Thanks all you guys for a wonderful thread. I too have found myself at a crossroads with which I hope to fix. I started riding seriously in March of 2000, three years after my open heart surgery. Up until a year ago I had pedaled 18,000 miles and then just suddenly stopped. I still continue riding to work everyday but thats only a one mile round trip. I just lost interest, plain and simple. This thread, plus the recent bike wreck i had riding to work last week seemed to change something in me. The bike wreck bruised all the ribs on my left side where I could hardly move. But somehow it brought me closer to the bike. I know it sounds weird, but somehow, after painfully climbing out from under my bike and barely able to ride home, I refound the bike. For months I had neglected it, but while I was on the mend I found I wanted to clean it up and oil it I even ordered some new parts like I used to. I am 57 y/o and before, when I was knocking out 50-100 miles a week, breathing hard was so easy. I still think I have at least some degree of fitness left, despite virtually being off the bike for a year. This thread may very well have saved me from becoming one of the unfortunate reciepants this thread is about.