Ponderings...

What bike to I want?
Remember that old guy driving a nice corvette in your youthful years? You hated him right? ... Old Geezer shouldn't be in a nice car like that. Go get a Cadillac all ready!
When I am old I want that sports car I couldn't afford in my youth. Translation:
I want a "go fast" bike to meet my needs of relaxed "stop and smell the roses" type riding. It's not a race. I'm going to stop and take pictures and enjoy pretty scenery. Which means I'm also carrying some camera gear (or a lot of gear) and maybe a jacket or some walking shoes. And some food. Always there is food. So it's gonna have baggage ... and racks to hang it on. But when I'm not taking pictures, enjoying the scenery, munching on goodies, I'll be riding. And when I ride I might want to go fast, Climb a big hill, take on the headwind. That's when I want responsive and fast. That lovely dutch bicycle just ain't gonna cut it in that moment. (and that's how long my racing lasts ... moments.)
So I want a nimble, responsive bike, but I want to attach racks and fenders. I might want to add fatter tires for those occasional gravel roads that turn up and beg to be explored.
I like light. I have tentative carbon fiber lust. (I have to actually ride a carbon fiber road bike before I commit to full on lust.) Now I've ridden aluminum bikes and steel bikes. Lighter bikes and heavier bikes, and I know that, once rolling, heavier keeps up just fine (with in reason) with the type of riding I do. It's just hard to resist that "lightweight", carbon draw, you know? And yes, I get it ... steel doesn't have to be heavy, but steel in my price range will be heavy. S3 is out of my price point.
My singular reason to ride faster is only so I can add more mileage into my day. It's not about racing, it's about mileage and endurance. I don't want to run out of day before I run out of road. And frankly, much of the time I don't even plan to ride mucho miles. Sometimes it's about a brief little 30 miler at a relaxed pace, but I want to be strong enough to enjoy it ... not suffer through it. These are to sole reasons to increase speed and/or endurance in my riding.
And I want a do it all bike so I don't have to pack ten bikes on any vacation I venture on.

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