Going to the Darkside

So after a couple of years of riding nothing but mountain bikes I am finally going to pull the trigger on a new road bike (It is debatable whether or not Ann is actually a bike and you don't really ride her, just get on and survive). I am looking to get the Trek Madone 5.0 that I spotted in CSH last week. I went and test rode it this past weekend and it is a pretty sweet ride and a killer deal. I think that the original MSRP is about $2700 and it is currently selling for an even 2k. I know that the rest of the family rides Specialized but I want something a little more unusual and unique, so I am going to go with the Trek. Another big plus is that they have a 62cm in stock so I can be riding by this weekend. I ordered a pair of road shoes yesterday from Specialized and I am going to wait until those come in before I go get the bike. I want to have them when I get the bike so I can get the cleats set up correctly when they fit me to the bike. My current Specialized mtb shoes fit nicely so I am going to stick with the big S for my road shoes because I hate trying to find shoes that fit my wide feet. Fortunately, they only make one model of road shoes in my size (49) so it was an easy decision. They should be here in the next day or two and then I will be off to get the bike.

Once I get this bike I should have a pretty sweet set up and will be able to sit back and actually save some of my money. I had three big purchases in mind when I graduated that I was going to use to purge the student life from my system. After all, why waste away my youth in a cubicle if I can't at least buy the happiness that I deserve? This should be the final addition of those three things, which were a SS mountain bike, new computer, and a road bike. I have actually been able to stay right on my predicted budget for these purchases so I feel pretty good about that. There was some slight worry from others that I may have inherited the QVC gene and continue this spending spree but I don't foresee that being a problem.

The addition of a new bike also means that my other bikes will not get to be ridden as often. The 1x1 is way too much fun to just sit around all of the time and I will definately still ride that one a lot. It looks like the odd man out right now is the Fisher. I don't really have a desire to go back to gears on the trails and the 1x1 is going to be my go to mountain bike for a long time. I have been thinking that instead of leaving it sitting around that I should turn it into my commuter. The ride to work is a fairly easy 11 miles with no real climbs and a good bit of it being on nice quiet roads. I hope to try it out sometime in the next week or so and start making it a habit if it isn't too unbearable. I am not worried about the ride being tough but it will add at least 30 minutes to my commute each way and I already struggle to get in at 7:30. If I can manage to get up and going that early in the morning then it should be a pretty pleasant change from dealing with the traffic on the beltline.

A new road bike also means that I am almost guaranteed to ride this years Discover Anson ride back in the old stomping grounds. It is on November 3rd so save the date. Now I just need to decide whether to do the 30, 50, or 70 mile ride. I am game for whatever but I will see what everyone else wants to do. It is only twenty bucks if you register before mid October so let me know if you want to ride.

As I have been buying things the last couple of months, I have been getting things that end up leaving me with eggs on my face. After years of laughing at my Apple-fanboy friends and their Steve Jobs mancrushes I go out and buy a Mac. Then I decide to get a Trek after not really looking at them because everybody and their brother has one. Not only am I getting a Trek but I am getting it from the shop that I practically swore off just last week, although most of that was just frustration fueled ranting. I have been really pleased with the computer and most of the people at CSH are pretty cool so I am not disappointed with these decisions, it just leaves me looking like a bit of an idiot. Just in case the trend continues I have decided to put a few more things on record and hopefully the result will be the same. Here goes:

1) Pro cyclists are all spoiled cheaters and I would never accept large sums of money to travel the world and ride my ridiculously nice bike around.
2) The only occupation worse than pro cyclist would be designing the bikes for them. I would never move to California to accept a job with Specialized, especially if they gave me a significant pay increase.
3) Hills are boring and I will never make regular trips to the mountains just to go ride even if I get offered a free place to crash.
4) I love the cold. I sure do hope that this winter is long, cold, and rainy.

Wish me luck.