Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Chapter 133: Chapter 106: The Simple Wish to Keep the Gold Medal on Home Soil (Part 2)

But his heart rate and cadence showed almost no change.

A key metric for evaluating the strength of a Road Cyclist is undoubtedly their ability to maintain a constant heart rate zone and cadence for the entire ride.

If it were a regular cycling enthusiast, they often wouldn’t know how to use their gear-shifting system on undulating roads, relying on a single gear ratio.

This would cause their heart rate zone and cadence to fluctuate wildly with the changing road conditions.

This results in a great deal of unnecessary energy expenditure.

The human body can only maximize its energy output and utilization when operating in a relatively constant state of motion.

Soon, Huang Chong had been riding at his Zone 4 threshold for nearly 50 minutes during the climb.

During this period, he covered a total of 30 km, with an average speed of around 37 km/h and a total elevation gain of nearly 400 m.

He had gone from his starting altitude of 2300 m to an altitude of 2700 m.

And from his current position all the way to Laji Mountain Pass, 24.5 km away, the gradient would start to steepen, averaging around 4.9% for the entire stretch.

This was also the point where he entered an altitude range that could easily trigger altitude sickness in ordinary people during strenuous exercise.

"Huang Chong, your current position is at an altitude of 2723 m.

So far, you’ve maintained an average speed of around 37 km/h.

Further up, the gradient will increase significantly, and the oxygen content in the air will gradually decrease.

You need to pay close attention to any changes in your body!"

Chen Junyi truly lived up to her role as a Data Analyst. The information was perfectly timed; her voice came over the radio almost as soon as Huang Chong passed the 2700 m mark.

But at that moment, Huang Chong took a moment to carefully assess his physical condition, found nothing unusual, and replied:

"My body’s response is completely normal right now.

I’ll try to maintain my planned power output and keep climbing.

If I experience shortness of breath, I’ll reduce my power output immediately!"

As he finished speaking, he rode into the final 24 km stretch to the summit.

He still had about 20 km to go to complete the system’s 50 km mission.

And this next 20 km climb was the real HC Level challenge.

Fortunately, China’s road construction engineers were truly top-notch, keeping the gradient remarkably consistent throughout the entire climb.

There were no extreme variations, like a stretch at 4% followed by another at 8% or 9%.

This actually greatly reduced the pressure on Huang Chong as he worked to complete his system mission.

Of course, for a professional road cycling race on flatter terrain, a course with extreme, undulating changes in gradient would be the ideal racetrack.

That’s the only way to truly test a cyclist’s real strength.

However, that kind of course design is completely unsuitable for high-altitude riding; otherwise, it could be fatal.

When the gradient reached 5%, Huang Chong continued to push forward, still maintaining a Zone 4 heart rate close to 180 bpm.

But on such a gradient, his speed dropped significantly, and he was now holding at around 28 km/h.

By the time he reached an altitude of 3000 m, his average speed had fallen to 26 km/h, just barely above the system mission’s requirement.

On a nearly 5% gradient, climbing from 2700 m to 3000 m—a full 300 m of elevation gain—he had only covered about 7 km of distance.

This meant that to actually complete the system mission, he still had to ride another 13 km at an altitude above 3000 m.

Huang Chong had mixed feelings about his current situation.

He mainly wasn’t confident that his body could withstand the remaining 13 km.

Although he still hadn’t experienced any adverse reactions so far, either physically or in his cardiorespiratory system...

...once he was above 3000 m, the oxygen level on the high mountain would drop to about 80% of that at sea level.

He could already clearly feel that taking deep breaths wasn’t as easy as before.

’Good thing I pushed my average speed high enough in the first 37 km. I have enough of a buffer now to offset the lower average speed for the next 13 km.

Let’s see if my average speed will drop below 25 km/h in the remaining 13 km above 3000 m...’

The system mission was based on the average speed over the entire 50 km segment; it didn’t require Huang Chong to stay above 25 km/h for the whole duration.

So, at this point in the ride, he didn’t feel much pressure regarding his speed.

He was only worried that a sudden onset of altitude sickness would force him to stop the training session.

And if he stopped training before completing the 50 km, the mission would be a failure, no matter how large of a speed buffer he had built up.

The system was very intelligent; it would accurately detect if he was even 1 km short and judge the mission as incomplete.

But as he continued riding, the result of his training turned out to be much better than he had anticipated.

Because Huang Chong discovered that while riding at his Zone 4 threshold above 3000 m, his breathing had indeed become more difficult, but he still had no adverse feedback from his consciousness or his heart.

It was clear that his cardiorespiratory abilities, even before taking any High Altitude Low Oxygen Adaptation Enhancer, had been optimized by the system to a terrifying degree.

Finally, with 4 km left to the Laji Mountain Pass summit and at an altitude of around 3600 m, Huang Chong completed the system mission and received his reward.

At that moment, his average speed was still above the system’s minimum requirement, reaching 25.3 km/h.

His ability to maintain an average speed over 25 km/h during a 50 km high-intensity climb, all while reaching an altitude of 3600 m, left the medical staff in the support vehicle somewhat stunned. They had been following him the entire way, ready to provide immediate treatment in case of an emergency.

Zhao Caixia couldn’t help but remark to Chen Junyi with emotion:

"The stamina and endurance of these Professional Cyclists are truly admirable.

Riding on a winding mountain road at such a high altitude, all uphill, without even a moment’s rest... and he’s still so fast. An ordinary person simply can’t compare!

Young lady, for this young man to have this level of skill, he must be ranked quite highly in the country, right?"

Chen Junyi, who was driving while also calling out data to Huang Chong, heard this and thought for a moment. She decided not to boast about Huang Chong in front of the medical staff.

Instead, she downplayed his abilities, just smiling and saying in a light tone:

"Yes, Dr. Zhao. Huang Chong is a member of the National Team now, so he can indeed be considered a top-tier cyclist in China."

Hearing this, Zhao Caixia also smiled and nodded.

"I knew it. So he’s a National Team member. No wonder he’s so strong.

But our cycling race here in Qinghai gets a lot of foreign cyclists every year. It’s a shame that the championship titles in past years have all been taken by those foreigners.

Ah, wouldn’t it be great if one of us Chinese could win the championship one day!"

The speaker may have been casual, but the listener took it to heart.

Although Chen Junyi didn’t have a flashy personality and usually avoided bragging about Huang Chong’s achievements to prevent attracting negative attention, as a fellow citizen of China, she could certainly empathize with the simple, earnest desire to keep the gold medal on home soil when their own athletes competed against foreigners.

So, after a moment’s thought, she smiled and said:

"Dr. Zhao, there’s definitely a chance.

The skill level of our country’s cyclists is rapidly improving, constantly closing the gap with the European cyclists.

I believe Huang Chong will give it his all, do his absolute best, and fight to keep the Tour of Qinghai gold medal right here on this beautiful land, by the shores of Qinghai Lake. It would be his way of repaying the local people for the hope and support they’ve shown for him and the other National Team members."

Zhao Caixia was a true native of Qinghai, so hearing Chen Junyi say this naturally made her heart swell with pleasure.

Who doesn’t like hearing their hometown praised?

She couldn’t help but praise her:

"Young lady, you have such a sweet way with words. You really know what to say.

In that case, I’ll be eagerly waiting to see this young man, Huang Chong, successfully take the championship at this year’s Tour of Qinghai Lake!

When he wins, I’ll absolutely have to make you our local specialties, like lamb intestine noodles and hand-pulled mutton. We’ll have a proper celebration!"

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