"moving the goalposts"...Hebe the wise one...as with all new hobbies, interests and passions it "evolves." First is the thrill and freedom of getting on a two wheeled transportation vehicle and transporting yourself around and mastering the skills needed to do it with ease and like it's second nature, just plain getting comfortable and confident with a bike. In the beginning the learning how to use it, the feeling of pride by accomplishing it, the joy itself of riding is the main thing. And while in that phase a person thinks of all the things they can do with their new found hobby, then practicality enters and a clearer picture emerges. This can take a few weeks or months, each person is different, sometimes even longer.

"To answer your question did anyone else start out with one kind of riding and change their mind?" Yes, then no, then yes again. The style of bike I have is the style of bike I want (in the foreseeable future). I like the nostalgic townie look and I live in a small town and love to run simple errands with it. Initially I loved the ability to leave my car home, hop on the bike and go exploring neighborhoods with a new level of intimacy that only a bike can provide. Riding consisted of sidewalks, paved side streets and a little bit of gravel roads. As ability and capacity grew the riding routes became larger until I found myself on roads with high traffic and speed volumes.

I discovered that I don't need to "only ride where I can get from home" and it's just as fun to cart the bike by car to different areas and new riding paths. I found that I really don't like road riding (now anyway) but I do like paved and non paved trails. I never thought that I would transport my bike but now I am as likely to transport as not.

Next week I am riding in my first organized tour and chose a short route of 28 miles. The tour offers 6, 10, 28, 38 and 64 mile rides. We'll see if that changes my wants and desires yet again!