Past bikes - bikes #7 and #8

My biggest (and only) bikeless gap was between about 1997 and 1998.

In 1998 I got a fancy job and wanted to commute to work. So I bought a Diamond Back road bike. I remember knowing nothing about a road bike, but I think I felt some brand loyalty to Diamond Back, which I look at now as pretty misguided: both the concept of brand loyalty, and especially to a bike like Diamond Back.

Anyway. It was $400. It sucked. I think I commuted to work on it twice. It was uncomfortable in all ways, had tiny narrow wheels, and I can't remember anything good about it.

Then it sat until I sold it a year or so later when I bought Bike #8: a Giant mountain bike. With shocks.

This bike ruined me for shocks for years and years. What a miserable turd.

It sat for a year or two in my garage as I gained tons of weight and stressed out at work.

By the time I started really riding it, I weighed about 300 pounds. I rode it every morning at 5:30 am for about 6 months. In my memory, it seemed like it was pissing down rain every single morning. I really enjoyed these rides in the dark rain. As sort of miserable as they were, they reminded me why I dug riding bikes and being outside and how stupid my daily life had become: all cooped up in my car ride to my office at work. These early morning rides slowly transformed me into a cyclist. At some point, on one of these early morning rides, I decided to start commuting the 25 or so miles to work so that I could attempt a cross-state tour.

That's what led to Bike #9....