章 9: Chapter 9 Riding Mastery
As the saying goes, "It's 30% training and 70% diet."
In his free time these days, Li Ang had learned quite a bit about nutritional pairing online, which came in handy for grocery shopping.
He bought plenty of high-protein foods like beef, eggs, and fish; high-vitamin vegetables and fruits, including organ meats that replenish trace elements, until he confirmed that his bicycle couldn't carry any more, then he stopped.
When buying these items, Li Ang's principle was that the ingredients could be rough, but quantity creates miracles.
Especially organ meats, since Americans don't like to eat them, their prices are virtually the same as giving them away for free.
Including some ingredients like chicken feet, pig's ears, and pork intestines, which are rather expensive back in China, over here, they're practically given away.
At the same time, he didn't make a point of pursuing sugar-free or low-fat items.
Li Ang's constitution, though much stronger than a few days ago, was still not free from the nickname "skinny dog."
Therefore, a certain intake of fats and sugar daily was still necessary for him.
Moreover, humans like sugar and oil out of genetic and instinctual drive; these two things indeed bring joy to people.
This trip, he spent almost three hundred dollars, watching as his savings nearly dropped below two thousand.
But Li Ang wasn't too panicked; sharpening the axe will not delay the chopping of firewood.
At this stage, both earning money and exercising would not only earn him very little money, but also affect the speed of his progress.
In a little while, once his physical condition is significantly stronger than the average person, making money would become an effortless task.
After sorting and hanging the bags by category onto the bicycle, Li Ang felt he was becoming a packhorse.
The load was even heavier than the first time, and the moment he mounted the bike, he could almost hear the ladies' bike's groan.
Fortunately, once past the initial starting phase and gaining speed on the bike, it wasn't so hard to pedal anymore.
By now, his [Cycling] mastery had reached 186/200, and it wouldn't be long before he entered the next phase.
With such motivation, Li Ang fully powered up, pushing his speed to the limit.
...
"Swoosh!"
A shadow flashed past the Erick Brothers.
"Was that a bicycle that just passed by? I'm not quite sure."
"Yeah, it was, and damn, it was a ladies' bike loaded with packages."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I don't have time to joke around, this is a golden opportunity, we've got to catch up and see!"
The older brother immediately threw away the half-bottle of energy drink he was holding and picked up the road bike leaning against a tree, chasing after the direction the bike had gone.
The younger brother, with his buzz-cut hair, was perplexed. They were just doing their regular cycling training and happened to be resting by the side of the road; they hadn't expected such an incident.
But now wasn't the time to ask questions; he could only follow his brother for the time being.
Norman Erick was somewhat famous in the local cycling community, but he swore he had never seen anyone ride a bike so fast under such conditions.
He slightly stood up, and the carbon fiber road bike quickly reached high speed as it swayed under his body.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes went by, and there was still no sign of that bike ahead.
Doubt began to rise in Eric's heart; he even wondered if he had just had a hallucination?
He increased his pedaling frequency again, pushing his speed even faster.
Finally, he saw the shadow he had seen earlier up ahead on the road.
He felt some relief in his heart; if that brother had been riding a professional road bike, he might really not have been able to catch up.
"Hey! Brother! Please wait a moment!"
Eric shouted loudly, observing that the other's speed wasn't as fast as it had been, probably running out of steam.
...
At this moment, Li Ang, while strenuously pedaling his bicycle, was closely watching the proficiency level on his panel.
[Cycling] 199/200 (Proficient)
(Trait: Lower limb strength, endurance increase by 10%)
After one breath, the proficiency level jumped again.
[Cycling] 0/400 (Mastery)
(Trait: Lower limb strength, endurance increase by 20%)
The previously green-colored [Trait] was upgraded to blue, and the increase in body attributes had doubled.
Originally, under the high-speed sprint, Li Ang's legs had started to feel weak, nearly giving out.
But after the upgrade in [Cycling], he felt like there was still room to push his lower limb limits further.
At the same time, a wealth of techniques and experience flooded into his mind; if the cycling skills he had mastered before were scattered, now they had suddenly formed a systematic whole.
And that wasn't all; Li Ang could even feel muscle memory taking shape in his movements.
Even in the simplest action of pedaling, it felt as though he had practiced it hundreds of thousands of times.
The surprise breakthrough within him, coupled with the whooshing of the wind by his ears, meant that he didn't hear someone calling out to him from behind at all.
So even after sprinting such a long distance, Li Ang's speed not only didn't decrease, but there was even a tendency for it to continue rising.
Eric, who had been catching up, was already slowing down; he couldn't have imagined that this guy still had the energy to speed up.
He had no choice but to speed up to keep up.
Having to maintain such speed was taking its toll even on his body, accustomed to cycling for years.
But he didn't feel irritated; on the contrary, he grew more excited.
Three minutes later, Li Ang finally noticed someone calling out to him from behind.
After a brief observation of Eric's cycling gear and assuring himself that Eric wasn't some sort of outlaw, he slowed down and stopped by the roadside.
Eric, who had just finished sprinting, was gasping for air and asked Li Ang somewhat awkwardly:
"I mean no harm, you know, it's like this, I don't know how to express it, but are you interested in cycling?"
Li Ang scratched his head, a bit puzzled as he replied:
"Somewhat interested, so?"
He didn't quite understand what the man wanted—was this some sort of street interview? That didn't seem to fit either.
Eric, having regained his composure, also gradually clarified his thoughts and continued:
"In that case, may I ask if you would be interested in joining our cycling team?"
Li Ang's lips curved upward slightly; the feeling of being acknowledged was quite pleasant. He hadn't expected that so quickly, one of his physical abilities would attract someone else's attention.
However, he didn't agree right away, instead responding calmly:
"Give me a reason."
Eric glanced at the bicycle beneath Li Ang with the corner of his eye, starting somewhat uncertainly:
"If you need one, we can provide you with a professional road bicycle."
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