred away one day, I’d definitely have a hard time adjusting!"

It sounded like a joke, but they were his most sincere thoughts.

But on this matter, Huang Chong was like a coward, not daring to say it with a serious tone.

Hearing this, Chen Junyi froze for a moment.

When she was immersed in her work, she never tended to think too far ahead.

This could be considered a rare flaw in her personality.

Or perhaps, it was a sign of her absolute confidence in her own abilities.

In her mind, as long as she worked diligently and did her current job well, she would never be unemployed.

Even if she switched to a different sport, she could still excel in her professional field better than most, so she never felt the need to think about long-term plans.

Now, hearing Huang Chong’s words, she suddenly realized that she had originally been temporarily recruited into the cycling program by Zhang Guowei from a more mainstream sport.

’How long will I be able to stay here?’

Although she had long planned to return to China after her undergraduate studies, work a grassroots job within the state system for two years to gain enough experience, and then return to Birmingham for graduate school...

...could she really stay in an unpopular sport like road cycling forever?

’First of all, Father would never agree!’

But this was a question she couldn’t answer right away.

It would require not only calm reflection on her part but also negotiation and deliberation with her parents to reach a final decision.

So, after a moment’s thought, she replied with a smile, her tone calm and in a standard, official manner:

"Before considering the future, doing your current job well is what’s most important.

Haven’t you heard the Confucian saying? ’A journey to a distant land begins from where you stand, and a climb to the summit starts at the mountain’s base.’

Huang Chong, your energy right now should be entirely focused on the promotion assessment in ten days. And after that, there’s the National Road Cycling Championships.

Director Zhang personally named you to compete in that. You have to give it your all and fight for a good result.

This doesn’t just concern your own future, but also the interests of those around you."

When she got to the last sentence, afraid that Huang Chong might not understand its hidden meaning, she thought for a moment and added:

"Actually, the word ’future,’ in my opinion, is almost like science fiction, because it inherently represents uncertainty.

And as an athlete, it’s impossible to shape the future according to your own wishes by relying on luck, especially since you’re in a speed-based sport.

It only looks at your individual ability.

But you don’t need to overthink it. As long as you get good results, the future will definitely be bright!"

Huang Chong was completely lost.

For a simple guy like him, it was a bit much to ask him to fully understand her allusive, philosophical way of speaking.

However, he did grasp the general gist of what Chen Junyi was saying.

He needed to get good results first. Otherwise, overthinking things was just daydreaming and a waste of time.

...

「Time flew by.」

After a short break, Huang Chong threw himself back into high-intensity training.

Although getting promoted was practically a sure thing given his results, it was a team tradition that promotion required participating in the internal trials, so naturally, he had to take it seriously.

The good news was that the internal trials only consisted of a single event: a 20km ITT, without a road race.

The ITT was a pure test of individual ability. The requirement was to ride two laps around the base’s road circuit, and the road outside the base would be closed on the day of the assessment.

Besides Huang Chong, the trial would also include Wang Bao and Zhou Zitong from the Hangcheng Team, who had ranked in the top six in the two combined events at the Provincial Games. Additionally, one cyclist each from the Jinhua Team, Jiaxing Team, and Ningbo Team would also come to participate in the provincial team selection.

Including the 6 members of the main team, a total of 12 people would be participating in the assessment.

On the day of the assessment, the weather was great. No more gloomy rain; instead, the warm sun shone brightly.

The start time was set for 9:00 AM.

However, an internal assessment wasn’t as formal as an official race. The start order was determined entirely by drawing lots.

Whoever drew number 1 would be the first to start.

As luck would have it, Huang Chong, who had started last at the Provincial Games, was the last to draw a lot this time—and he ended up with the number 1 starting position.

"Damn it! Did these bastards set me up?"

Huang Chong stared at the number 1 slip in his hand, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

’Drawing last means my own luck didn’t even come into play. How can I still draw the first starting spot? There’s no justice in this world!’

Seeing him draw number one, Chen Junyi couldn’t help but laugh. But she was full of confidence in Huang Chong and encouraged him, saying:

"It’s fine. Number 1 is number 1. With your skill level, as long as you perform consistently, there’s no way you’ll drop to seventh place. You can do it!"

Seeing his beautiful coach’s energetic encouragement, Huang Chong felt much better.

Without further hesitation, he got on his freshly maintained TT bike and, at 9:00 AM sharp, under the personal supervision of Director Zhang Guowei himself, was the first to start, shooting off the line.

The result was no surprise at all. After his FTP Power had increased to 350W, and with the good, windless, rain-free weather, he smoothly completed the assessment. Despite the course having a few more turns, he still maintained an average speed of 47 km/h, finishing with a time of 25:05.31.

Seeing him start first yet achieve such a good result, Wang Bao—who had gotten incredibly lucky and drawn the number 12 starting spot—was dumbfounded.

"An average speed of 47 km/h?"

"Has he gotten even stronger since the Provincial Games?"

He wondered, completely astonished.

But in reality, no one there knew that Huang Chong had deliberately held back to achieve this average speed.

He had no desire to completely reveal his maximum power output in a mere internal assessment.

So, over the entire course, he had only averaged 330W of power.