Originally Posted by stegosaupus

Thanks for the hugs. I'm staying on my bike because I love it (I'm already gearing up for winter riding, hehe), but I think it was just a shock of cognitive dissonance from how I felt about riding to how other people would perceive it. I'm twelve years out of high school, with great friends and a good career, and it was enough to smush me back into feeling like a weirdo highschool loser. I'm happy letting my bike be comfy and functional instead of bling-blingy (if anything, I'd be more likely to turn it into an art-bike for my own delight than to get status-enhancing gear and upgrades), but... I got kicked in my self-image, and it hurt.