A Dark Trek

The black Trek Domane showed up when I was ready to get serious.

Not serious in a racing sense — I wasn't chasing KOMs or training for crits. Serious about structured training. About actually understanding what my body could do if I applied some science to the suffering.

The Domane is an alloy endurance road bike. Mine came with Shimano 105, the 12-speed mechanical version. In the world of groupsets, 105 is the sweet spot — race-proven performance without the wallet-destroying price tag of Ultegra or Dura-Ace. Twelve speeds means tighter gear ratios, which means you're never hunting for that perfect cadence. It just exists, one click away.

But the real evolution wasn't the bike. It was what went under it.

I upgraded to a Tacx Neo 2T smart trainer. If my old mechanical Garmin trainer was a dumbbell, the Neo 2T is a fully equipped gym. Direct drive. Accurate power measurement. Road feel simulation that actually makes indoor riding bearable. Pair that with Zwift and suddenly training has structure.

Zwift changed everything. Those 20-minute sessions on the orange bike? They became proper workouts — intervals, threshold efforts, recovery spins. The gamification keeps you honest. The data keeps you accountable. And the structured training plans? They're built on exercise physiology, not guesswork.

This is the trajectory: from watching YouTube on a mechanical trainer to following a periodized training plan on a smart trainer, surrounded by virtual cyclists from around the world. From "I should probably exercise" to "What's my FTP and how do I improve it?"

The Domane — matte black, almost invisible in a dim room — became my vehicle for this transformation. It doesn't care about the darkness outside. It thrives in it.

That's the journey from 2019 to now. Three bikes. Three stages of evolution. Orange to green to black. From getting back on the bike to riding with purpose.

It started with change. It led to something more.