I remember being young [maybe 8 ] and really wanting a bike. I remember often laying in bed, praying and praying for a bike. Finally on my 10th birthday I got my first bike.. never looking back. Short of my time in the service and disability..from that.. I have ridden. I like bikes enough.. that I took a job at a bike shop. I have been doing that for the last 28 years.
That first bike I rode and rode... and I liked to go fast. racing friends..on bikes.. racing friends on their mini bikes.. and even small motorcycles. Racing point to point on the road... out in the dirt.. and ovals we set up in parking lots.
A few bikes later.. in high school. I bought my first used car.. paying $100.. and my first used [real] race bike $paying $250. I then became a sanctioned racer.
The service and a some time after.. I did get back into biking.. and took my bike shop job. Any time traveling.. we had to go into any bike shop we passed. On my days off.. I would visit our neighboring "competing" shops.
If someone was having a problem with a repair.. I would help out.
Once at the shop.. the collection really started. There were so many I am not sure I could recall them all and the order. I started with a touring bike, basically because of the lower gears, so I could rehab my knees. [back then the only really easy way to get the low gears was with a tourer] Once rehabbed and getting stronger, I looked at racing again.
So more bikes followed.. road race bikes, a time trail bike.. a fixie.
Then mountain bikes came out. I must say at first I did not get it. I was so deep into my skinny tires.. I was not sure. It was my then boss, that got the first one. Not to long after I followed. Then a large number of mountain bikes followed. They were evolving considerably, and there was much to try.
Somewhere in there.. we got exposed to tandems. We have purchased 5 and still own 3. Our older road tandem became our sloppier weather bike, when we got our newest. 8 or so years ago we also had a custom off road tandem made.
Some of my numbers now.. are bikes I just did not sell. I have let some go.. but I do get attached. One.. as an example... hmm in the late 80's I bought a Serrota T-Max mountain bike. It was pre-suspension, but a sweet expensive bike. It sold for just under 2 grand back then. Today I could probably only get $100 or 2 out of it. I would hang it on my wall for that. But it does get used. It makes a perfect ice race bike. We stud up our tires and race on a hockey rink.
In addition to riding the rink. we ride on frozen snowmobile trails. When the conditions are good, it is some of the best riding I have done in my life. We have multiple sets of studded tires. A couple of pairs for trail riding.. depending on conditions. A set for road use... and of course our rink tires.
hmm we also purchase our vehicles based on hauling our bikes. I do not like to haul them outside the vehicle, on a rack. We even once owned a large 15 passenger van to haul our bikes. When gas got expensive, and traded it for a mini van. I can't fit as many bikes in it, but in general it works.