Mountain biking is popular in the U.S., and it's a fun sport to play, and it's not as time-consuming, multi-day riding as road bike races. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Most Americans like the exciting competition and the results can be decided quickly. The Ohio International Mountain Bike Invitational will be held on June 16 in a small city in the state called Youngston, which is located on the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania and has a population of 80,000, which is not as large as a county in China.

Held annually and organized by the Ohio Mountain Biking Association, the Ohio International Mountain Bike Invitational is a UCI-sanctioned international event that is not the most international or internationally presence, but it also attracts some international riders.

Duke's national cycling teammate Wang Zhen arrived in Youngston a week before Duke, and Wang Zhen had been practicing at the Youngston circuit for several days, while Duke only had two days to familiarize himself with the mountain track.

Wang Zhen signed up for this XC mountain race according to the normal process, and although he is ranked after the world 150, he is also a person with UCI points after all.

Duke didn't have a UCI point, and the Sword Center spent $50,000 to buy a wild card for Duke.

Zijian Center has its own subsidiary, which is a company of upside-down bicycles and accessories, which is mainly for the Chinese cycling team to invert high-end racing cars, and also has a stall in China to sell competition-level bicycles that have been eliminated by the national team to fans. After all, Zijian Center is a government agency, and it is inconvenient for many international businesses to come forward in person, and the purchase of wild cards is of course arranged for subordinate enterprises to operate.

A subsidiary of the Sword Center sponsored a $50,000 race preparation fund from the Ohio Mountain Bike Association, and got a wild card. For this kind of commercial event, it is not difficult to get a wild card, and it is quite simple to pay the money with one hand and the ticket with the other.

The asking price of this non-governmental cycling organization in Ohio is quite high, and the men's XC mountain champion in this invitational tournament has a prize fund of only $30,000, and they have to charge $50,000 for selling a wild card.

Of course, the Zijian Center is not bad for tens of thousands of dollars, and the road racing cars in the national cycling team start with tens of thousands of dollars.

As long as Duke can go to the Olympics and win the gold medal in the Olympic cycling event, whether it is a mountain race, a road race or a track race, as long as he can win an Olympic gold medal, the small investment of tens of thousands of dollars is nothing.

Compared to road racing, mountain bikes in the same class are much cheaper. For the price of a high-end enclosed wheel for a road TT, you might be able to buy a brand new entry-level mountain bike.

The reason for this is that mountain races are mainly about testing the riders' handling skills in various road conditions, and can usually be completed in less than 2 hours. The road race is six or seven hours a ride, six or seven hours a day, and it takes several days to ride, which is too much equipment, and a good car with perfect design and materials can help road racers effectively save energy. Road time trials are more expensive, and the top aerodynamic design and materials are often used in TT cars, so TT cars are the most expensive.

The Chinese cycling team brought a bunch of mountain bikes to Youngston, six of which were Duke's, three for training and three for racing. Mountain bikes with chrome-molybdenum steel frames are basically competition-grade racing cars, and the price is much more expensive than aluminum frame cars.

Duke pushed Kona's 4130 chrome-molybdenum XC race car and prepared to take to the track for practice. The brand kona is American, and the Chinese cycling team buys it back to China from the United States, and then ships it from China to the United States to compete, and you can buy a few good accessories just for shipping.

This silver soft-tail steel frame kona, Du Ke was originally going to use it during the competition, and now it is only two days before the start of the competition, let's practice with it first, anyway, there are two steel frame cars, play casually.

Putting on his helmet, protective glasses and gloves, and putting on his jersey and shoes, Duke arrived at the starting area of the Youngston Raceway.

Before setting off, Douc looked far away to observe the general terrain of the track.

Duke has studied the track map, which is 5.05 kilometers long and has to be ridden by each driver for 7 laps, or 35.35 kilometers.

Located on the outskirts of Youngston, the track is actually a continuous hill with stone sections, trenches and steps on top of the hill, which are just to create some obstacles and make the race more difficult.

After looking at the map and seeing the real scene of the track, Duke kicked up his pedals and set off on the road.

Familiarity with the terrain is so important for mountain races, which are inherently complex and unpredictable, and if you are not familiar with the track beforehand, you will definitely hit the streets.

Duke left the starting area and rode slowly and cautiously, and the first lap was tentative in nature, with the priority of finding out the full range of the track.

Duke first rode through a 500-metre stretch of flat terrain relative to the mountain road, which is potholed with gravel and is a pothole compared to the asphalt or cement of a road race.

"Even if it's a pit, it's going to be strong." Duke rode the 500-meter flat section and knew what to expect.

In mountain races, it is difficult to accelerate on climbs and difficult and complex sections, and it is time-saving to be able to pass smoothly without getting off the car and pushing it. The downhill section is not a competition to see who rushes faster, but a smooth downhill under the premise of ensuring safety, after all, this is XC not downhill.

The only chance to overtake is often on unobstructed sections of flat land.

Therefore, after the departure, it is best to seize the opportunity to accelerate to the front of the 500-meter flat gravel section. This is also the overall strategic policy of mountain racing: safety first when going up the mountain, and then fighting for speed when going down.

Duke finished the 500-meter flat section and began to enter the mountain section.

As he rode on, he found that the slope began to rise slowly, and after climbing a few hundred meters, the terrain became gentle, and then the first roadblock appeared, and several large rocks lay seven or eight meters in front of Duke.

These large rocks blocked the way, and the tallest one was more than half a meter high.

The strong thrust must not have come past it, and Douc began to brake and slow down, leaving his hips from the seat and using a standing position.

To outsiders, Duke is now standing on a car, while his car is in place.

In fact, Douc didn't lock the wheels, and it looked like he was holding the car still, but his car was actually moving at a snail's pace.

Duke brakes with the front brake, occasionally releasing the brake a little bit to let the wheels turn slightly, and turning the handlebars slightly so that the crank is parallel to the ground and pressed down and forward to combat the force of the brakes.

He used his car fixing skills to observe the large rocks in front of him to decide how to pass.

Soon, Douc had a countermeasure, he straightened the handlebars, released the front brake, maintained a standing position and pedaled, and continued to ride.

When approaching a large pile of rocks, before the front wheel touches the stone, Doucle quickly lifts the handlebar upwards and lifts the front tire, while moving his body backwards and kicking his heel backwards and upwards to lift the rear tire off the ground.

Sou~

Then Douc flew with his car, and he performed the ultimate mountain game: the dolphin jump.

Duke drove over the big rock obstacles, and after landing, he bent his arms and legs to absorb the impact of the landing, and the difficulty coefficient of the whole set of dolphin jumping techniques was 3.7, and Duke did it in one go, safe, environmentally friendly and smooth.

It's a pity that there are no spectators nearby, otherwise everyone would have applauded Duke's perfect dolphin jump.

The dolphin jump is a powerful weapon, but it also has a high level of practicality, encountering stones, grooves or a thick log in front of the rider, driving to jump over it is enough to pull the wind, but also to save time and energy.

Getting out of the car and pushing away, or carrying the car through obstacles, is time-consuming and laborious, and the key is that the force is still very low.

"Point 1, stone obstacle, requires dolphin jumping." Duke made a mental note of the stone obstacle, point 1 being his own number. Other riders may use point A, point B, and point G to number it, but it varies from person to person, so it's good to remember it.

There is a No. 1 obstacle point, followed by a No. 2, a No. 3, and a N, and all in all, Duke thinks that there are difficult obstacles on the stage, including sharp turns and steep uphill and downhill sections, which he has numbered in his own way and kept in mind.

It was impossible to remember all the numbered points after one lap, so Duke rode 12 laps and the next day for another 8 laps to finally get a good grasp of Youngston.

At 10 a.m. on June 16, the Ohio International Mountain Bike Invitational will be fired.

A total of 40 riders from North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania lined up in five rows in the starting area, with Duke as the wildcard and he was placed in the last row.

This starting position is not ideal, but there is no way, the starting position is ranked by UCI points, the top players start in the front row, and the wild card players can only start in the last row.

Doucle wears a silver helmet and shiny protective glasses, and the others can't see his true face. For him, the purpose of this invitational tournament is to compete with these international players and test his actual level of mountain racing. (To be continued.) )