Unlocking Honor Medals, Gaining Extra Rewards

After exchanging contact information, Huang Chong chatted with the three of them for a while longer. After politely declining their invitation to grab some barbecue skewers to replenish energy, he rode back toward Du Wei's home.

He was currently in a fat-loss phase, so barbecue was definitely off-limits.

Wang Qiang told him that as soon as the captain had any news, he would contact him on WeChat and told him to wait patiently for the result.

By the time he got home, it was already around nine thirty in the evening.

More than three straight hours of high-intensity riding, a full hundred kilometers—at Huang Chong's current stage, the intensity was still too much. He had completely reached his physiological limit.

Google searched TWKAN.

Especially after the effects of the Fast-acting Recovery Energy Bar wore off, both his thighs felt like they had been filled with lead. Even walking normally was difficult now.

Without a doubt, this was the result of massive lactic acid buildup from overexertion.

With a normal person's recovery ability, after exercising to this extent, they would basically have to lie at home and rest the next day. Going anywhere would be out of the question.

Fortunately, he had Training Recovery Energy Gel. He quickly took one from his inventory and consumed it.

"My thighs are still too weak. If my FTP and cardiopulmonary capacity hadn't been massively optimized, and if I didn't have the Energy Bar boosting me, I'd probably struggle to ride 100 kilometers in a single day even at Zone 2 heart rate."

After returning home, Huang Chong did not rush to shower. Instead, he sat down to rest first, waiting for his heart rate and body temperature to return to normal.

Then, amid his reflections, he silently said in his mind:

"End mission!"

[Congratulations! At a steady average speed, you rode 50KM in the wind for your teammates, exceeding the mission requirement by five times. Reward doubled.]

[Reward obtained: 10 Beginner Optimization Points, Fast-acting Recovery Energy Bar*5]

Just as Huang Chong thought those were all the rewards from today's ride, the system text refreshed once again with new reward information:

[Congratulations, Host, on completing a 50KM ride for the first time and unlocking the Cycling Novice Honor Medal.]

[Reward obtained: +2 points to all weak attributes, Training Recovery Energy Gel*5, Fast-acting Recovery Energy Bar*5]

[Congratulations, Host, on completing a 100KM ride for the first time with an average speed of 30KM/H, unlocking the Amateur Cycling Enthusiast Honor Medal.]

[Reward obtained: +5 points to all weak attributes, Training Recovery Energy Gel*10, Fast-acting Recovery Energy Bar*10]

[Note: Every Honor Medal can only be unlocked once. Please continue training hard, Host, to unlock more Honor Medals.]

"Wow, what's this? Unlocking Honor Medals? And the rewards for earning medals actually add points to all my weak attributes at once?"

Huang Chong had been utterly exhausted, sitting on a small stool in front of a fan. The moment he saw this sudden extra reward, he sprang to his feet.

He had never imagined that this cheat would also come with extra rewards similar to personal achievements—and such generous ones at that!

However, when he saw the system's final note, he quickly calmed down again.

The rewards carried by the Honor Medals were certainly surprising, but it was obvious that both the difficulty of obtaining them and the number of times they could be claimed were limited.

"Completing 50KM and 100KM rides for the first time with an average speed of 30 earns one Honor Medal each—then how much distance and what average speed will I need for the next one? 150KM, 200KM, or 300KM, 400KM?"

No matter what the reward mechanism was, a rider could not ride a thousand miles a day. People were not legendary horses, and the current world record was only 648 kilometers in a single day.

If Honor Medals were unlocked solely by ever-increasing distance milestones, then counting on his fingers, Huang Chong would not be able to earn many of them.

"Never mind what other Honor Medals there may be later. Today's extra gains are an unexpected delight!"

Huang Chong was not the type to worry himself over nothing, and he quickly became excited again.

Not only had the system optimized all of his weak attributes by seven points at once, but it had also rewarded him with fifteen Training Recovery Energy Gels and fifteen Fast-acting Recovery Energy Bars.

These supplies were genuinely good stuff!

Added to the small amount he had obtained earlier, he could at least ensure that he would be able to keep up his daily training without interruption for some time.

Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled up the system panel and checked his personal data. Compared with when he had first activated the system, it had already changed tremendously:

[Host: Huang Chong]

[Weight: 72.3KG]

[FTP: 192W]

[Cadence: 90]

[Sprint Explosiveness: 47]

[Bike Handling: 38]

[Cornering Ability: 37]

[Terrain Anticipation: 41]

[Mental Fortitude: 91]

[Beginner Optimization Points: 10]

[Overall Evaluation: During flat-road cruising, your average speed over 100 kilometers has reached 30KM/H. You have become an entry-level amateur cycling enthusiast.]

"Although I'm still far from the level of a professional rider, crossing the beginner threshold in just three days is already pretty insane."

Huang Chong felt the mysterious changes that had suddenly appeared in his body after the attributes were added. He found that both his cycling awareness and physical condition had improved significantly without him even noticing, and he felt deeply satisfied.

Only he could truly feel the changes in his body. This was not merely a shift in numbers—it had genuinely transformed him from head to toe.

"Looking at it now, I need to find time to improve those other weak attributes too. But riding on the city greenway mostly means long straightaways and flat roads. The system apparently hasn't detected any environment suitable for optimizing those weaknesses."

Huang Chong shook his head helplessly.

"Looks like all I can do now is hope Wang Qiang and the others bring me good news later."

If he could successfully join their team and take part in their team training, then with the routes they chose, the complex road conditions would most likely allow the system to detect different training missions.

And if Headwind Cycling Team did not take him in, then he would look for other teams in Hangzhou.

In any case, he truly needed to break away from solo training as soon as possible and join a more systematic and comprehensive team cycling environment.

After all, for a truly qualified professional rider, thigh power alone was nowhere near enough.

Poor cornering, weak sprint explosiveness, and inadequate bike-handling skills were all fatal flaws.

If he did not improve these weaknesses, then on complicated roads, on high-speed descents with consecutive turns, or even on dirt roads, gravel roads, and cobblestone roads, others could drop him in minutes.

No matter how strong his legs were, he would never be able to catch them.

After all, among the top UCI WorldTour races, events like the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, and Italy's Strade Bianche all featured rough road sections with strong classic-race characteristics.

Without top-tier bike-handling skills, not only would mechanical failures be more likely, but he could also easily crash flat on his face.

For example, Van der Poel of Alpecin–Deceuninck possessed terrifyingly strong dominance on classic race sections like Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders precisely because of his powerful mountain bike-handling ability.

Of course, the previously mentioned Tom Pidcock also possessed formidable mountain bike-handling skills, which was why he had that kind of extreme downhill cornering speed.

Therefore, for Huang Chong, while improving his FTP, comprehensively optimizing and making up for all his weaknesses was equally important.

Just as he had cooled down his heart rate and body temperature, finished showering and washing his cycling kit, and was making himself a fat-loss meal in the kitchen, the phone he had left on the coffee table in the living room received a WeChat message from Wang Qiang.