BikinginLA

I’ve spent the last few weeks immersed in bike porn.

Bicycling Magazine’s annual Buyer’s Guide has been on my desk, tempting me to spend a few minutes — or a few hours — fantasizing about one bike or another. Which, as a happily married man, is the about only type of fantasy I’m allowed these days.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with my bike.

But there’s always something a little faster, a little smoother, a little crisper cornering, a little cooler. And I find myself thinking that maybe if I just had a couple good months, I might just be able to swing something that would make me the envy of every Lycra-clad rider I leave gasping in my dust.

But then my aging laptop gave one gasp, and collapsed into nothing more than a very expensive titanium paperweight.

Facing a couple of client deadlines that couldn’t be pushed back, I had no choice but to rush out and get a new one, so I could be back to work later that day.

Since my computer’s slow, steady decline had kept me from upgrading for some time, it turned out that that my printer and scanner were now obsolete, no longer compatible with the new operating system. Along with a few vital programs that had to be updated before I could use them, or the files I’d created with them.

So that few hours to get up and running stretched out for the better part of a week — though I did at least manage to get my work done.

But my priorities suddenly shifted to finding a way to pay off my still-sizzling credit cards. And that dream bike became a dream deferred, at least for this year.

On the other hand, amid all the work and technical issues, I did manage to get out for one good ride last week, and savor the near-perfect spring weather.

And my bike, if not quite as cool as some that I passed — or as a few that somehow managed to pass me — still acquitted itself quite nicely.

America’s 18-year old cycling phenom wins his first world championship, while New York cyclists hold their own late-night, brakeless fixie crit. Bicycling presents the best gear for cyclists on a budget. A rider-less bike causes a traffic tie-up on the 10 near Palm Springs. Police say a Topeka cyclist had the right-of-way, but he’s still in critical condition in a local hospital. What do you want to bet it wasn’t their bike? And finally, if you wrote something brilliant recently and wondered why I didn’t link to it, please forgive me — all my bookmarks are lost somewhere deep inside a dead laptop.