Bike Girl once made a post in which she said she always has N bikes, where the number of bikes she wants equals N+1.

I've been feeling that a lot lately.

I have one bicycle. My old Chicago Schwinn Sprint is a die hard, and a work horse, and pack mule. It has soul but it's not a soldier, and it is awesome.

Also, I love this craigslist find so much, way much more than the blue Motobecane I bought in Mission Beach, San Diego, and which was too small for me, and infinitely more than the little red mountain bike that I got at K-Mart, which was even smaller than that.

I feel like my bicycling experience has to date consisted of buying larger and larger bicycles, and then realizing, "Oh my god, how have I been riding that tiny thing for so long?"

It is for exactly that reason that I have been trying to get down to my LBS for the last week or three, to test ride their larger models.

But anyway. I have N bicycles, and the number of bicycles I think I need is AT LEAST equal to N+1.

More likely N+2, at least.

I think I need a mountain bike to better navigate the worse Denver weather, and I think I need a fixed gear single speed, because, still, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the simplest, most straightforward manifestation of the bicycle might just be the best.

And then, to allow for N+3, I'm just obsessed with and in love with utility bikes.

Here are the manufacturers I'm drooling over currently.

1. Worksman Cycles -- The supreme queen, and -- according to the NPR story I heard on them -- the oldest bicycle manufacturer in the nation. They were the original creators of the ice cream and hot dog cart. Their trikes are drool worthy, but their bikes are hard to justify NOT buying.

2. Lightfoot Cycles -- These guys are awesome because they sell great trikes and bikes, and because they have created a kit that'll turn a 26" bike into a serious, heavy load bearing trike. In the same way that Xtracycle will turn a 26" bike into a serious, heavy load bearing extended wheel base bike. Sweet!

3. Bilenkey -- Just found out about these guys today, but they seem pretty righteous.

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So here's the thing. I don't haul 50 - 100 lbs worth of crap to work each day. I do haul groceries every now and then. But those are managed well enough with my Cannondale trailer. I don't need these utility bikes.

But Oh My God I want one.

It's the same thing that makes Black Sheep Cycle's S-Cargo frame amazingly attractive. Attractive in the same way that Surly's Big Dummy frame is incredibly stupendous. And stupendously incredible.

Ultimately though, folks, what's happening here is that I'm having a love affair with up to three different types of bikes, while trying to convince myself that it is utter folly to have more than two.

We'll see how this works out.