Plodding v. Glee

A faithful reader from Pittsburgh writes the following:

You write of your commute and your glee at using a somewhat lighter more efficient bike and i just yesterday had exactly the opposite sensation. i showed up at 550 am for a ride with 3 more novice riders. i hadnt really ridden for 5 wks due to whatever mysterious illness had gripped me. I showed up on my ancient mtn bike and spent the 20-25 mile ride trying desperately to hang with these mortals, who lead interesting lives and therefore neglect to put in the required time and effort to rise to the meager level of fitness required of a true pmvc member. I got in a much greater workout than i would have on my road bike as i was carrying at least 10 extra pounds and one always rides harder when faced with the humiliation of being dropped.

So i am thinking of saving the madone for only those rides that require its lightness and perhaps looking to buy a cheap , heavy single speed for my short solo rides within the city , or for use with more recreational riders...

I think we're talking here about the difference between knowing what's good for you (riding the heavier, fender-equipped bike when speed isn't a requirement) and really enjoying a ride ("glee"). I'm afraid that since that last post, two weeks ago, I've become quite partial to glee. A week ago I noticed that the old rear wheel on my commuter (dating back to my days in Pittsburgh in the late 1990s) was out of true. Monday morning before riding to work I quickly tried to fix it, but instead pulled one spoke so tight that it cracked the rim. (I think this rim was ready to die anyway). So for two days I got to ride a really stiff, nice-running bike to Amsterdam: my 2001 aluminum Klein Quantum Race. It's my back-up and winter bike, has a rear fender, and I use 25-wide Gatorskins on it, but if I had to, I would still enter a race on this bike. Yesterday I had my commuter back, with a brand-new rear wheel, and a new cassette and chain. Compared to the way the bike used to run, there was a big change (it pays to replace a chain and cassette from time to time, especially on a year-round commuter!), but compared to the Klein, the 28-wide tires felt as if they were glued to the road, and the 1992 carbon frame felt like butter. For the Klein's sake it's better not to commute on it, because it would take a beating on these rides. And it's probably good for me too, having to work a little harder. It's certainly been nice not to flat even once the whole year thanks to the heavy-duty commuter tires. The problem--I've figured out while writing this--is that most of my riding now comes in the form of these commutes. Most of my riding, in other words, is of the plodding kind. I think that's what I felt yesterday when I got back on the good old Trek. Now I'm not even sure anymore if it's really good for me, physically or mentally.