Daily Evolution from Mastering Tai Chi-Chapter 166: Cross-Country Race Champion

Wang Ye passed the registration, attached the timing chip from the race package to his bicycle, and glanced briefly at the competitors around him.

He found there were about 100 male and female racers present.

Among them, only six or seven gave him peculiar looks.

They probably recognized him from his physique and bike model, albeit with difficulty.

After all, Wang Ye’s downhill video went viral on Douyin just yesterday afternoon. With Douyin’s big data algorithms boosting its popularity, any cycling enthusiast frequently browsing videos in the Weihai, Shandong area, or nearby regions would’ve likely seen it.

Those with some riding experience could even clearly recall the physique and bike model of the downhill rider in the video — that is, Wang Ye.

Therefore, for some racers present, identifying Wang Ye even under the cover of goggles and a full helmet wasn’t particularly difficult.

But those who could recognize him were in the minority.

Most racers didn’t possess such precise discriminating ability.

The human eye and camera have different sampling frequencies and perception durations. Thus, what you see in a video and what you see with the naked eye can vary. Aside from resolution and frame rate, the proportion or shape of objects can also distort depending on the camera and phone model.

Moreover, the distance in yesterday’s downhill video was too great, and the rider’s speed was too fast, with Wang Ye mostly captured in rapid motion blur. Under such circumstances, even identifying the bike model wasn’t easy.

So, only the few racers with sharper intuition could immediately link the rider in the video to the present Wang Ye.

Just as Wang Ye was pondering.

Nearby.

Some middle-aged cyclists, seemingly friends, squatted beside their bikes, smoking and chatting:

"I really didn’t expect Old Sun, who usually doesn’t join the races, to be here this time."

"It’s really a pity about Old Sun. He’s a Divine at an average speed of 40 mph, nearly on par with Brother Li."

"Who do you think will win this time, Li or Zhang?"

"It’s always been Brother Li in the past, but this year Brother Li said his wife just had their second child, so he’s been slacking on training."

"Looks like Zhang has a high chance of winning this time; the perpetual second might just turn the tables..."

Listening to the surrounding riders’ discussions, Wang Ye couldn’t help but frown.

In this kind of city-level competition, it was usually mid-level racers who participated.

Anyone with higher skill levels would join provincial or higher-level races.

As a result, these races often see the same person winning multiple consecutive titles.

"Brother Zui actually signed me up for this kind of race..." Wang Ye shook his head. The Longjiang District Half Marathon he attended for the first time was more significant than this trivial race, "Oh well, getting familiar with the race and gaining experience isn’t a bad thing."

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As the time reached eight o’clock.

The race began with its opening ceremony.

The host and committee leaders spoke a slew of formal words into the microphone.

By eight-thirty, the women’s group finally started racing. Because this cross-country race required three laps on a 5-kilometer course, they began by rocking their bikes and accelerating, trying their best to seize a head start and create distance from the others at the outset.

Soon.

It was time for Wang Ye’s elite group.

Everyone stood before the starting line, with one foot clipped into the pedal, fully prepared and ready to launch.

Bang!!!

Once the starting gun fired, everyone shot out like bullets, fervently rocking their bikes and accelerating, with most quickly reaching speeds of over 40 mph within seconds.

But they didn’t notice that amidst the group, there was a racer accelerating at an astonishing speed.

That racer, clad in grey cycling gear, pedaled with volcanically explosive force, with thighs brutish and terrifying like volcanic rock, spinning at a cadence of 150 rpm, emitting an intense chain transmission noise. Yet, his movements were extremely agile, sliding through the narrow gaps between racers like a little snake. In just 20 seconds, he had moved from the relatively rear position to the front group.

His estimated starting speed was at least 70 mph.

"How is he so fast?!"

The surrounding racers showed expressions of fear, all involuntarily thinking the same thing.

Note that even professional athletes couldn’t achieve 70 mph in such a short time.

This elite group also included some fairly capable professional riders. Still, most of their starts could only reach speeds around 40-50 mph.

Amidst their shock.

The racer in the grey cycling gear continued accelerating. In a brief 5 seconds, he overtook the previous leading strong contender, reached the forefront of the pack, and gradually widened the gap with the second and third placings behind him.

"This is a dimension-reducing blow, who on earth is he?"

"Straight-line sprint at 70 mph, corner at 50 mph? And it’s uphill, is he out of his mind?"

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Soon, Wang Ye completely left the bulk of the group behind, entering the off-road section alone.

The road here was significantly bumpier and had a certain incline, so his original speed of 70 mph gradually decreased to 65 mph.

In truth, given his thigh power, he could easily reach speeds over 100 mph on flat ground,

but it wasn’t worthwhile to exert full power in such a minor race.

Additionally, using full force would severely damage the bike frame.

There was even a good chance this mountain bike would become a one-time-use tool.

Even though he wasn’t short on money now, he didn’t want to be wasteful.

He kept accelerating in a straight line, drifting through curves, completing the first lap with thunderous speed.

His speed was increasing, even lapping some of the slower opponents.

Lapping occurs only occasionally in long-loop races,

meaning the fastest racer has outpaced the slowest by a full lap.

This indicates an enormous disparity in skill among the competitors in this race.

Like heaven and earth apart.

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