Smoking, drinking, hanging out with beardy, booky or brainy men talking till the small hours about absolute nonsense, while listening to old tunes. Or rather the avoidance of that all. I got into collegiate rowing to brute force myself into a healthier lifestyle, but got the boot pretty soon due to not being big and strong enough. I bought a cheap Peugeot of the web to keep in shape, but being a natural reader I immediately turned to this blazing beacon of information on French ten speeds. I discovered that the Pug was way too big and way too low end, so I started the relentless acquisition of all kinds of old cycling junk to piece together a nice Italian racer in my size, whilst getting more and more absorbed by the banter and beautiful bikes here. Look at me now. Making all these confessions and talking daily to a very friendly bunch of beardy, booky and brainy guys (and some gals! Hi Kiwi!), sometimes sober, sometimes not, until the small hours, while the conversation drifts inevitably drifts to music... It all has come full circle.