OK, then what kind of bike should I ride and how should I go about obtaining it? Should I go to my LBS and drop a few grand on a swanky new Specialized? Maybe a Lance Armstrong-approved Trek would get your official seal of approval? Or, perhaps I should be a modern hipster--drink PBR, wear skinny jeans, and get a fixie from some barebones store in a strip mall?

For goodness sake, I've rescued an old Varsity from certain burial in the city dump and am just having fun customizing it. I didn't expect to encounter such snobbery on Bike Forums.

Lesson learned.