N+1 is burning a hole in my pocket!

[zoom-zoom]

Still needs to fit.

Which is why I'll stick with a 26er for a while longer. That's probably the best option until I get more comfortable riding twisty single-track, anyhow. 29ers take a bit more skill to maneuver around tight turns. As a noob I'm probably better off not jumping into more bike than my skills can handle.

I talked to my sister and told her that we just don't see any feasible way to afford $1000 for a trip that doesn't include my DH and DS. I pointed out that my car is making noises that I've been ignoring, in hopes that it's nothing (I suspect it's a loose shield underneath, but this car has been a money-pit for the past 25k miles, so I'm not holding my breath that it's anything so minor). Heck, if the car ends up needing major work then the bike is out of the question anyhow.

MTA: I should add that I could not get a read from her reaction, at all. She was, perhaps, a bit subdued for the remainder of the phone conversation, but she's always been REALLY good at covering emotion, so I don't know how she's really feeling about things.

If/when I do get the bike I won't be announcing it on FB (which will seriously take all of my will. Perhaps I will try making a custom group of my runner/cyclist friends who will see the update when it happens).

Today DS went out on "my" bike, again, just tooling around the 'hood, since we took his flat pedals off of his CX bike so that he could ride my mtn. bike the other night and never got around to swapping them back on. I think it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to be doing a lot more off-road riding VERY soon. He's very comfortable with the beefy little bike that weighs half as much as he does, heh. I think I may have lost "my" bike for good, at this rate.