Bike Envy

After going on a couple of bike rides this weekend, I realized I have bicycle envy. 

First, I met up with Becks at the National Zoo - I hadn't been there since I was a 7th-grader.  It was relatively underwhelming; none of the pandas were out, and we didn'thave much time.  Kalunda, a cute 6-year-old todler elephant, was playing by himself in a large pool, and a solitary lion roared in an enclosure, but that was about it. 

Afterwards, we rode back to my house and I drove Becks and her bike back to Arlington.  She fell pretty far behind, which I found surprising.  For one thing, despite my size and brute strength advantage she is probably in better shape than me (she is much less sedentary).  For another, it's not like I was in peak shape and trying to race; I was just riding normally, and was in the saddle for the first time in almost two years.  Then I realized the bike differential was huge.  She was riding a department-store bike from Target, and I was riding a 1998 Raleigh M60 mountain bike that had just been re-assembled and tuned up.   I remember the days of the department store bikes.  They aren't very fast or efficient. 

But then the tables were turned on Sunday, when I went riding with 4 College Park grad student type folks and friends.  They were all on road bikes, and one was on a brand-new hyprid.  And they were all dusting me, with minimal effort.  I was pumping away, in a high gear, legs going almost full-out...and they would coas past my knobby-tired and heavier-framed mountain bike while barely trying.  It was annoying.  They were getting so much more return for their efforts than I was.  Meanwhile, I was getting bike envy.  Now I want a new bike. 

I'm generally not a materialistic dude.  At least, not too much so.  Like most people, I like having nice things.  But 'nice' doesn't equal 'expensive' or 'trendy' necessarily.  I get my clothes from discount stores, and I shope for reliability and durability as well as fashion.  My car is humble.  My housing situation isn't extravagant.  My TV is small (though I want a new, slightly-bigger one).  But it gets me that I'd be wasting so much energy biking.  My friends are going to do some long-distance rides soon, and I'd eventually like to get back into that.  Do I really want to go into a 60-mile ride feeling handicapped?

The obvious solution is to get new tires.  New, smooth tires for the road would definitely make a significant difference.  But how different, considering my bike is 9 years old?  Bikes have gotten a lot lighter and more practical since then.  And it wouldn't cost a fortune -- plus I could probably get $200 for my current bike.  So why not just sell my current bike and get a hybrid or road one? 

But why not just get new tires?  After all, there's nothing wrong with my bike.

I can't believe my mind has traveled so far down this road. 

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