<p>@Cardinal Fang - H and I are going on bike ride, so I just took my bike out for him to put air in tires and it’s a Raleigh not a Schwinn. Shows how much attention I pay to bikes - couldn’t even get the brand right. 
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<p>CF, I just came from an hour long bike ride with H. We have a tandem bike. I couldn’t tell you the brand if my life depended on it, nor could I talk about any feature. It’s a tandem bike. It has 2 seats. 2 sets of handlebars and 3 tires. The end! </p>
<p>And I just ate a Hershey bar after the talk about chocolate. Tasted good!</p>
<p>"have a feeling that if someone bought a new Valentino just for the Meow Cat Gala and no other event, or a new $10,000 racing bike just for a charity ride and no other event, people might be silently wondering why the money wasn’t donated directly to the charity instead of being used for such an over-the-top purchase. "</p>
<p>There is a poster on CC whose son did the Ironman in Hawaii this past year. I don’t know the specific cost of the equipment, but I’m sure it was quite expensive with the specific bikes, repairs, specialized equipment, not to mention the cost of trainers / coaches to prep for these events. And of course the Ironman is just for personal glory. But so what? If people enjoy it and can afford, why do I need to question whether they “should” have donated to charity? By that same token none of us here should even host or go to weddings, just use a JOP and donate the rest to charity. Heck, don’t buy a computer either - you could use the public library and donate the money to charity. </p>
<h1>338 - CF, not always. Returns are a nuisance, but I figured out the online shopping to the point of pain minimization. There is a UPS store on my way to work, and the PO is not far, either. I steer clear of retailers who use FedEx returns, since it is less convenient, unless I can dump the returns at the mall where I go for a haircut. Also, I know what would work for my body type and tend to stick with those makers/styles. I’m usually right about 70% of the time. The big bonus in online shopping is that I can try stuff on without being rushed or upsold by a pushy sales person, and my bedroom mirror is more reflective of what I look like in real life than those magic store dressing room mirrors that make me look slimmer and taller than I really am. ;)</h1>
<p>Re Valentino. When I was a young married twenty something, I was attending a wedding in Traverse City MI. Knowing that I didn’t have a lot of disposable income, my MIL let me shop in her closet. She had a Valentino day dress, still with tags on, that she graciously let me borrow. It was red boucle on top and a red and white dotted silk skirt with a little peplum ruffle. It was gorgeous and I had great fun wearing it. My MIL was the wife of a very successful man. Why was her purchase of a V dress “over the top”? It wasn’t like it took food from anyone’s mouth. </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s any more over the top than having 8 bikes.</p>
<p>I don’t see doing the Ironman as being equivalent to doing some random charity ride. When I did the Ironman, I trained for a year for it. I rode many hundreds of training miles, and certainly wanted the right bike.</p>
<p>“I don’t see doing the Ironman as being equivalent to doing some random charity ride”</p>
<p>I agree. </p>
<p>I don’t see one’s child’s wedding as just another wedding. It’s a very, very, very special event. </p>
<p>Yeah, but if someone was doing the Ironman and they already had a good bike that they used in other triathlons, I wouldn’t say they had to buy a new bike. I’d understand if they did buy a new bike, but I wouldn’t say they ought to buy a new bike if they had one that worked for them.</p>
<p>^ So I assume you didn’t buy a new bike for the Ironman since you already own a whole lot? </p>
<p>No, I didn’t buy a new bike. And I didn’t have a whole lot of bikes when I did the Ironman, which was when I was in my 20s.</p>
<p>Oh… I thought (somehow) that you had done it quite recently. And was busy being VERY impressed. Mind you, i am still impressed. But I somehow thought this was very recent. :)</p>
<p>I still ride a lot. In the last ten years I’ve ridden across the US west to east, I’ve ridden from Portland to Montana and up through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper, and I’ve ridden from the Mexican border to the Canadian border via the Sierra and the Cascades. </p>
<p>Plus, next summer if all goes well, the Great Divide! Banff to the Mexican border, on dirt, along the Continental Divide. I’m not so sure if that will work out; it’s a considerable challenge.</p>
<p>And you have 8 bikes in your collection? Why so many? I would think 1 or 2 would be all that was necessary. 
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<p>A extralong cargo bike for shopping and lugging, a touring bike for touring on the road, a mountain bike, a folding bike for travel that packs into a suitcase, a road bike for long rides and club rides, and a utility bike for transportation. Yeah, I really do ride all six of them.</p>
<p>Plus two bikes I don’t use and should really get rid of.</p>
<p>The MOmyG wore the same dress to the rehearsal dinner for my BIL’s wedding and ours about 11 months apart. She did ask and I assured her I did not mind. However, I still cannot bear to display the group wedding picture of all of us with my SIL in her white “leaving the reception” dress. It makes my wedding gown look yellow/dingy in comparison due to differences in fabric and is not flattering to either of us. We did not discuss it in advance but I am guessing that since I encouraged my MIL she was the one that told my SIL it would be OK. Color does matter for pictures. </p>
<p>CF, but you really don’t need all of those. I’m sure you could get away with a few fewer bikes. </p>
<p>I absolutely could get by with fewer bikes. No doubt. I could get by with just the touring bike and no other bike.</p>
<p>I’m sure you could but it’s more fun having all those different bikes to ride, no? </p>
<p>If intparent can’t understand my buying a few extra black pants and black cardigans when I already had serviceable ones, I can’t imagine she’d approve of 8 bikes. I bet 7 extra bikes cost a heck of lot more than a few cardigans and certainly more than $400. And yes, I’m being snarky because I don’t get the double standard. </p>