NOV 20, 2009 – 12:00AM

Man, I have the best wife in the world.

See, the other day, I bought a new-to-me bike.

I didn’t really need another bike. But, it was a bike I admired when it first came out, and I found a guy selling a gently used one for a song, and I convinced myself it would be the perfect back-up/bad-weather commuter.

So, I bought it, and as I was wheeling it into the garage, I actually considered putting it in the basement until I could come up with a cover story, er, um, until the timing was better to break the news to my lovely wife that our little family had grown.

Some guys hide their porn stash. Others, booze.

But ours is a relationship built on trust, so I parked my new ride with the rest of the family bikes, just feet from the driver’s-side window of my wise wife’s car.

And here’s where that awesome woman’s awesomeness comes in: She didn’t say a word! She didn’t grouse about how I didn’t need a new bike, didn’t complain that I was fiscally irresponsible. Not one word!

All along, I was prepared to justify my purchase.

I was going to explain how I’d put fenders on my new ride, and it would allow me to ride on those occasional days it’s too rainy or snowy for my usual fair-weather commuter.

Even at its pennies-on-the-dollar price, I’d have a hard time justifying it purely in financial terms.

But I was planning to explain to my generous wife — did I mention she’s a great mom, too? — how riding makes me a better husband and father. Generally, the more I ride, the happier I am. Plus, riding helps keep me healthy, which should keep me around longer, too.

And if that didn’t work, I was going to bring up that our anniversary is coming up — a week from today, even — and, well, the best gift she could get me would be to look the other way. Of course, she probably already got me something — she’s a wonderful, thoughtful gift-giver, by the way — months ago, but she’d get the message.

But my tremendous, exceptional, understanding, kind, precious wife made it so I didn’t need to explain my recent purchase.

Now that I think about it, though, I guess it’s possible she didn’t notice the fleet had grown by one. I mean, the garage is kind of crowded and all, and maybe I pushed the new ride a little farther into the mess than necessary, and possibly it wasn’t all that visible from her car seat after all, and it looks like maybe my son’s bike fell over onto my new steed, obscuring it just a bit.

So, dear, if in fact you didn’t see my new purchase, well, please refer to the first line of this blog. You really are the best.