One hundred days ago I bought my first nice bike (a.k.a. my first bike purchased from a bike shop and not a department store). What possessed me, aside from the thrill of learning that I’d passed my quals for the last time ever? Well, Joe and I had rented bikes to ride the Cades Cove loop in Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few weeks earlier, and, despite the absolute clunkers we rode and my abysmal performance as a rider, I’d had just enough fun to consider taking the plunge.