Duke grabbed the handlebar and made a gesture of preparation. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

He was placed in the last row of departures, in front of him densely packed with dozens of riders, these riders were wearing a variety of riding clothes, helmets, goggles, and it was impossible to see who looked like, and the mark that could accurately identify the competitors was the bib number on each rider's chest and back.

The message on Duke's chest and back bib is:

2040

ke

The number of competitors follows certain rules, and this event has several events such as men's downhill, men's XC, women's XC, and men's handicap, with the first two 10 representing men's downhill, 20 representing men's XC, and 30 and 40 representing women's XC and men's handicap.

The 2001 rider from Spain ranked 9th in the world for UCI Mountain Racing and is ranked in the top 10 in the world.

The 2001 Spaniard was placed in the middle of the first row, he was on the left with the No. 2002, the right was the No. 2003, and the 8 riders in the first row were No. 2001~2008.

And so on, 2040 Duke was placed on the far right of the last row.

Du Ke's teammate Wang Zhen started slightly better, Wang Zhen is No. 2028 and starts in the fourth row.

There were a total of 40 riders in the men's XC race, and apart from Wang Zhen, Duke didn't know much about the other 38 foreign riders.

Road race star, Duke can count a bunch of names. One of the more famous mountain riders, Duke has heard of Absalon, the king of French mountain racing, as well as the Swiss macho Nino Schulte and the Czech giant's Kuhavi.

Duke remembers that from Athens 2004 to London 2012, the three European athletes were always on the podium of the men's mountain race champions, runners-up and third place in the three Olympic Games, so he has a deep memory of these three top international mountain bikers.

The top three European athletes from France, Sweden and the Czech Republic did not come to the United States, but 11 of the top 50 mountain racers in the world came, and the top 50 in the world meant that they could go to the Olympics at any time, so this XC mountain race lived up to the name "The International".

Although cycling, swimming, and sprinting can all be divided into the category of racing, the general principle is that whoever takes the least time and reaches the finish line first is the champion, but the way and process of racing, cycling, swimming, and sprinting are quite different.

Duke's current mentality is to think of himself as a newcomer in cycling, to fight these international riders, to cross the river, to fight a wave to know his own pounds.

Bang!

At this time, the starting gun rang out and the game began.

In principle, a total of 40 drivers in five rows can start at the same time, but the drivers in the front row can't act either, and the drivers in the back row can't force it.

So it must be the first row of riders to start first, and the riders behind to start following.

After the first row of riders started, the next few rows of riders quickly followed, and the 40 riders kicked and dashed, bringing up the sand and dirt.

Duke, who started last, also accelerated, trying to take the lead in the 500-metre flat section after the start and sprint to the lead position.

After rushing for more than 200 meters, Du Ke found: "Nima, this is no different from squeezing the subway in the morning rush hour, you can't plug in front!" ”

The official competition is different from training, in which Du Ke plays alone, and at most doubles with teammate Wang Zhen, which belongs to the nature of believing in horses and galloping wildly.

In this race, the 40 drivers motivate the competition, which is really like squeezing the subway, whoever has the strength gets on the bus, and the weak chicken can only wait for the next trip.

Dozens of people in front blocked the road, and no matter how fast Du Ke rode, he couldn't break out of the encirclement and rush to the front, and he couldn't overtake the car at all.

There is no way, so I can only follow the large army first, and after going up the mountain, I will see the stitches and needles, and chase them one by one.

Duke followed the army up the mountain, which was the first lap of the trip.

Although the four or five hundred meters after going up the mountain is a climbing section, the slope is gentle and not too difficult.

Duke started the gentle slope in a low gear, opting for an upper mid-to-mid gear ratio, then increasing his cadence and acceleration, and he wanted to blow out the first few opponents in the gentle slope phase.

In XC Mountain Racing, riders switch between braking and shifting gears almost the entire time, and choose gear ratios based on slopes and road conditions.

When climbing, you may stop because the gear ratio is too large, and if the gear ratio is too small, you will lose your grip due to poor grasp of strength.

Duke chose to climb the gentle slope with a medium-to-upper gear ratio, firstly, because he believed that his tires were relatively hoisting, and secondly, he was sure of his driving skills.

In XC mountain biking, absolute forward speed is important but not the most important: balance, sustained stamina, superb handling and the ability to grasp the moment.

The design and selection of the frame, tires, rims and other accessories of Duke's skeleton mountain bike are based on one general principle: you just toss the car to death, and if the other drivers' cars are rotten, and your car is not rotten, it is a good car.

The aerodynamic design that reduces wind resistance is not too much reflected in Doucle's mountain bikes, and speed and sturdiness are often incompatible, and if a tank can reach more than 200 yards, is it still called a tank?

Absolute forward speed may not be the most important factor in mountain racing, but it still has to explode when it's time to explode, and Duke knows that his mountain bike is a tank, and all he can do is accelerate the tank to the highest speed it can reach.

Duke increases his cadence and accelerates up gentle hills.

"One." Duke overtook an Italian in a blue jersey.

"Two." Another New Zealander in a white shirt was overtaken.

Within a few hundred meters, Duke blasted the five drivers in front of him and entered a gentle section. At this point, he uses a small gear ratio and rides easily for a few seconds to relieve the lactic acid buildup in his legs, then upshifts to increase his speed and keep going.

The lane is getting narrower and narrower, this single road is more than 100 meters long, Duke is already familiar with this track, he knows that it is impossible to overtake on this single road, so he has to blast one on the gentle slope just now.

Duke also knew that there was a pile of rocks blocking the road at the end of the one-man road, and there was the obstacle point he numbered 1. After obstacle point 1, the lane widens and you can continue to blast the riders in front of you.

Getting closer to obstacle point 1, Duke spotted a green-shirted Australian rider in front of him getting out of the car, carrying the car and walking through the rocky obstacles.

There were a few local American fans standing near this obstacle point, and the American crowd saw the Australian rider carrying the car over the stone pile obstacle, and felt that the Australian rider was not cool at all: "Hey, Australian dude, you are a professional driver, not a coolie!" ”

The Australian rider carried the car over a boulder obstacle, then put the bike back on the ground, straightened the handlebars, and was ready to step on the bike and continue riding. English is his native language, and the Australian rider can certainly understand that the American masses are complaining about themselves, and they can complain about it.

Suddenly, the Australian driver heard someone behind him shout in English: "Attention! Don't move left! ”

The Australian rider instinctively looked back and saw a silver-shirted and silver-helmeted No. 2040 driver driving a silver racing car, riding in his direction.

This person is Du Ke, he is dressed in silver, and if there is one more spear in his hand, the momentum of the tiger and the tiger will not lose to Changshan Zhao Zilong.

Doucle rode to the rocks, lifted the handlebars to lift the front tire off the ground, and then kicked backwards and upwards to lift the rear tire off the ground.

With the inertia of the forward rush, Douc used the dolphin jumping technique to drive into the air, and when the whole car flew over the pile of stones, the wheels were more than half a meter higher than the stones.

After landing smoothly, Duke did not stop, he changed to a high-end position, accelerated the ride, and walked away.

"Oh, it's embarrassing!" The American crowd applauded enthusiastically, and they were very excited: "This No. 2040 is a real mountain racing professional, a perfect jump, A+!" "I also despised the Australian player at the end, and I didn't say anything.

The Australian athlete looked embarrassed, and it was not appropriate to stay here for long, so he hurriedly pedaled forward and chased after Duke. (To be continued.) )