Pretty straightforward here...that is me doing my first triathlon last year.

Cool, let me know how you like it. I notice you're from "Joisey." So am I originally--grew up near Asbury Park. Hope you enjoy the book. :)

<<< race-day gear for my single-speed mountain bike; a 16T White Industries ENO freewheel. Don't you love well-machined bicycle parts that arrive in a jewelry box?

My avatar is a famous mild-mannered reporter from an old, old comic book. When I get home from a ride, I feel--well, SUPER. So this avatar fits me particularly well.

I think my motivation is clear.

I wanted a cartoon style avatar because of the pixel limit. I basically searched for free clip-art that I liked. Stopped looking when I found a free one that appealed to me. I didn't want to think about copyright issues. The avatar itself doesn't say anything about me except for race, gender, and maybe approximate age. Well, maybe I'm a little older than the guy in the avatar.

I'm guessing you're not a male over the age of 40. I do't want to talk about slvoid's avatar. It's good to know I don't have prostate cancer, but that's little consolation. Excuse me while I go think about something else now.

Kinda turns me on. I'm funny that way.

Should be pretty obvious from both my avatar and sig that I'm not into anonymity.

I have avatars turned off for better on-the-sly viewing at work.

Am I missing a lot?

No, not really. They just make it quick and easy to recognize who posted without having to read the name. It doesn't always work, however, because some people have the same avatar.

Also, some avatars are distracting. I'm talking about the ones with animations.

My profile explains the avatar. My favorite thing on BF is analysing people's problems and synthesizing solutions; preferable with at least one humorous alternative.

Texas Born, Texas Bred, when I'am gone, I'll be Texas dead. :D

I don't think my avatar needs an explanation.

Me. Near Pearson's Silo on the Katy Trail. By that time I was almost 900 miles and a bit over 2 weeks into a solo tour of the eastern part of the Lewis and Clark Trail. It was hot, I was homesick, tired of eating out of foil packages and sick of my own company. It was probably the most miserable day of my life. 'sigh' Wish I was back there :o

The star in my avatar is to let everyone know which part of the state I'm from. People still ask, which pretty much negates the thing for some.

Mine is actually something I designed for a client. Right at the last minute, he decided that the flying, red horse was just too obscure a reference to Dallas. I liked the way it came out, but he didn't want it. So, I gave him a different logo and used this one for my avatar.

My avatar is the same across all the forums I participate in. It's actually an icon I stole from a really nice webpage about 6 years ago. It has nothing to do with cycling at all. Neither does my "handle" which is the same across all forums.

Not obscure to someone born in Dallas, though I can understand the clients feeling if trying to appeal to non Dallas natives. I love your avatar.

My avatar is a pic of my 1yr old daughter. Only good thing I've done with my life in 31yrs. Other than marrying her mother, of course. (We troll each others forums.)

I stole mine from some emoticons I found in an email sent to me... At the time I could not create one because the computer I had did not have the programs to make an appropriate file, and the ready made avatars were not to my liking.

Rainbows have varied meanings for me... hope being one of them, personal preferences being another.

I think mine is fairly self explanatory, since I moved to the DC area I may have become just a tad cynical!

It is I says I!

Mine cuts down on anonymity. Multiple people have recognized me based on my avatar. It helps to have a distinctive helmet cover.

My avatar is a picture of my son (2 years old as of fall 2005 (when the picture was taken)). I am a research scientist (hence the handle) primarily doing software development. My family's nickname for me is Badda Dadda because it is really fun to say.

Thanks. I have a bit of a personal connection to the flying horse, also. My grandfather used to make neon signs, up in Wichita Falls. He made many a neon horse for service stations in and around that part of the state. On several occasions, he was contracted to come down to Dallas and repair "The Big One".
He told me about it, when I was just a kid and I thought that he had the coolest job in the world. He said that he hated heights so the whole time he was fixing it, he just wanted to throw up.

The part that was strange about the experience with my client was that he said his wife, (who was born in Richardson), looked at it and remarked, "What does the Mobile horse have to do with Dallas?"
That's when he changed his mind and wanted to go in another direction with the look of his project. No skin off my nose, (I bill by the hour ;) ).

I chose mine because I was bored at the time, and have a weird sense of humor.

It's me biking. Seemed appropriate.

Mine is a picture I took from the top of Mt Rushmore. I got the opportunity to go to the top and it gave me a new appreciation of it.

Just Cuz!!

I loved Dynomutt when I was a youngster, very Cool Dog!!

"John"

The Bear Flag goes with my user name. Oso means bear in Spanish.