A bike I feel sorry for........

......no no, it's not necessarily this Specialized Tarmac shown above - I love those bikes. No, what I'm talking about are bikes I see in classified ads now and again, usually online, or being sold on one of the numerous e-mail lists. It usually goes something like this:

FOR SALE
2007 Specialized Tarmac
Full Dura Ace Gruppo
Mavic Ksyrium ES Wheels
Michelin Pro Race 3 Tires
Never ridden in the rain, never raced, never crashed, never fallen over, less than 500 miles on it - everything in top working order and almost brand new.
$2,500 firm

Geesh - I feel sorry for this bike. Never ridden in the rain? Never raced? Never crashed or fallen over? Less than 500 miles on it??? Oh man, what a waste. I hope the new owner lets this bike live.

I mean, heck, it's why we get bikes like the one pictured above - to ride the heck out of it! We want to ride it - everywhere - at night, in the rain, race it, maybe have a spill or two because we're ALWAYS riding it! Your body likes being out on the bike......so does your mind.......and, believe it or not, I think your bike does too!

Here's what I wanna see:

FOR SALE
2007 Specialized Tarmac
Full Dura Ace Gruppo
Mavic Ksyrium ES Wheels
Michelin Pro Race 3 Tires
Um......now for the fine print.......this bike has been ridden thousands upon thousands of miles this past year. It's been ridden in the rain enough to be considered part-boat.........it's been raced more times than I can even count - in short, I have raced the hell out of this bike........it's been on hundreds of miles of cruddy roads and even off-road for training and racing........it's been crashed in 2 Criteriums and one training crash........used extensively for commuting to and from work each day in all types of weather. The bike has been maintained as well as a work-horse bike can be maintained by myself and my trusty local bike shop.
$1000 FIRM

Yeah, now there's a bike that is living - or lived - a happy life. All the adventures and fun that bike had with this owner - truly good memories. Yep, I don't feel sorry for this bike.......unless, of course, its new owner lets it collect dust in the garage.