if there is no livestock in your tank and the only thing you are caring for is the bacteria that will make your tank comfey for critters one day- don't bother doing water changes now- Leave the ammonia high- go ahead and blast it.
If you see its high, don't add more until it drops, but you won't hurt the filter bacteria by having 8ppm or 12. Don't add more until you see it drop, but there is no need to remove it. Let it ride. I think this is actually a better way to go- if you maintain a larger initial concentration, keeping track of the drop will be easier to do.
I think a lot of the info you get on cycling is too exhuberant.. It often takes 8 weeks+ to cycle a tank if you're starting clean, especially in the dead of winter. The nitrifying bacteria in your tank is the same stuff that rots leaves and dead squirrels into mulch in the woods- its everywhere on earth.. but it makes sense that in the dead of winter there is less of it in the air to seed your tank. If you did this is summer, with your windows open and the ground outside warm and teeming with life, it wouldn't take so long. Its a waiting game, and you want your tank to be able to process more ammonia than your fish will produce- high is good to start.
Do you have a nitrate test kit? or will you rely on your ammonia- its fine to rely on your ammonia kit- but you want to test it daily when it starts to drop and make sure you bump it back near 2ppm for at least 3 weeks past the initial drop. A good rule of thumb is however long it took for your ammonia to drop is how long it will take for the next two sets of bacteria together. Then stop adding ammonia, if you're test kit goes from 2ppm to zero in two days, the 3rd day you can begin to add livestock.