Well, so much for spinning away the evening on the trainer. Between soccer, supper, dishes, Sparks, clean up and bedtime my spinning time was more like listening to screaming time.  If I could harness the energy of just one of my children, I could power a small city.

As I drove idled home this evening, stuck in Deerfoot’s rush-hour bumper-to-bumper crawl, I couldn’t help but notice that the average speed reported by my decrepit classic BMW’s trip computer was slightly lower than a decent bicycle commute.  I don’t see it happening this season, but I really must get geared up for the spring rains if I’m going to enjoy the full riding season Calgary offers.  I don’t see myself being one of those hearty few plowing away in the snow but…

I’ve previously pontificated on the pitfalls of never and this season I’m finding a few more I’d never do that positions falling by the wayside.  I said I wouldn’t be one of those Lycra-wearing riders, especially on a commute.  Wrong.  I’ll never wear Lycra bib shorts.  Wrong.  I’ll especially never wear Lycra bib shorts on a commute.  Wrong wrong wrong.  Point of fact – my (current) favourite cycling attire are my Shamu shorts, Rev. Duex.  I wear a shirt with them only because it’s cold and because really, nobody wants to see that, including me.  Can’t say I’ll never try it mind you.

One of the other things I thought I’d never do:  spend big money on a bicycle.  Let’s be honest, in the realm of bicycle performance, the present and likely always, limiting factor of my performance is not going to be the bicycle.  Building up a feather-weight Cervelo R5ca $10,000 frame would be akin to buying a Porsche GT2 RS so I could idle to and from work in first gear, nose-to-bumper.  Even worse, unlike the Porsche, the Cervelo doesn’t come with a matching engine.  The engine would be the same one currently found in the Rescue Bike – yours truly.  That’d be like putting the old worn out Previa engine in the Porsche.

My foolishness has boundaries.  Like the Cervelo S5.  Mamma – what a gorgeous bicycle, and from a Canadian company.  I know I know, Previa engine and all that, but I don’t care.  You know who I blame though?  Thomas.  Now Thomas doesn’t ride a Cervelo, nor does the shop he races under sell them, but it’s not just the bike.  Sure, the bike is a work of art but it was Thomas’ little introduction to speed the other day that cast the bait.  After our brief sprint – which was both over all together too fast and so painful I wanted to retch – he said “yeah, that’s what we do until we get to the sprint“, and at that moment, I wanted to do that too.  Speed, it’s not like a drug, it is the drug.  The drug.

Oh sure, I have a number of other things to do before I go out plonking down $4000 on a bicycle with a drivetrain geared so tall I can’t climb my own driveway with it.  Building up some power for one.  Shedding some load for another.  Check it – a rough calculation for me to ride at 40km/h on flat ground requires an output of 363 watts.  If I were to lose say 10 pounds of bicycle and another 20 pounds of rider, that factor falls…wait a minute.  This is entirely too nerdy.  This is not a formula-laden, techie blog – I’m not qualified to talk about that.  Suffice it to say, I have managed to convince myself that it is a good idea to buy a faster bike – something else I said I’d never do.  I also said I wouldn’t buy a bike without disc brakes…

So what does it all mean?  That despite all knowledge and logical conclusions, a beautiful work of art is irrationally attractive.  That ego and ignorance will lead you into dead ends where the only exit requires eating one’s words.  That despite one’s self-delusions of your rationality, you are still prone to irrational decisions.  Not to delve too far back into the nerdy side of things, but there’s a scientific basis for this conclusion.  Studies on people who have suffered trauma to their emotional centers in the brain, but who are functioning at 100% elsewhere, can not make a decision.  There’s no such thing as a purely logical decision as people without emotions literally can’t decide.  So what does that  mean?  That having a Cervelo in the stable makes sense!  Yay science!

The 2012 Cervelo S5. A perfect choice.