Friday, August 03, 2007

A New Addition

We have (another) new addition to our bike family. I just got a LeMond Poprad cyclocross bike. It is the 2008 model, not even available yet (nor, is there even a picture on the internet that I have found, so this is perhaps the first EVER photo of it for public viewing).

It will be my commuter bike for my new job, but also, I will use it for riding single-track, and perhaps do a cyclocross race or two.

How?


Many of you are probably wondering... how did I convince MVG that I needed a new bike? Well, a good question. I used three tactics as outlined below.

Tactic 1: Fair Trade


First, I used a new tactic, one that I haven't employed before, and one that goes against the now famous "n+1" formula*. The tactic I used was "trade in". That's right, I traded in a bike (my old Trek 2100) and used that credit towards this beauty.

Tactic 2: Togetherness


Before the cross bike, I could ride single track with my Klein Attitude mountain bike, but Sheila had no bike to ride with me. She is now able to "try out" mountain biking on my Klein while I ride the LeMond, and we can do it together. Once she falls in love with mountain biking, she will then get her very own (properly fit) mountain bike.... so the "n+1" will again take effect.

Tactic 3: Safety


With my new job, and the prospect that we will be moving again to a place within riding distance of work, I noted that the road is very busy that leads to my new employer. FORTUNATELY, there is a 'rail trail' next to the road made of crushed limestone. SADLY, this isn't something I could ride my Bianchi on, so I would have to ride on the road, as unsafe as that might seem.... but wait, WHAT if I got a bike that I COULD ride on the trail... one that offered the ability to ride safely, but also could ride on trails AND the road when needed.

Bonus Tactic: Cat


This one only occurred after the fact, but our cat Pepper LOVES new things, so it is only natural that we need to get her new things. Here she is with the new bike.



n+1 formula: This isn't my formula, but was passed on to me, and is for all cyclists to use. The formula (more of a law really) states that n is the number of bikes your currently have, and n+1 is the amount of bikes you need... when you get a new bike, you start fresh with a new n (which has been incremented with the addition of your latest bike).