The writing is on the wall mang. Go get a beater to mess around with, buy the best protective gear you can, and have a blast with fixing and learning about bikes until 2005 rolls around.


The only thing i see that may be a negative(one that could end your life) is that you go this route and end up trying really stupid stuff on your beater(cause after all it is the beater or training tool). Its not so much the trying new things out on the first bike but the complacency/ lack of respect/ lack of fear of the bike that comes with doing these things with wreckless abandonment.

If you never remember anything that anyone ever tells you about bikes--PLEASE--remember this: ALWAYS FEAR THE BIKE--this means always be ready for the bike to do something unexpected.