Team Aldi sustain Injury but carry on regardless...

During this morning’s practice ride one of the key members of this prestigious team inadvertently held an impromptu meeting with some tarmac but despite sustaining injuries to both elbow and knee the team on his behalf vowed to continue, voicing their determination as one man as it were and refusing to be shaken by this unplanned for happening.

Injured Knee

The accident happened whilst Tachis (see team description below) was setting a red hot pace on one of the practice laps that the team uses before going for coffee and donuts in a local coffee hostelry. Details of the incident are still a bit hazy but it seems that he was proceeding uphill on a 1:3 slope in a Northerly direction whilst trying to avoid a kangaroo at the same time as trying to take a phone call from Fearless Fred the armchair cyclist who was phoning in at the time to check up on team progress. Coping with all 3 tasks at the same time were simply too much for the intrepid member who just came to a complete stop on the tarmac altering the make up on his skin to both elbow and knee in the process.

Location:Mount Annan Botanic Gardens to start with then progressing to Cawdor the centre of Cadence County.

The men present:

• Rohan Bell (aka Tachis from the Greek word meaning “speed”)
• Mario Pengue (team manager but aka” the anatomy analyst” )
• Tony Dodds (now not pursuing a better offer on the M7 )
• Neil Gabbin (aka Gabbo, promoted after successful negotiation of improved rates and overtime penalty payments)
• Ian Henderson (hereinafter known as the Scribe)
• Kenny O’Donnell ( paper delivery improver)

Team Aldi

Those absent or otherwise detained:

• Fearless Fred Peacock (aka “the armchair cyclist”)
• William Shakespeare (Resting)

Team Aldi only really came into existence due to an aggressive marketing strategy by the supermarket trader Aldi in the south west of Sydney in March 2010 when they decided to flood the local market with cheap cycling clothing and accessories. Being boys with an eye for a bargain this was seen as a challenge not to be missed and so the team was born, filled by the men proud to fly the flag of the alternative lycra lifestyle and here they are pictured above obviously thrilled to be part of this new fashion/lifestyle adventure.

Having completed the furious pace of the time trials and successfully negotiating the dangers of the Botanic laps , the last three members of the team to complete the circuit are pictured below obviously happy just to have finished the blistering pace of the race…

The Warm-downs

After all the excitement of the time trials and the accident it was time for some post lap warm-downs, this time ably lead by Gabbo who can be seen here demonstrating the latest breakthrough in scientific sporting recovery technology called “Moonwalking”. His team mates are obviously looking on confused at this demonstration of the finer points of the new ground breaking scientific discovery. You will the note the way in which Tachis is trying his absolute level best not to draw attention to his elbow injury sustained earlier in the morning.

After the Moonwalking was completed the team then moved on to a demonstration by the Kenny (the oldest paper delivery boy in the Macarthur region) of what he called “the stretches” but which other members of the team thought were an impression of some primeval mating ritual and/or had them reaching for the spare toilet paper, thankfully this routine was not needed for a great length of time.

Once the warm-downs were complete it was time to adjourn to the coffee shop for some well earned refreshments and for more winding down and planning and strategy for the future.

The second phase of training was then lead by Tachis suitably recovered from his injuries of the early morning and now leading the reduced members of the team consisting of himself, the scribe and Gabbo, on a 35Km haul on the road to Cawdor and beyond, not only had he recovered from the spill but even more worrying he now had air in his tyres which improved his performance and now he really was living up to his name, demonstrated by the photo below in which I am by now so far behind them. A pack of 4 proper riders passed me in the opposite direction and noticed this gap and gave me such a look of withering disdain when they saw the hillbilly hybrid that I was riding that I thought my own tyres were going to deflate.

The journey back to civilisation was only marred by being overtaken by another pack of proper riders who cruised by us without any effort but doing twice the speed and also by an attack of cramp sustained by one of the team which left the other 2 team members administering emergency massage to the limbs of the injured party whilst lying on the island of a set of traffic lights which must have caused a bit of a sideshow for passers by but didn’t carry any concern for the men, and undeterred by any unwarranted attention this was causing the remainder of Team Aldi carried on regardless.

Well that’s about all the news from this week’s round up.

Best wishes for now
Until the next up date
From the Scribe