The Importance of Core Strength

The three of them had nothing to say about Huang Chong's humility.

They had seen his performance before. He had been a complete beginner with weak legs.

Riding at a high threshold without a reasonable plan might look hardworking, but it was impossible to sustain. That was their basic impression of Huang Chong.

Sure enough, judging from the mileage on his bike computer, Huang Chong had ridden only around 10 kilometers that day before stopping by the roadside, gasping for breath just as they had expected. He had been completely spent.

Today, Huang Chong had taken their advice on his basic equipment and replaced what needed replacing, but the core of road cycling was ultimately leg strength. It was not something that could be rapidly improved simply by changing a few pieces of gear.

A pair of beginner's weak legs could only truly break through the novice wall through extensive practice and by relentlessly piling up hours and mileage.

So, believing they knew Huang Chong's abilities well, they replied casually:

"No problem. The three of us will take turns drafting for you today, and we'll keep the pace steadier. You just need to stay glued to our wheels."

"Of course, it's fine if you can't keep up. Just drop off. Don't force yourself. Trying to hang on when you're struggling won't do you any good. Just do your best according to your own level."

"Brothers, let's get started. We'll ride a little less today—50 kilometers one way, 100 kilometers round trip. We've got business tomorrow."

"Got it. Let's go!"

As soon as they finished speaking, the three riders lined up single-file and immediately pushed their average speed above 30 kilometers per hour.

Huang Chong made his decision at once. He stomped down on the pedals and began putting out power, following closely at the back while carefully observing the trio's cadence. He found that it was remarkably synchronized.

Combined with their matching cycling jerseys, even without any sponsor or GG logos printed on them, Huang Chong could still tell from experience that these three were nothing like an ordinary, purely amateur rider like himself.

"Could these guys be members of some cycling club or amateur team in Hangzhou?"

He pondered silently.

Compared with ordinary amateurs, the three of them were clearly much more professional, whether in their riding posture or cadence.

And a speed of over 30 kilometers per hour seemed to be nothing more than a leisurely ride for them.

Other than the lead rider's possibly higher heart rate, their stability and utterly relaxed posture suggested that their heart rates were definitely only around Zone 2.

"There's still a gap between me and them. It looks like I'll need to raise my average power above 200 watts and hit an average speed of around 35 before I can reach their level!"

Huang Chong continued thinking to himself.

In fact, the speed he had in mind was already the limit he had been able to reach in his previous life.

Without the system's help, he would have needed at least two years of training to attain that level.

In cycling, a 30-kilometer-per-hour average was one hurdle, while a 35-kilometer-per-hour average was another.

A 40-kilometer-per-hour average, meanwhile, was a dream that most amateur riders could never reach in their entire lives, yet it was merely the basic entry-level speed for professional cyclists.

FTP was only a reference value. It referred to the maximum average power a rider could sustain for one hour.

The average-speed standards mentioned above, however, referred to race average speed—the average speed a rider maintained over the entire course of a competition.

For example, those three guys said they were riding 100 kilometers tonight. At their current speed of over 30 kilometers per hour, they would need to ride for at least three hours.

At Huang Chong's current level, if he had to lead the ride, he definitely could not sustain the system-assessed FTP of 185W for that long.

After all, the system could only determine that he was capable of continuously outputting 185W for one hour.

Once he exceeded that riding duration, his current stamina and endurance would inevitably cause his power to decline sharply.

Of course, he had supportive medicine stored in his inventory. If he took something to restore himself and replenish his energy, he could extend his riding time.

But this was only routine training, not a cycling race. Using system-rewarded medicine so casually would be rather wasteful. There was no need for it.

Time passed swiftly. They were riding on a greenway beside the road, and lights illuminated the entire route at night, making it as bright as day.

Hangzhou was an exceptionally cycling-friendly city. Not only was its road infrastructure excellent, but it also had complete non-motorized lanes.

For example, the greenways on both banks of the Qiantang River, along with several other greenways, even directly connected scenic spots such as West Lake and Xixi Wetland, forming long, uninterrupted cycling routes without red lights. They provided excellent training conditions for cyclists.

"Brother, you're doing pretty well today. We've already ridden nearly 20 kilometers, and we've maintained an average speed of 33 the whole time. You can actually still keep up? Were you deliberately pretending to be weak in front of us the other day, acting like a rookie with bad legs?"

The young man who had just rotated down from the front and moved ahead of Huang Chong looked at him in shock as Huang Chong remained firmly with the group.

Was this guy really that beginner who had run out of steam after just 10 kilometers the other day?

Doubt filled his heart.

"Exactly. Brother, your cadence control is pretty good today too. You can even stay in sync with us now. That day, I saw you using the big chainring with a small cog, and your cadence was obviously slower than it is today. Such a huge change makes it hard not to think you were playing weak to fool us!"

Clearly, all three of them had noticed that the abilities Huang Chong displayed today were completely different from their original impression of him.

Hearing the teasing, Huang Chong felt rather embarrassed.

He had certainly never intended to put on some show of acting tough and proving people wrong.

After all, before getting the system the other day, he really had been terrible.

But with the cheat's support, he had rapidly improved his greatest weaknesses—leg power and cardiopulmonary capacity—in an extremely short time. In practically a single day, he had caught up to Du Wei's year of training. That really was a little too absurd.

So it was perfectly understandable that they doubted the sudden change in his abilities.

As for the change in his cadence, he had adjusted to a larger rear cog and forced himself to match the trio's rhythm. His cadence had now stabilized at around 90 revolutions per minute.

"Please stop making fun of me, you three. At your current pace, even drafting behind you, my heart rate is almost at the limit of Zone 3. Your riding posture is far more stable than mine. You should all be cruising in Zone 2, right?"

Huang Chong asked tentatively.

"More or less. When we're drafting, we're indeed between Zone 2 and the peak of Zone 3. But we rotate the lead every five kilometers, so we can rest and adjust for each other."

"To maintain an average speed of 33 while leading, even we can't stay in the Zone 2 aerobic range. Our heart rates are basically like yours right now, at least at the peak of Zone 3."

"As for stable riding posture, brother, you can train your abdominal core at home. Do planks, sit-ups, and things like that."

"Exactly. In professional road cycling training, leg power isn't the only important thing. Upper-body core strength matters just as much. Only strong abdominal strength allows a rider to maintain stable posture over a long period."

"Brother, have you watched professional road cycling races? There's a format called the Individual Time Trial, or ITT. If you haven't seen it, look up some videos online when you get home. Professional riders in that format need to hold an aerodynamic position for long periods, with their entire upper bodies lowered. To maintain that posture while continuously outputting maximum power, abdominal core strength is crucial."

"And there's one more crucial point neither of you mentioned. Stable core strength is even more important for explosive short-distance sprints. If your abdominal strength isn't enough, you simply can't sprint!"

Of course, Huang Chong knew about the ITT format. It was a special stage in the Tour de France that could most decisively determine the Yellow Jersey of the overall champion.

For example, when Pogačar won his first Tour de France title in 2020, he had relied on the Individual Time Trial in Stage 20. Despite trailing by a massive 57 seconds before the stage, his outrageous performance there allowed him to overtake Jumbo–Visma Team's Primož Roglič by 59 seconds in one stroke, sealing the victory and claiming the overall title.

Of course, as the saying went, what goes around comes around. In the 2023 Tour de France battle, he would also be crushed by Jumbo–Visma Team's Vingegaard in the Individual Time Trial of Stage 16, losing 1 minute and 38 seconds and completely losing hope of contending for the overall title.

Therefore, if Huang Chong wanted to win the Tour de France, specialized ITT training was something he absolutely could not avoid.

It was a head-to-head 1v1 contest for every rider, requiring neither team strategy nor support from domestiques—a true man's competition.

Just as Huang Chong received this detailed guidance on core strength from his three companions, system text that he had thought would not appear today surfaced once more:

[Detected that someone is explaining the importance of core strength to the host. Please complete a one-minute plank. Reward: 2 Beginner Optimization Points, Ab Enhancer ×1.]