Free Web NovelChapter 134: Chapter 107: Seizing the Initiative in Advance, Striking a Surprise Blow
At Laji Mountain Pass, the mountain winds howled.
Huang Chong had set out from the Doba National High Altitude Training Base. After a grueling two-hour climb over 74 kilometers, maintaining an average speed of about 32 km/h, he finally navigated a series of massive hairpin turns and reached the summit.
At the highest point of the road, a blue highway sign hung overhead.
To the left of the road stood an important landmark of Tibetan Buddhism: the Zongkala Temple.
Huang Chong glanced back at the winding mountain road he’d ridden up from Doba. It coiled like a great dragon through the rolling mountains, which were carpeted in a thin layer of green grass. The sight was truly magnificent.
However, he didn’t stop at the summit, nor did he get off his bike to visit the temple or the scenic overlook.
He went straight around the massive U-shaped bend of the Laji Mountain Pass and began his advance toward Guiding County on the other side of the mountain.
After cresting Laji Mountain Pass, the entire route became a high-speed descent of about 60 kilometers, also filled with massive hairpin turns.
Even though this was a reconnaissance ride and he could see the entire road laid out below him from the summit, Huang Chong held back, keeping his speed between 80 and 90 km/h as he spiraled downward.
This left Zhao Caixia, in the logistics support vehicle, dumbfounded once again:
"This Professional Cyclist’s downhill speed is insane! He’s on a bicycle!
What’s his top speed right now? It looks like he’s already broken 90 km/h!
My God, it’s just unbelievable!"
Chen Junyi’s attention was also highly focused during the descent.
Not only did she need to keep a constant watch on Huang Chong’s condition, but it was also her first time in Qinghai, and she was completely unfamiliar with the local roads.
But on the way from Doba, she couldn’t help but marvel at how the nation’s road infrastructure was truly in a league of its own.
To build roads so smooth and wide amidst the mountains of a western highland region like Qinghai truly required immense manpower and resources.
Soon, after his high-speed descent from Laji Mountain Pass, Huang Chong reached the foot of the mountain. He noticed a dramatic change in the scenery. After entering Guiding County, the lush green mountains and grassy plains around Doba gave way to a layered, earth-yellow karst landscape.
He was deeply struck by the sight of two completely different natural landscapes appearing on opposite sides of the same mountain range, in such close proximity.
’If it weren’t for road cycling, I might never have had the chance to come to beautiful Qinghai and see all the mountains from this high vantage point!’
Huang Chong thought to himself with a sigh.
As he reached the foot of the mountain, the road flattened out into level ground and gentle descents.
By the time he fully entered Guiding County Town, with only 5 kilometers left to the finish line, the road even began to feature a slight, gentle incline.
In the final 2.5 kilometers, he rode onto the Guide Yellow River Bridge, which spanned the Yellow River.
In this section, the surface of the Yellow River was calm and gentle.
The water was a clear, deep blue, not at all muddy.
Finally, after crossing the Yellow River Bridge, he stopped conserving power and, riding at nearly his full race-cruising intensity, finished the 132-kilometer ride from Doba to Guide with a total time of 3:15:37.
"How are you feeling right now? Any discomfort anywhere?"
After arriving in Guiding County, Huang Chong could finally stop and rest.
Chen Junyi got out of the car and brought him the food she had prepared in advance for replenishment:
"You were pushing the speed so high back at Laji Mountain Pass. I was really worried you’d get altitude sickness.
But from the looks of it, you seem to be adapting well to the high altitude?"
After completing the system’s mission at the summit, Huang Chong had immediately consumed the High Altitude Low Oxygen Adaptation Enhancer he received as a reward while still riding. Now, he felt no adverse effects at all.
He felt as if he had lived at high altitudes his whole life; his breathing was natural, and he felt more confident in managing his stamina.
He smiled, nodded, and answered truthfully:
"I don’t feel bad at all. In fact, I thought this stage was pretty average in difficulty. I haven’t had enough, since it was just one mountain to climb.
After the pass, the rest was all high-speed downhill, which barely requires any power output.
All in all, the intensity of the second stage was concentrated in the first 74 kilometers.
I’d like to rest a bit, then continue on today with the third stage’s route, riding from Guiding County to Huzhu County."
"No, absolutely not! That plan is way too risky!"
Hearing he wanted to tackle two stages in one day, Chen Junyi decisively rejected the idea and replied directly:
"The stage from Guide to Huzhu isn’t just another mountain stage, it’s 201 kilometers long.
It’s the most difficult stage in the entire Tour of Qinghai Lake.
You’ve already ridden 130 kilometers. How could you possibly ride over 330 kilometers of continuous climbing in a single day?
Are you trying to kill yourself?"
Chen Junyi paused, her pretty face stern as she looked at Huang Chong, and added:
"Huang Chong, this kind of extreme training method is really ill-advised. Please, be sensible!"
Seeing that she was serious, Huang Chong could only silently cancel his plan to eat an Energy Bar to recover his strength, replying helplessly:
"Alright, fine. We’ll stay in Guiding County for a day and head to Huzhu County tomorrow!"
Hearing him change his mind, Chen Junyi nodded in satisfaction and said with an audible sigh of relief:
"That’s more like it!"
...
「The next morning.」
Huang Chong woke up early as usual, had breakfast, and then set off on his bike from Guiding County toward Huzhu County.
Just as Chen Junyi had said, the third stage was considered the most difficult overall among the eight race days of the Tour of Qinghai Lake.
