You think that because you happened to see me ask for advice on aero wheels that I wanted them and I wanted them at that VERY moment ... as I've stated several times, the thread was made for my own benefit to inform a future purchase. As you can see above, I've outlined for you the general order I plan to buy everything in, which I think is more than reasonable. If you cared to, you could see my post archive and see the order I've asked questions in regarding the track. The first few posts would be about proper nutrition and spinning exercises. The next post would be about pedals, specifically the Speedplays and whether or not the track specific ones were worth the extra money. After that, you would see the question about the wheelset. Questions about helmets, jerseys, and other things were asked in other places (not online).

Being that I am racing against beginners at the moment, I am not concerned about beating anyone. If I do get any better at this, I am *still* not going to be concerned about beating people. That's just not my attitude. I don't play to beat everyone else, I just want to achieve my personal best.

As I've said before (and I don't know why I have to justify this to a complete stranger), I've ridden the low and mid end gear enough by now to want something nice. I believe it is the natural step for anyone who wants to expand their horizons. I will always ride my steel rig but I see no problem with getting a carbon frame one day either.

And yes, my friends and I are more than happy to have new people join us at our dinner table after a social ride or race at the velodrome. Certainly, you would be introduced as the guy who stalked me online to photograph my bike, but if I can be a good sport about your flaming me I am sure you can be a good sport about this. And yeah, I would buy your dinner, why not? We usually eat at The Local or Estoria afterwards though ... may be too hipster trash for you.

EDIT: Pedalling - they were installing a road brake. I am as confused as you are as to why they wouldn't at least put the bar ends back on, but again ... it wasn't something I was going to confront them about when I can get them at home for free. Dtret, if you doubt any of this, you can talk to my friends Laura and Bobby IRL at the velodrome, they will vouch that this is indeed what happened. I know you think I am stupid, but in all seriousness, I am actually pretty smart and the first thing I noticed was that my bar tape and ends were missing and that this would present a problem later at the velodrome.

P.S. Sorry this will probably be my last post this evening, so your daily dose of online drama will have to wait until tomorrow. I am doing the beginners races tonight. I hope that by divulging my evening plans I am not inviting anyone to come spy on me.