And I mean, rich, like in wealthy/money rich, I’d do a lot of different things. I’d buy up a bunch of farmland all over the world, and then only eat the food that I grow for myself. I’d have fresh fruits all over my house, at arm’s length, and be able to snack on them on a whim. I’d have fresh juice at every meal, plus snacks.

Of course, I’d buy a personal jet. That would be on par with the fresh fruit. There is nothing more luxurious than being able to travel anywhere you want at anytime you feel the need. I’d fly my friends all over the world to ride in cool places, to see great things and experiences.

I’d also have a whole group of guys around at all times, to train whenever, where ever I want. Wouldn’t it be cool if on any given day, you could go out and ride at race pace for 2 hours in a group of 20? Since I”m not rich, I’d like to get that job, training friend of the rich guy. Is there such a job?

And I’d have my own personal dentist that only worked on me and my friends.

I’d still ride a titanium frame, but would only ride on sewups. Screw the clinchers. Nice, new, Vittoria tubulars on all rides. Actually, everyone that rode with me would be on Vittorias.

If I was really rich, all my friends would be pretty rich. There would not be much downside to helping all my lifelong friends out. Plus, it would give them the ability to hang out with me more.

But, on the flip side, I’ve had the opportunity the last few years to hang out with a few very rich people. And let me tell you, by observation, it ain’t all that great. There are a million different people trying to get a piece of you at all times. You have to do a ton of things that you are not the least bit interested in. And you seem to have to hang out with a bunch of other people that are phony, which makes you kind of phony because of it.

You don’t really have control of your day, because someone else control it. Or circumstance controls it, I’m not sure, but it isn’t yours.

On top of that, you don’t really know who to trust, not that you always did before you had a lot of money. But the untrustworthy people tend to come out of the woodwork as soon as there is a crazy amount of money involved.

Now that I think about it, the fruit and jet aren’t worth the downsides. I’ll just stay as I am.

I was riding along 29th street the other day, here in Topeka. It is a 4 lane street that is fairly busy. I was going over to Bill’s house to ride. I was thinking about cars passing me and how they were giving me a fairly wide berth, which was nice.

For some reason I realized that I thought that the cars recognize that I’m a pretty serious cyclist and that they need to pay more attention and treat me differenty. I really believed that. When I realized that I thought that, I wanted to slap myself and say get real.

I don’t have any idea how I came up with the mindset that drivers of automobiles would be able to recognize a good rider from Joe Blow, but for some reason I just assumed they did and that is how I’ve always thought.

I must of been out of my mind when I subconsciously came up with this notion, but whatever the reason, it is completely wrong.

I’m pretty sure that nearly all drivers don’t see me any different that the guy that is riding down the street, wearing army boots, on a $20 MTB, that he got at a garage sale. And the reason he is riding the bike is because he lost his license from DUI’s.

I, on the other hand, can look at a rider and pretty much tell you, within few seconds, what caliber of rider he/or she is. For sure if I can watch them corner or stand up and climb. Most of us can. But, assuming that the average citizen can do that is just insane.

What is so surprising about this is just my personal observation of my thought process, or lack of. I hope this is an isolated instance and that I don’t have other delusional beliefs floating around in there.