The Aldrich Ave Daily

I’m back. Back to working shitty hours, non-stop stress at the shop, and insanity returns. I recently spend 5 days up on Lake of the Woods Canada. Sioux Narrows at The Red Indian Lodge to be more exact. I went up there with the fam and did a whole bunch of fishing. Kicking back relaxing with Miller High Life and lots of good food. It was a welcome trip. I needed a break from the shop. Its been driving me up the wall. Too many things to do every day and never finishing my projects was getting to me. We caught a lot of walleye and northerns. Some smallmouth bass here and there. I finally got to experience “shore lunch”. Unbelievable grub and totally opened my eyes to enjoying fish. I never really liked fish other then the cheap ass frozen shit at the grocery store. That changed completely on that trip. I’ve got a nice stockpile of walleye and northern in the freezer right now. I could go on for hours about this trip so I’ll leave you with that and the rest you’ll just have to ask me next time you see me.
I was able to keep tabs on Le Tour while up north. Its been an exciting Tour so far this year and is only going to get better. Today was the first day in the Pyrenees. Lots of “games” being played by the contenders on the last climb of the stage. I was perusing through espn’s website tonight and came across the link for todays stage. I dunno if they are just getting a feed for these updates from someone else or that they have someone there updating each stage, but I was not impressed with their article for today. 3/4 was rambling about how Lance did on this mountain 5 years ago. All they talked about from today was Contador’s win and Rasmussen staying in yellow. Nothing about how well Popovich did at the base of the climb to set the pace, or how crucial it was that Rasmussen get as much time as he could on then second place Cadel Evans. I don’t think they even mentioned Levi’s name. WTF? Bad form by ESPN.

I did no riding whatsoever on my trip up north. I hadn’t gone that long without pedaling in over 4 months. I did not however think I would lose as much as I did. I went for a ride after work tonight and I was dragging ass the entire time. Roughly 37 miles and no energy at all. My legs felt like concrete blocks. I got home and I felt like I just rode a century. Going to the bar and getting torched last night didn’t help either. I’m hoping its just that first ride back in the saddle and it will be all good from here on out. I’m not taking any chances though. I am not going to race this coming Sunday. I’m gonna take a couple days off, do a nice long training ride out at Afton on Friday and try not to over do it. The last few days I’ve also felt kinda groggy and the allergies are getting really bad. I wake up in the morning with a slight sore throat. I’m just hoping I don’t get sick when I am just about a month away from 24 hours.
I heard that Beijing is going to try to guarantee pleasant weather for the 2008 Summer Olympics. It has something to do with shooting objects in the air to alter the weather patterns. This has got to be one of the dumbest idea’s I have ever heard of. Whats the point? So what if it rains a little bit on some of the outdoor activities. Its the OLYMPICS. The worlds finest athletes should be used to some fucking rain. Its sad how people are so obsessed with perfection. I just don’t think its a good idea to play games with mother nature. It could come back to bite ya in the ass. I think its just another waste of money that could have been used for something much more worth while. With that I’m out, 13,12, and 12 hour days are coming up at the shop and I need some sleep. By the time my next post is up we should have a new champion of the Tour de France. I’m rooting for the Aussie Cadel Evans. Check ya later eh?

daily quote – “The elastic is stretching, the elastic has SNAPPED” -cycling commenter and living legend Phil Liggett.

term – brain bucket n. a helmet

Ok. Its done!! Finally, after weeks I finally have a new mountain bike. So far I’ve been impressed. I’ve gotten in a few rides. The main one was this past Sunday in Mankato at Mt. Kato. It was a scorcher as usual. The bike performed flawlessly. I did notice that it is a little more responsive in the corners. I can lean into them a lot more. Gotta love that Specialized frame geometry. Yesterday Kyle and myself went out to Lebanon Hills. I was stoked to get this rig out on this trail to see how she performs. Lap 1 was good. Lap two we decided to take some pics while riding. It started off ok, then Kyle took a horrific digger. He was coming off this log pile/jump and clipped his rear wheel on the log. Sent him tumbling down the hill, and he actually ended up running after he was thrown from his bike down this hill and slammed into a tree. It was bad. His entire left leg was bleeding, bruised and his entire left arm was the same. His leg looked like someone took a bat and was whacking away at his shins. “Is my bike ok” he says instantly. We thought we were done, but no. After about 10 minutes we were back on the trail. I was thinking to myself just as Kyle was saying “ya know I was thinking before that crash that I haven’t had a bad crash in a couple of years”. Well, in the middle of the XX loop Kyle was going to get some pics of us coming down this really steep rock. As I came up to it I went slower then usual so he could get a good shot. Not even 1/4 of the way down the rock, my from wheel gets stuck, my bike swings sideways, and I go flying over the bars. I come down along this rock, smash my head on the rock(wearing a helmet of course) smash and cut my ankle on this fallen tree branch and land on Kyle. “hows my bike”? It was fine. To my surprise my head felt ok after a couple of minutes to realize what just happened. But my ankle was pretty bad. We finish the lap and decide thats it for the day. I was hoping this group of kids saw me eat shit on that rock. They weren’t wearing helmets. That trail can kick you’re ass in a split second, and these kids and adults think they are unstoppable. I just don’t wanna see someone break their neck or even worse, and then see that trail close because people will start thinking it is too dangerous. I dunno, I mean its none of my business to tell them what to do, but cripes, use some common sense. Then came this morning. Every muscle and joint in my body is killing me, my ankle is killing me, and i can barely lift up my left arm to scratch my head. There goes today’s plan on riding Afton.
What worries my the most is I won’t be able to throw a fishing rod back and forth this weekend. This Saturday my family and I are going up to Lake of the Woods for some fishing, beer drinking, fishing, beer drinking, and maybe some sleeping. I really hope my shoulder is ok by Sunday to do some fishing. This trip couldn’t come at a better time. Work is still really stressful and a week off is just what I need so I can come back with a fresh mindset. I’ve never been to Lake of the Woods so I can’t wait to get up there and check it out. Time to take a little break from riding. I think its a good time to do so. I don’t wanna say it, but I’ve been getting a little burned out on the training and this trip will be a nice break. Well, my arm hurts to much to continue writing so with that I bid you adieu. Off to Canada!!!!

daily quote – “Canadians have an abiding interest in surprising those Americans who
have historically made little effort to learn about their neighbour to
the North”. -Peter Jennings

today’s term – chunder v. to crash.