The S-Works

This is a post is all about the S-Works.

This bike gets a lot of attention. It is to other cyclists as a baby or small puppy is to girls. Everywhere I go, people ask me about it. The bike shop. The office. When its on my car, I get nods in traffic. When I'm on the road, people either want to tell me how beautiful it is, or they want to race me.

Having this bike is like having a trophy wife. Very expensive to maintain, hard to satisfy, and all anyone ever wants to talk about.

It only has one speed: fast.

I've only ever seen two others on the road. One as I was passing it, and one as it was passing me.

If I want to just "go for a cruise" I have to feign sickness or injury. Because if people see me going 16 with a bike like that, there needs to be a good reason.

Is it very expensive? Yes. But I drive an 8-year-old Honda Civic with 110,000 miles and yellow headlamps. And yes, my priorities are straight. It's just too bad I can't take my girlfriend to the movies on my bicycle.

It is the best training tool I have. Because in a group ride, I will go an extra 10% just to make sure others feel I'm worthy of having it. Hard-core racers love nothing else than ripping your carbon-whatever apart on a ten-year-old Peugeot. But here's a little secret: In ten years, my S-Works is going to be the equivalent of that Peugeot.

And like the bike, I plan on my body getting better with age.

I feel like one of those crazy, lucky people that, back in 1970, decided to go for the Hemi upgrade on their lime green Barricuda.

But unlike a classic muscle car, I plan on putting as many miles on it possible.