That's why I now wear a nice tight base layer and bibs. Slimming.

You wish.

I loved my fixed gear bike, and then 2 consecutive free-wheeling single-speeds...
when I was 5-9 years old and riding kiddie bikes, pretending they were motorbikes!
Even the fixed gear was a step-up from the knight-rider big-wheel I'd owned previously...

I REALLY loved my first geared 12-speed when I was 10 and every half-decent geared bike I've owned since.

I view the increased complexity as an improvement (for my purposes at least) because it lets me go faster. (likely not faster than you, but faster than I would with a "simpler, cleaner-looking" machine...)

I bear no person or bike any ill will, ride what you love, but I personally have no interest what-so-ever in going back to a single-speed or fixed-gear ride.

Cheers!

Hi my name is Mike and Im a Fred.

Reply : "HI MIKE!!"

I havent had a Fred moment in 3 weeks. Unfortunately this morning I got back from my morning ride. I felt good. All was going well until I turned on the TV and switched to the TdF. Im still wearing my kit eating pop tarts watching the TdF.

Reply: Was it a Pro Kit?

Nope

Reply: "One ride at a time Mike".

I went into Tim Hortons (local chain coffee shop for those not in "the know" ) in a jersey and my shorts & a pair of sandals after a ride to grab a couple of cups 'o joe for me n' the misses. 2 Splenda and Milk if you will. Noticed the young "barista" glancing at my junk, I'm pretty young, not half bad looking, but far from a "catch" and I felt kinda good. One that I got checked out, and two that men aren't the only one's who are pigs. Came home told the wife jokingly and she asked me if I informed her that the shorts are padded FML.

Sure.

when anyone is glancing at my junk, we're talking about my bicycle.

I confess that I used to smirk at threads about the difficulty people had mounting tires. No more. I just finished putting a new gp4000 on my ritchey rim and it took me two days! I tried doing it without levers but finally had to resort to them for the final section. One of the contributing factors was that it was 100-degrees in my garage so my hands would get sweaty and slippery pretty quickly but I figured the heat would make the rubber more pliable. I've mounted a bunch of the same tire on these rims and have never had such a battle. My figures still hurt.

I had a nice chat with an older couple on recumbent trikes and I even complemented their equipment, even though I didn't really mean it.

I just rotated my tires.

I am total Fred.....

According the the BMI index, i am currently 75lbs overweight riding a very nice carbon Bianchi bike.
I just bought some bibs.. love em.. still to self conscious to wear a riding shirt, so I wear t-shirts
"Real" cyclist's that I pass are to f'n snobbish to give a nod of the head on the local bike path. You know the ones.. full kit, expensive bike/helmet, cruising along about as fast as I.

I think 16mph for an hour is pretty fast and 10min stints at 18+ is pretty damn fast

When I put my riding gear on, for just a minute, I feel like George Hincapie. Then I see myself in the mirror, and think, "Aw, crap."
I always wondered how I'd stack up against the pros. Then I saw a stage finish of the Giro last year in Italy, and realized that there are no limits to my suckness.
I have 2 Serottas that I bought on eBay. I tell people that they were custom made for me.
When I ride with my wife, I get pi$$ed off at her because she'll never come around and take a pull. I'm 6' and 225; she's 5' and 115.
Sometimes I snore so loud that I wake myself up. Sometimes when I open my eyes, I see my dog sitting on the bed, staring at me with his head cocked to one side, like, "WTF?"
I was late for the group ride this morning. I told the guys that it was because the kitchen clock had stopped. It was really because I was reading this thread on my iPad while I was pinching a loaf.

Baristas at Tim Hortons? haha! Awesome.

We see you girls checking out our junk... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ozSSseCh3U

I like going on the Mellow Johnny's Saturday morning ride and ordering a latte first because the barista can do this:

angry poems seem all the rage
see me jump all on that stage
do&che bag
carbonhead with the aero pushin' flip flops
what the f&cks, you couldn't untwist my water bottle

you weak legg'ed, pastry-eatin'
i mean, "excuse me, coming up on the left... thank you"..

I waved at a group of these guys/gals yesterday. I felt obligated because they waved at me. It felt very disingenuous.

You really are not going to be popular on "no drop" rides when you get a flat!

That's what I thought too, but Rule #37 states that we're wrong.

I attacked the yellow jersey.....

i'm addicted to soda.

fify

I didn't ride this morning because I had some slight anterior right knee pain.

I haven't ridden since last Wednesday and may never ride again. It was the first group ride where I was able to stay with the "A" group for the entire ride. I want to go out on a high note.

I have not ridden outside since BRAG

I ate a small bag of BBQ Lays with lunch.