It's inevitable. You buy an entry-level bike for a couple hundred dollars and just start riding the thing, not really worrying about or paying attention to the details. Then, over a period of months and years, you slowly start to change. You notice everyone around you and what they are wearing, and how they are riding. Suddenly, your entry-level bike is no longer cutting it, and so it begins.
I've seen this guy at the Veloway (that I mentally refer to as "Chief") go through that change. At first he showed up riding an old clunker of what we used to call a "ten speed" or "English racer". I make this distinction to differentiate between that 1978-Sears-&-Roebuck-bike-rusting-in-the-corner-of-your-garage, and from what I'd call a real "road bike". So, Chief would show up dressed in blue jeans, backwards ball cap and t-shirt on his ten speed and chug out some laps around the Veloway. Eventually the blue jeans gave way to some baggy shorts. Next, the backwards ball cap was replaced by a helmet. The t-shirt turned into an "athletic shirt", not exactly a bike jersey. Yet. And, lo and behold, the last time I saw him I could have sworn he was on a new bike. A real road bike, complete with clipless pedals and shoes. I'm just waiting for the day he shows up in spandex. I'm taking bets that it'll be less than a month. We'll see...
Photo Credit: Asterix611
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