Some great looking bikes and inspiring stories in this thread! I am more of bike touring guy than a road racer but I do appreciate looking at all the high end bikes. I recently bought a very nice touring bike, custom powder-coated to match my nice pickup truck, and some high-end additions. Some young punk (actually my son-in-law that I do actually love) asked me why I spent that much of my hard-earned retirement money on a bicycle, I simply answered "because I can!"
Maybe he thought I was leaving money to my kids when I die . . . fat chance!