Slowly Sinking In.

The reality of my latest purchase has started to sink in, and there, mixed in with the sense of remorse and frantic shuffling of finances so the wife won't notice, is a glimmer of why I buy all of this crap:

Overly-Ambitious and Completely Impractical PlansTM

Since I was already planning on rebuilding the race bike, this gives me a chance to have a quiver of narrowly-focused bicycles. No longer will I have to suffer and ride the same bike in hill climbs, crits, time trials, or road races, because I will have a different one specifically configured for each discipline. I will still be slow and painfully inept, but I will look "Pro"at the


start line, which is what really matters. I'll be dropped before the first turn, but for those few seconds the uninitiated will look upon me in all of my glory with awe. Sure, that awe will turn to befuddlement, stifled giggles, open mockery, and finally pity, but at least I'll get my moment. With my existing quiver of far-too-many-but-still-not-enough bikes, I wouldn't even get that far.

Of course, having so many narrowly-defined bikes does present some practical issues. For instance, when training for that discipline, I can't be expected to ride the race bike (must keep it ready for the big day) or a bike that isn't set up in an identical manner. What if I crash that particular bike? The only possible solution is to have a backup for each bike.

While most people use the "n + 1" rule to calculate the number of bikes you need (where n = the number of bikes you currently have), I go by the "n x 2" rule. If one is good, two must be better. Eventually my plan is to have enough bikes that I can go an entire season without washing a bike, yet never riding a dirty one. Granted, our season is only five or six months long, so I think this target is very reasonable. 

Yeah, I'm not very good about keeping my bikes clean.

I do have a knack for collecting them, though.

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