The Plus 1 Factor - You always need another bike

You can't have just one. It doesn't apply to just potato chips and I find bicycles to be much more satisfying for my appetite. Which brings me to the kitchen table, eating breakfast with my wife this morning and going over the race calendar for 2011. It's no easy task to figure out how to get me to as many races as possible while still taking care of the family.

I notice that there are time trials on the list and start wondering if I should invest in a time trial bike.  I have done some informal time trials on my standard bike and had a blast which has left me salivating for a bike that is up to the task.

Then I start thinking about my work with the Folsom High Cycling Team and looking ahead to the mountain bike race season, I again think that I need to get a new hard tail that is more suited for racing than my Turner 5 Spot. (My Turner is an awesome bike, it just isn't suited for the cross country racing in my area.)

As we finish plotting out the race calendar, I notice an open entry at the end of the team calendar for cyclocross.  So I start thinking of how cool it would be to continue the race season into the late fall and winter with cyclocross racing.  I haven't tried cyclocross yet, but it looks absolutely awesome.

We stopped by Bicycle Plus in Folsom today to check out bikes and they happened to have two bikes that I was looking at stacked on the same display rack.  On top, the Specialized CruX.  On the bottom, the Trek Superfly 29er from the Gary Fisher collection. I stood gazing at two of my three dream bikes -my son thoughtfully holding on to one of them for me so no one else would take it- when Leej (of Bicycles Plus) gave me a knowing nod and said, "Ah, it's the "Plus One Factor". You always need another bike."

Of course, we leave empty-handed (I'm still trying to figure out how to afford race fees, let alone the cost of a new bike!) but on the way home we stop to get gas and I hand two bucks to my wife and ask her to get a couple of lottery tickets.  Because hope never dies, and neither does the need for.... one...more...bike....