Like the OP I gave up riding for little more than 10yrs and never realized how much I missed it until I starting riding again. It brings joy into my life in a way that the wife and kids can not. So, you can either ride and feel alive, or bungee jump, or sky dive, or PCP, or crack, or heroine...... Let "haters" know that it is YOUR life, not theirs. If they choose not to ride you're cool with that, and they should STFU I had a similar conversation with my mother when I purchased my current bike. After 20 minutes of listening to her tell me how I need to think of my wife and kids, I finally told her "so now that I'm grown up and not only don't want your advice, but don't need it, you want to tell me how to live my life? Tell you what mom, quit smoking and maybe, just maybe your argument might mean something. Until then, my life, my money, my business, so keep your comments to yourself or just don't bother calling any more." She chose to STFU, and then my older brother bought the same bike two weeks later.