So, like everything else in this world, when is it ever enough? I have asked myself this question several times. I have been asked this questiong countless times! By my wife! I can tell you that it has not been until recently that I have started taking this more seriously.
I feel like I need to go to an AA meeting in this case we will call it WWA (Weight Weenies Annonomous). As mentioned above, it works just live everything else in life. We buy something. Use it, love it and then something breaks. So we upgrade the broken piece and move on. We now realize that the new part is better than some of the other parts, so we upgrade something else only to find out that because we upgraded that, we now need to upgrade something else because the new part doesn't work well with the older part. So we get something lighter while we are at it and the process continues. In some cases, we think we have it all only to find out that something new came out that is even lighter and now we are spending money twice on the same part. The cycle is nothing more than a slow boat ride to Hell!
I have been into bikes for years now, among other things. But the process is the same. I realize that I am weak when it comes to this subject. I like nice things and seem to think that I have to have the best to be the best. I know that is not true of course but it sure feels good to be on top. God has torn me down in the process this time though and things have gotten better. Not that I don't have a long ways to go mind you.
So here's the story. I always had a mountain bike (MTB) even when I was racing road bikes. It was something guys from my team and I would go out and do on our off weekends. Over time, I stopped racing but still had some bikes to play on. I decided to give the single speed thing a shot last year and really liked it but my bike frame flexed too much and the bike would not stay in gear. I decided that if I was going to give this a go that I would buy a dedicated SS bike. One thing led to another and I found myself without a road bike all together and only had my mtb. So I socked some money together and bought a SS bike. I then crossed over all my good parts from my normal MTB and off I went. I then decided that I wanted some nicer wheels as the ones that came on the bike were pretty heavy and fairly cheap. Then came a new fork (carbon fiber), some new brakes, new tires, new seat, handlebars... Before I knew it, I had replaced everything but the frame on the brand new bike and it had been less than 8 months! The only good thing that came out of this was that I took all my old top end stuff and built a bike for my wife. But the modding continued. I then started replacing items with even lighter parts. I became obscessed with getting the bike weight down to 20 lbs. I figured if I could get it down to that weight that I could then just buy a nicer frame and then have a super light weight bike in the 16lb range.
I can tell you that I hit the 20 lbs goal a few weeks ago. But the bottom dropped out on me a week or so before that. My wife started asking about my credit card that I swore I wasn't using. I was lieing! To my WIFE! Next to God, that is about the worst thing a husband can do! I'm an idiot for this. I realize that.
The odd thing about it all is that I believe it all happened for a reason. You see about a month ago, I really started drawing closer to God. I started reading the word on a regular basis (every day at 6am) and was actually ahead of schedule with my Bible study because of this. Things were going well in house and in our relationship. Everything seemed like it was coming together. Everything except that little secret I had been keeping.
I can honestly say that I am glad that it has come out in the open as I have a new perspective on the whole situation. I have a renewed faith in God and a clearer focus on my relationship with my wife and in getting out of debt. I know I have done none of this on my own (accept for digging the hole of course). God knows where I am weak and need help. He knows I was slipping in alot of areas. I may not have liked the way he stepped in to rescue me the bottom line is that he has done exactly that! I was sinking and he through me a life line! He has helped me to be honest with my wife. He has helped me to realize how fortunate I am to have all that I do. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, it is more than I will ever deserve!
So here I am recommitted and working hard to rebuild all that I lost along the way. We truely are fortunate to have such a caring God to call our own. One that loves us like a father but is always there to lend an ear like a best friend. Oh, how blessed we really are!
I feel like I need to go to an AA meeting in this case we will call it WWA (Weight Weenies Annonomous). As mentioned above, it works just live everything else in life. We buy something. Use it, love it and then something breaks. So we upgrade the broken piece and move on. We now realize that the new part is better than some of the other parts, so we upgrade something else only to find out that because we upgraded that, we now need to upgrade something else because the new part doesn't work well with the older part. So we get something lighter while we are at it and the process continues. In some cases, we think we have it all only to find out that something new came out that is even lighter and now we are spending money twice on the same part. The cycle is nothing more than a slow boat ride to Hell!
I have been into bikes for years now, among other things. But the process is the same. I realize that I am weak when it comes to this subject. I like nice things and seem to think that I have to have the best to be the best. I know that is not true of course but it sure feels good to be on top. God has torn me down in the process this time though and things have gotten better. Not that I don't have a long ways to go mind you.
So here's the story. I always had a mountain bike (MTB) even when I was racing road bikes. It was something guys from my team and I would go out and do on our off weekends. Over time, I stopped racing but still had some bikes to play on. I decided to give the single speed thing a shot last year and really liked it but my bike frame flexed too much and the bike would not stay in gear. I decided that if I was going to give this a go that I would buy a dedicated SS bike. One thing led to another and I found myself without a road bike all together and only had my mtb. So I socked some money together and bought a SS bike. I then crossed over all my good parts from my normal MTB and off I went. I then decided that I wanted some nicer wheels as the ones that came on the bike were pretty heavy and fairly cheap. Then came a new fork (carbon fiber), some new brakes, new tires, new seat, handlebars... Before I knew it, I had replaced everything but the frame on the brand new bike and it had been less than 8 months! The only good thing that came out of this was that I took all my old top end stuff and built a bike for my wife. But the modding continued. I then started replacing items with even lighter parts. I became obscessed with getting the bike weight down to 20 lbs. I figured if I could get it down to that weight that I could then just buy a nicer frame and then have a super light weight bike in the 16lb range.
I can tell you that I hit the 20 lbs goal a few weeks ago. But the bottom dropped out on me a week or so before that. My wife started asking about my credit card that I swore I wasn't using. I was lieing! To my WIFE! Next to God, that is about the worst thing a husband can do! I'm an idiot for this. I realize that.
The odd thing about it all is that I believe it all happened for a reason. You see about a month ago, I really started drawing closer to God. I started reading the word on a regular basis (every day at 6am) and was actually ahead of schedule with my Bible study because of this. Things were going well in house and in our relationship. Everything seemed like it was coming together. Everything except that little secret I had been keeping.
I can honestly say that I am glad that it has come out in the open as I have a new perspective on the whole situation. I have a renewed faith in God and a clearer focus on my relationship with my wife and in getting out of debt. I know I have done none of this on my own (accept for digging the hole of course). God knows where I am weak and need help. He knows I was slipping in alot of areas. I may not have liked the way he stepped in to rescue me the bottom line is that he has done exactly that! I was sinking and he through me a life line! He has helped me to be honest with my wife. He has helped me to realize how fortunate I am to have all that I do. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, it is more than I will ever deserve!
So here I am recommitted and working hard to rebuild all that I lost along the way. We truely are fortunate to have such a caring God to call our own. One that loves us like a father but is always there to lend an ear like a best friend. Oh, how blessed we really are!