Bike Forums - Hi from the YYJ

Hi! I'm from Victoria, BC, Canada.
ignoring bicycling to school and back, and playing something we called 'bike polo' on an outdoor basketball court, my riding history started when the girl I was living with won a 10 speed Raleigh in a contest at work which she gave me.
I rode it around for a few weeks and thought, oh, I like this game... and promptly started shopping for something better.
I was fascinated by the emerging trend of oversized aluminum tube frames and test rode a Trek initially and was very impressed with the stiffness. So impressed that I ended up getting a Cannondale instead, much to the Trek dealer's chagrin. It was a 1987 SR500 with 105 with *gasp* biopace! White with pink cables... it was edgy at the time, don't judge me :)
That didn't last too long because in 1990 I upgraded to the SR800 with Shimano 600, the precursor to Ultegra. I rode this bike a lot... Anyone who's from around here is familiar with the Malahat which is a stretch of winding road with a 356 meter climb... I used to love riding to the summit and then racing the cars on the way down.
Then this new fangled mountain bike thing showed up... hot damn! Better try this! I got a 1996 Trek ST120 and did that for a while.
A few years later I got into motorcycle racing and the bikes sat neglected for many years.
There was a flurry of activity a few years back when the fixie craze happened.... I knew I didn't have the chops to ride one but I loved the super clean look so I built what I called a faux-fixie around a SRAM two speed automatic coaster brake hub. The thing was gorgeous (if I do say so myself) with not a cable to be seen, but the auto hub meant that (by that time) a 55 year old could actually get going from a stop sign.
The novelty of that wore off after a bit too and there were now 3 bikes collecting dust in the shed.
Then suddenly last summer a group of friends approached me and said 'hey you used to ride, we're putting together a team for the Tour de Victoria, wanna come with?' and in a moment of weakness I said 'yes' and there it was! I dusted off the old Cannondale and trained for the race all summer, did the race without passing out and decided that it was time to dive back in!
Accordingly I overbought myself a new 2021 Trek Madone SL6 which I shall underutilize spectacularly as I ride off into the sunset!