I can sympathize with John S as I have a similar amount and the same problem as he when I see a bike. I have been on the road to recovery but it is slow and painful. With 3 swap meets over the next three Sundays it is going to be hard to keep my hands in my pockets. Still I am trying on the other end to slowly part with some old friends. I am still on average taking one in when I release one to the world. My goal is to get to the point where the ratio is 2 out for every 1 in. I figure in that way I should be down to a reasonable sum in about 30 years.
To think that at one time I only had 1 bike that made me happy. I remember lamenting that I would never be able to afford much more. Although my financial situation improved my skill at acquiring bikes really outpaced the financial aspect some time ago. I began by picking up discarded bikes, fixing them up and selling them to friends, neighbors and at fleas. Soon I built up enough funds for another good bike, then I was hooked. I could use the hobby to support the hobby. My collection went from many low end bikes to mid range bikes and now I find myself with some real nice items. Two events really put me over the top. One was the creation of eBay and the web and the other was my luck in buying out a lot of stock from bike shops that were closing locally. Together these events allow me to swim with the moderate size fish.
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ