Yesterday went pretty quickly. Bill, Dennis and I chopped wood most of the morning. We were planning to get up to Duluth in time to ride for 3 hours, but my van batteries didn’t want to help, so we left late. We drove up to Hartley Park, which looked like it would be the closest riding to the Duluth Airport.
The riding was just okay. Not enough choices or enough elevation change for me. Towards the end of the ride, Bill caught a sapling with a bar end got launched onto a wooden bridge, head/back first. He was stunned. He laid there for awhile and moaned, which is never a good sign. Now is bad ribs from crashing in Tulsa are officially bad once more. On the way out of the park, my rear wheel decided it was sick of me riding it and rebelled. It is a Easton wheel, carbon. And it’s not mine, it’s Matt’s, TradeWind Energy Matt. It has been making a ton of noise all week. First, the freehub quit engaging. That makes putting pressure on the pedals questionable. Then a spoke broke for no apparent reason. I limped out of the park, glad I didn’t have to walk a long ways.
Trudi was waiting there at the airport. She had flown from Montreal to Chicago to Duluth. I had dropped her off over two months ago in Duluth. That is sort of a strange coincidence. Anyway, she is done working for BMC for the year. Maybe a training camp somewhere later, but done working races. We drove over to Canal Park and walked the dogs and hung. We spent about 30 minutes skipping stones on Lake Superior. My goal is being able to use my shoulder well enough that I can efficiently skip a stone with no pain. Right now it is a real challenge.
I’m up in the air about what is next. I’m sort of in denial about my hand situation. I guess I should address it today. After running a chainsaw a couple hours yesterday and moving a ton, more than a ton of wood, I realize I need to do some strengthening stuff. I’m not much of one to go to a gym. I like real life work that a gym just mimics. But, with a cast on my right hand, some/most of those types of things will be hindered greatly, if not off the plate completely. The sooner I do the surgery, the sooner I can get back to cyclocross, construction, life stuff. Man, this year has been a mess.
Today, I plan to get real sore chopping wood. I did it for another hour or so last night. It is really bad for my thumb, but seemed pretty good for my shoulder. There are always trade-offs for everything. Then, I’m going to walk down to the lake and swim a mile. That is if the water isn’t so cold I can’t stand it. It is about shoulder rehab today.
Bill had laid here for awhile before I felt comfortable enough to try to take a photo. By then he was coherent enough to protest, sort of.
Trudi at the airport with Bromont.
The buses in Duluth have advertising wrap all over them. Somehow that seems wrong.
Dog walking on the board walk.
I watched this kid chase a pigeon for a while.
Lots of stones to choose from for skipping.
As soon as we started back to Cable, these guys were out.
Gonna be some serious sleeping going on here the next couple days.
Bromont trying to take credit for my pile of split wood.
Dude, the last century is calling, it wants those tree-grabbing bar ends back. Seriously, if you want something with more leverage or different hand positions try Jones H-Bars or any number of other alt bars out there that are lighter, more efficient, and way safer than lame ass bar ends.
I know this will go against your grain, but anyone who burns that much wood needs a log splitter. You still get to lift and stack.
Steve:
Sorry I missed you post for places to mountain bike in Duluth yesterday. You are right that Hartley Park is the closest to the airport.
Spirit Mountain has a recently constructed a downhill flow trail that is well known locally. In fact, Mountain Bike Action tested a couple of Salsa bikes there in a recent issue. Plenty of elevation change on the trails. Spirit Mountain is on the south end of Duluth, where Interstate 35 drops down the bluff.
Lester Park has new single track that you might enjoy, There was a Minnesota Mountainbike Series race at Lester Park in July. Here is a link to a video of the race by Jay Michaels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeAm0TFqUE4&feature=youtu.be Plenty of elevation change here too – again – climbing up the bluff. Lester park is on the north end of Duluth, just before US61 becomes divided hiway. The Lester River and Amity Creek flow through the park – it is quite the beautiful setting. Ski trails there as well.
Easton wheels suck. Simple as that.
I like the photograph of the stones at Duluth beach.
good work.
i’ve been riding bar ends for 20 yrs and this has only happen twice, i think i’ll keep using lame ass barends and not go with the fad of 3′ wide downhill bars. i couldn’t use those on the single track i ride.
Man,
I hate to say this but you need a dose of reality. I am an Occupational Therapist and work with hand surgeons on a daily basis. I have to tell you, you are like the worlds worst patient. You’re overusing your thumb and hand and really are going to torpedo any chance of a decent recovery with all that you do. Patient compliance with post op and pre-op instructions are the biggest predicter of a good recovery, and you fail at every turn with compliance.
Good luck with your hand – I think you’re going to need it!
And I have lame-ass bar ends too! i’ll never give them up!
Ummm….not sure how you managed to extrapolate a 3 foot DH bar out of a suggestion for a variety of bars with bar end alternatives. Guess your noggin must still be a bit loopy from the fall.
http://www.touchbionics.com/products/active-prostheses/i-limb-ultra-revolution/ … You could be their new hand tester…
Even better, you could control it with your iPhone: http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/touch-bionics-i-limb-prosthesis-is-controlled-by-an-iphone-app-50010921/ but they tend to cost a bit: $80,000 to $120,000 or so.
I’ve never crashed because of my bar ends hooking onto something. If anything they have saved my ass by repelling me away from trees and what not. I have however crashed twice from my grip bumping a tree when I want using bat ends. I myself have tried a couple of different Alt-bars and ultimately decided they would be better on a beach cruiser. Just my $.02.
Steve, I am often dumbfounded by the way you continue to ready for body. When we were young most of us really thought that we were pretty much invincible but as we started growing a little older (mid-thirties) our minds started to clear of so much testosterone and self preservation started to enter the picture. It’s like that switch never got turned on/off for you or something. You strike me as being very intelligent in many ways but can’t believe sometimes just how foolish you are with your body. The injuries you are dealing with are much greater than just some bumps and bruises. Hell they are worse than broken bones!
You are seriously not much different than someone who is addicted to drugs. You are destroying yourself but you are too blinded by your addiction to see it even though it is plain as day to those around you. Take some time away from the bike! It will still be there waiting when you return. There “really” is more to life!