Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Chapter 165: Chapter 120: Thirty Years East, Thirty Years West, Never Bully the Young and Poor?

"You really did it, Huang Chong! You beat Lutsenko by 1.198 seconds. You’re the strongest cyclist in Asia now!"

Hearing Chen Junyi say this, Huang Chong lowered his head and took a long time to recover. Only after his heart rate had completely stabilized did he look up at the stadium’s LCD screen, which was displaying the final rankings for the men’s ITT.

The top three were:

Rank, Cyclist, Nationality/Region, UCI Points, Time, Avg. Speed

1. Huang Chong, China, 70 Points, 48:04, 49.414

2. Alexey Lutsenko, Kazakhstan, 55 Points, 48:05, 49.414

3. Liu Yunyou, Hong Kong, 40 Points, 50:17, 47.252

...

In the end, however, he shook his head with a clear mind and said:

"In terms of raw strength, I can’t compare to him. After all, Lutsenko competed in a full year of the World Tour before coming here to race against me.

Do you know? Just competing in one Tour de France is far more intense than all the races I’ve participated in this year combined.

But even so, I didn’t beat him on the open road.

In the last 1km of turns, he definitely wasn’t going all out. He was most likely holding back.

So, aside from winning in the overall results, I didn’t beat him in any other aspect!"

Hearing Huang Chong’s sober response, Chen Junyi didn’t know what to say.

For an athlete not to let victory go to his head after a race truly required an extreme level of rational thinking.

From this perspective, Huang Chong was truly well-suited to be an athlete.

"No matter what, at least you won this precious gold medal.

As for the gap in strength between you and him, as long as you keep training, you’ll eventually surpass him.

You just have to take these things one step at a time."

"Mm, I know!"

Huang Chong nodded in agreement.

Although he was currently fighting with Lutsenko for the gold medal by a hair’s breadth,

his professional goal was not the latter.

On a global scale, Lutsenko was undoubtedly a top-tier cyclist. There was no questioning that.

But in this day and age, he was no longer among the top superstars of World Tour Cyclists.

...

After the race, the awards ceremony only began once Huang Chong had fully recovered.

As Huang Chong stood on the highest step of the champion’s podium to receive his award, he looked out at the cheering crowd and was surprised to see two familiar figures he never expected to be there.

It was Chen Junyi’s parents, Chen Mingyuan and Zhang Wanqing.

The couple had actually come to Chun’an in person to watch him race. Right now, they were both holding up their phones, taking pictures of him while smiling and applauding.

In their eyes, besides immense appreciation, Huang Chong also saw a strange sort of kindness!

"Bro, you’re the fucking man!!! When you get down from there, take a champion’s photo with me and Wu Fang! I’m gonna share it with those animals from our college dorm. They didn’t come to watch in person, so this time they’re gonna regret it to death!!!"

Just as Huang Chong was wondering how he was going to talk to Chen Junyi’s parents later, Dewey, who was squeezed into the crowd, shamelessly shouted his request at him.

’Sigh, what a situation—’

Huang Chong could only sigh silently.

After the awards ceremony, there was a post-race interview session for the champion, with reporters from all of China’s major sports media outlets, including CCTV and others.

Huang Chong was already a natural at interviews, as he had also been interviewed by the media on-site at the end of the Tour of Qinghai Lake in Chaka.

In short, the reporters’ questions mostly fell within a few predictable categories:

For example, his thoughts on winning the championship, how he prepared before the race, his future goals, his usual training regimen, and how he managed to perform beyond his usual level against such a powerful opponent.

Facing these questions, Huang Chong naturally responded with the very official and respectable phrases that Chen Junyi had taught him long ago.

Only after the brief interview was over did he get the chance to go to the fans at the venue and give them some perks.

Things like taking photos with them as souvenirs, signing autographs, and so on.

The fact that Dewey and Wu Fang had made a special trip to watch the race, and that even a rich kid like Zhou Ming had come, moved Huang Chong quite a bit.

So of course, he took a bunch of photos with them, including individual shots and large group photos.

Zhou Ming looked at the photo on his phone—a solo shot with the champion, Huang Chong, taken by Little Mili—and his feelings were quite complex.

He actually had a dream of being a Professional Cyclist too, but compared to Huang Chong, his was just an amateur hobby.

Never mind that his parents would never agree; his own talent was nowhere near enough to become a Professional Cyclist.

Only by experiencing the speed of a Professional Cyclist in person could Zhou Ming truly realize that the gap between an ordinary person and a pro was not one that could be closed by hard work alone.

’It’s really unbelievable. Back then, I thought this kid was all talk, the type to make wild, empty boasts. I even made a sarcastic remark to him.

I never thought that just over a year later, he’d not only become a Professional Cyclist but also win an Asian Games gold medal.

It just goes to show how fortunes can turn. You should never underestimate a young man just because he’s poor!’

Seeing Zhou Ming sigh with such emotion while looking at the photo on his phone, Little Mili, who of course knew he was envious, smiled and replied:

"General Manager Zhou, you just never had the chance to become a Professional Cyclist. Otherwise, with your resources, you definitely wouldn’t be any worse than this kid after some professional training."

Hearing this, Zhou Ming just sneered and feigned anger as he retorted:

"How dare you lie with a straight face!"

Little Mili understood Zhou Ming’s temper well—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to stay by his side handling his daily affairs. She knew he wasn’t truly angry, so she changed the subject:

"In any case, the kid knows his place, right, General Manager Zhou?"

Zhou Ming was silent for a moment at this assessment before finally nodding.

"Mm, you’re right!"

...

After finishing taking pictures with Dewey and the others, as well as the fans, Huang Chong quickly found Chen Junyi, who was busy in the team’s logistics department, and told her that her parents had come to the venue.

After hearing him, Chen Junyi was also completely baffled and said in disbelief:

"My parents came to watch the race in person?

For real? I had no idea. They never told me.

Where are they?"

Huang Chong knew Chen Junyi wouldn’t joke about something like this, leaving him at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

’That old couple is really something else, coming to watch the race without even telling their own daughter.’

When the two of them found Mr. and Mrs. Chen Mingyuan, the old couple was sitting and drinking tea with Zhang Guowei, chatting and laughing.

Seeing this, Huang Chong immediately understood.

It was obvious that although Chen Mingyuan had retired and no longer worked in the sports industry, his connections from his youth were still intact. He had gotten in through the back door.

As the head of the provincial sports bureau’s cycling program, Zhang Guowei naturally had to be here to personally oversee the work.

So, arranging for an old friend to come watch a race was a simple matter for him.

Then, when they saw Huang Chong—still wearing his gold medal and cycling kit, having only had time to swap into sneakers before rushing over to greet them—all three elders looked at him with smiles on their faces.

Their expressions looked rather meaningful.

"Dad, Mom, hello Uncle Zhang. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to watch the race? I could have arranged accommodations for you!"

Chen Junyi said, a little puzzled.

Hearing his daughter’s words, Chen Mingyuan waved his hand dismissively and replied with a smile:

"You have your own work to do, so we didn’t want to disturb you. Don’t worry about us.

Besides, it’s only a few kilometers from Chun’an to the city. Why would we need to stay here?

Your mom and I are heading back soon. We’ll come back for the race the day after tomorrow!"

After speaking, Chen Mingyuan looked at Huang Chong again and noticed how much the latter had changed after being tanned by the high-altitude sun.

But as a fellow athlete, Chen Mingyuan didn’t mind Huang Chong’s appearance at all.

In the eyes of old-school athletes like them, what was most detestable were the sissies who couldn’t endure hardship.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he said to Huang Chong:

"Not bad, not bad at all!

Your performance today really made me and your Aunt Zhang see you in a new light. You’re a good lad!

I originally thought that our country’s road cycling program was still miles away from the international level.

Looking at it now, it’s not as exaggerated as the rumors online make it out to be!

Get some good rest and keep training. After all, you have another tough battle to fight the day after tomorrow.

I hear that for the road race, each country can send up to four cyclists, and Kazakhstan’s overall strength is still far ahead of ours.

So you must adjust your mentality and not let your guard down!"

Hearing Chen Mingyuan’s words, Huang Chong naturally had nothing to argue and replied with a serious expression:

"Yes, Uncle Chen. I will do my absolute best in the road race and strive to win another medal for the country!"