[MENTION=124730]SJX426[/MENTION], I am honored by your opening paragraph. Thank you.

The second bit I quoted resonates with me strongly. Human-powered transportation has fascinated me much of my life. I've spent hundreds of thousands of steps hiking and being fascinated by the concept that one could cover such distances over rugged terrain all on foot. When I was younger a bicycle was a ticket to freedom. When I learned about and eventually graduated to lightweight "adult" bikes the concept of covering automobile-scale distances with only human power, without an engine!, rang every bell in my spirit of adventure. The idea that one could go 100 miles with the power in one's legs alone was and still is astounding. Back then 100 miles was a long distance even by car, not something one did every day. Granted a bike takes more time, but such a time it is!

Maybe that's why my bikes tend to be the go-fast road sort. I rode my childhood clunkers on the paths through local woods and got my fill of the mtb experience long before such bikes existed. For the real adventure it has to be a road bike going far beyond the neighborhood, going to places adults drove to. The adventure bells still ring.

The bikes here and their stories have been wonderful. Thank you all for sharing. Keep them coming.

(I'm going to have to post a few pics. It seems to be the thing to do!)