My wife is the greatest. Even though she refuses to send pictures on a regular basis, she is a nice person. We have been married for 12 years and I can honestly say that during that time we have only had two arguments, one was the new big t.v. which I didn’t want. The other was about a fishing trip that she said I could go on but then the day before she said she needed the truck. Even after a month of daily remainders, she still forgot. But she has gotten much better; sometimes she even calls people and tells them that I need to go fishing before I drive her insane. Another neat thing about my wife is that she supports my bike habit even though a meth or crack habit would be cheaper.

It has become a tradition that whenever I reach a milestone in life I get to buy a bike. My Iraq bike is the Salsa Las Cruces.



The next bike I purchase is what I like to call the "I am pretty much signing on for another crap tour overseas.” The first ever Army Officer Captains Retention Incentive bonus purchased the Salsa El Mariachi 29er. I even allowed Emily to purchase a new furnace for the house, mainly so the tire pressure would remain consistent due to temperature changes.

I am not sure why I bought the Basso other than the fact I like it. I call it "the Mistress" which of course Emily dislikes due to the fact that I tell people I am going to go spend some quality time with my "Mistress." I do not know what the big deal is but my wife is #1 in my world.

As soon as I arrived in Pakistan I began shopping for the “Pakistan” bike. I called my local bike shop and he had just the bike for me, the 2011 Giant Anthem X 29er.

He basically said that it would be a great bike for a guy my size (big). Which is basically saying that “based on your size you probably ride like a hippo does ballet, you just hit everything in your way.” Although he has never ridden with me this is true.

Getting back to my nice wife, one day as we spoke on the phone she asked me where I was going to put the fourth bike. We do not have a garage, two are hanging on the wall in the family room, one is in the basement with her bike. It is a reasonable question. My first thought was move kid number four into kid number one’s room and create the BIKE ROOM. I was informed that would not be an option. I then suggested that we get rid of the washer and dryer, further suggesting that Emily go the laundry mat. She did not buy my efficiency argument which basically suggested that she could do 10 loads in the time it takes to do one. I am just trying to help.

This is where it gets really great. She said "maybe if we move the Basso over we can make room on the wall for the new one." She is the greatest wife ever!