Big news? Not really.

Some of you will be excited, some will be disappointed, and others will remain neutral and unaffected.

Yes, I bought a new road bike. As a matter of fact this is my first new road bike since 1991, the year of my second senior year in college, the year that YSU reinvigorated its cycling team, and the year I raced in the collegiate C class for DFL on a consistent basis.

This was not an easy decision, and I may ramble on for days talking about it. It was a lot of money to plunk down on a bike considering all the factors surrounding the purchase. I've already mentioned many times how slow things are at work, and the timing couldn't have been worse (last week was the slowest week on record), but I felt like it was now or never.

Watching the Paris Nice last Sunday was probably the breaking point, but I've been wanting a new road bike for a very long time. Some of you might remember the Colnago Mega Master I owned some time back (I bought the frame in used condition), and you might have thought it was pretty nice. It was an OK bike by 90's standards, but it was a sinking ship. The 8 speed 600 shifters were no longer functioning worth a damn, and the only option was to upgrade... to nine or ten speed. Such an upgrade would have also meant that I had to buy a new cassette, crank (or at least rings), and chain. That's a lot of money to throw at a bike with a threaded steer tube/steel fork and quill stem... easily hundreds of dollars. That's why the Colnago was sold and the DeBernardi built up with the same parts and a set of 7 speed downtube shifters that came off my '91 Yokota that would shift 8 speeds if you just pulled really hard past the last click.

From this...

to this

Riding around on 20lbs of whippy steel never really inspired me to do much road riding. To make matters worse I was still using the stock single pivot twenty year old Exage brakes that came on my 1991 Yokota. These things were so weak that I couldn't even lock up the rear wheel on flat pavement... hardly inspiring when trying to bomb off the Blue Ridge Parkway at 40+ MPH.

Back to the Paris Nice...

Every time I've watched pro cycling on TV over the last decade or so I've felt the same pangs of desire swelling inside me. I missed the freedom of road riding I used to enjoy from time to time. Just wondering how much better the experience could be if I threw a little money at the problem... but would I ride it enough to justify the expense? Would modern technology feel that much better? Would I have just been another victim of the marketing machine that is pro cycling? Would women really find me more attractive? Is that even possible?

Watching that Paris Nice from the couch shivering from my fever I felt like I needed to make the leap. I wasn't sure how to pull it off, but I would figure out a way. Now I have 16.2 pounds of happiness in my life, and not one single regret... all right, I always have regrets, but we'll get to those later.

16.2 pounds without pedals, as we all know some folks choose to ride without pedals. I guess they just shove their big toes in the threaded holes and go to town.

The only unfortunate part of Friday evening's build? Mike Piazza and I got a little excited and started pitching back the PBR's. I should explain that I bought PBR's for the sake of irony since I wasn't building a hipster fixie of a Surly Karate Monkey, but a fancy crabon road bike. Anyways, Mike got a little outta hand, and the next day when I woke up I found this in the bathroom:

Mike Piazza couldn't remember exactly what happened, and The Moustache hasn't been seen since some time Friday night. Mike Piazza said he would temporarily resume his role as head coach until such time as The Moustache returns. Mike Piazza has always been such a stand up guy, except when he's passed out drunk on the bathroom vanity covered in what he said was his own facial hair trimmings.

More road bike shit tomorrow, and until I feel like writing about something else that's all you'll get.