Catching a Draft and Still Trying to Drop Me? No Chance

Huang Chong was no longer surprised by the system's sudden detection prompts.

By his own understanding, he had more or less figured out that this thing appeared in only two situations:

First, whenever he was doing something related to cycling, the system would assess his subjective circumstances and issue tasks and requirements.

Second, also during cycling-related activities, whenever he received guidance from someone else, the system would assess his objective circumstances and issue tasks and requirements.

All in all, it was an incredibly intelligent cheat system. It could detect everything related to his cycling from every angle, constantly improve his personal stats, and help optimize his weaknesses.

"Follow his pace for at least 10KM?"

Huang Chong glanced at the words floating before him and did not think much of the requirement.

He knew Du Wei's ability well. Du Wei was a little stronger than him, but not by much.

Now that Du Wei had volunteered to shield him from the wind and lead the ride, even if he pushed the average speed past 30, Huang Chong would have no trouble keeping up.

After all, drafting behind someone and taking the lead yourself were two entirely different things.

With someone blocking the howling wind resistance for him, the power he needed to put out while riding would drop significantly.

For example, with the same 170W power output, at his weight of 75KG, riding alone might only barely get him to an average speed of 30.

But if he drafted behind someone, he would not need to put out 170W at all. Maybe around 150W would be enough to reach an average speed of 30.

"Old Du, since you want to show off those legs, let me see what you've got. Don't worry—no matter how fast you ride today, I'll definitely keep up."

Huang Chong's words immediately provoked Du Wei.

This kid sure had a big mouth!

Du Wei had been cycling for over a year. While he did not train intensely every day like a professional rider, he rode at least three days a week.

For an amateur, that amount of training was more than enough. At the very least, maintaining an FTP of nearly 180W was no problem for him.

"Old Huang, you'd better keep your word. Let's do laps around West Lake Circuit and see how many laps you can keep up with me for!

"But let me make this clear first: if you can't keep up, you'll have to drink a 500ml bottle of Coca-Cola tonight, plus an entire roast chicken!"

Du Wei burst out laughing, youthful fire surging through him as he stomped hard on the pedals and instantly pulled the speed up to 32.

Huang Chong was quite familiar with laps around West Lake Circuit. He even knew that one lap around West Lake was roughly 12KM, all of it flat road.

For amateur cycling enthusiasts, riding endless laps might seem boring, but as a daily training route, the road conditions here were excellent.

And it was not far from their bike shop, making it perfect for everyday training.

Without hesitation, he decisively increased his power to follow Du Wei. His enhanced heart rate shot up by several dozen beats from a Zone 2 leisure ride, reaching the upper limit of Zone 3 and coming infinitely close to the Zone 4 threshold.

But as time passed and the mileage increased, Huang Chong quickly adapted to Du Wei's rhythm. Not only did he stay firmly on Du Wei's wheel, but both his power and heart rate stabilized.

[You have followed for 1KM. Please keep it up!]

[You have followed for 5KM. Please keep it up!]

[You have followed for 10KM. Detection task complete. Would you like to end training and claim the system reward?]

By then, Du Wei had gotten carried away. He knew Huang Chong's ability well and was certain Huang Chong was inferior to him. Yet after they had ridden nearly one lap around West Lake, Huang Chong was still behind him without showing the slightest sign of falling back. Du Wei's damned competitive streak instantly flared up!

One lap wasn't enough to shake you?

Fine, then another lap.

I refuse to believe a beginner with weak legs like you can maintain this power output indefinitely.

He brooded inwardly, determined to make Huang Chong concede defeat on his own.

So he continued maintaining an output of 180W and began their second lap.

When Huang Chong saw the system prompt and realized it had not directly issued the reward, but was instead asking him a question, he could not help recalling the doubled reward from the beginner test.

Could it be that as long as I don't voluntarily end the task and exceed the required mileage, I can get a doubled reward?

Thinking of that, along with Du Wei's "vicious" high-calorie punishment of Coca-Cola and fried chicken, he decisively replied:

"Continue training. Don't end the ride!"

After following Du Wei for one lap, he had not felt particularly tired anyway. Twelve kilometers in Zone 3 was only moderate intensity.

Sure enough, the system did not interrupt his ongoing task. Instead, it continued reporting his progress right on schedule every time he covered another 5KM:

[You have followed for 15KM. Please keep it up!]

[You have followed for 20KM. Please keep it up!]

[You have followed for 25KM. Please keep it up!]

"Old Huang, I really underestimated you. You've actually got some skill today. You managed to stubbornly stick with me for two laps, but you should be close to your limit now, right?"

While Du Wei stomped fiercely on the pedals ahead, he tempted Huang Chong behind him.

"If you admit defeat now, I can consider reducing the punishment. You'll only have to drink a 500ml bottle of Coca-Cola. You can skip the fried chicken. How about it?"

"Cut the crap. I'm in great shape right now. You think two laps around West Lake are enough to make me drink Coca-Cola? I'm telling you, no chance!"

Huang Chong did not care much about winning or losing. He was simply curious about how much of a reward the system would give him if he kept riding.

But he knew Du Wei's personality well. The guy was like a cannon—one spark and he exploded. He could not stand being provoked in the slightest. So Huang Chong continued to bait him into leading the ride and added:

"I'd like to see how long you can maintain that 32KM/H average speed!"

"Damn it, you're putting on airs with me now? Fine. If I don't teach you a lesson today, you really won't know your own limits! Two laps aren't enough for you to get a taste of pain, huh? Then let's do another lap. You'd better keep up!"

Among beginner riders, Du Wei was genuinely quite capable. He maintained an average speed of 32 the whole way. Aside from occasionally slowing down slightly to avoid other cyclists, he kept up a high power output throughout. That was seriously impressive.

After all, he had never received any systematic training. He never watched what he ate or drank either, indulging whenever he wanted. His weight kept rising, yet his power had never dropped. That was rare.

But after riding just short of three and a half laps around West Lake and grinding through 40KM of Zone 4 threshold riding, he finally could not hold on any longer. He began slowing down on his own, grabbed his water bottle, and took huge gulps before replying:

"Forget it, forget it. I'm not in great form today. I admit you've got some cycling talent too, kid. No wonder you want to become a professional rider.

"Damn, you've only been riding for a month, Old Huang, but you can already keep up with my 40KM of high-intensity riding. Sure, you were drafting, but your improvement is way too fast, isn't it?

"Back then, it took me a full half year to go from an average speed of 25 to a steady average of 30."

When Huang Chong saw Du Wei slow down voluntarily and call off the bet, he did not find it strange at all.

That was simply Du Wei's personality. He had always been that straightforward—able to take it and let it go.

Before a contest, he could boast to the heavens. But if he lost afterward, he could openly admit defeat too. His face would not redden and his heart would not skip a beat. He was shamelessly thick-skinned and carefree.

He chuckled and replied:

"So, Old Du, did I keep my word or not?

"You let me draft behind you, then still wanted to drop me? You really underestimate people!

"Believe it or not, even if you kept this power up and rode another two or three laps, I could still follow you."

"Sure, sure, sure. It's all just bragging anyway. Say however many laps you want."

Du Wei nodded repeatedly, but there was not the slightest awareness in his tone that he had lost. He continued:

"But I can't maintain Zone 4 riding for 50 kilometers. Otherwise, I'll be flat on my bed tomorrow and unable to get up.

"No, I pushed too hard today. I need to get my feet massaged by a girl, then get a full-body oil massage to ease the lactic acid buildup!

"Are you coming, Old Huang? You did all right today, so I'll treat you!"

As he spoke, Du Wei wore a knowing, mischievous grin.

If it had been in his previous life, Huang Chong would definitely have agreed without hesitation and gone with him.

Foot baths and massages really were among the best ways for professional riders to relieve physical fatigue and lactic acid buildup.

Riders on UCI WorldTour teams, for instance, generally had professional massage therapists hired by their teams to give them full-body massages after every race.

But with the system, Huang Chong no longer needed to bother with that.

More importantly, leaving aside whether the place Du Wei wanted to take him was legitimate, massages at entertainment centers probably had negligible effects on post-training recovery.

If things got out of hand, they might even worsen his fatigue instead.

So he still declined politely and shook his head.

"I'll pass. There's still enough time for me to go home and take a shower. Maybe I can even catch the most exciting final stage of the Tour de France livestream!"