i am geting a road bike. i told myself last summer/fall that i would treat myself to one once i made it through my second wisconsin winter. and now the weather has warmed (some, it snowed HUGE flakes yesterday and is very chilly) and i'm ready to ride. itching to ride. plus i need to be able to keep up with paul and my lovely hybrid is just not cutting it.

the only problem is finding a bike. coming from portland i never gave much though to buying a bike. they're everywhere. lots of bike shops, garage sales, pawn shops, craigslist, etc. but here in madison, even though it was just ranked way high up on the list of bikable cities with a gold star rating by the league of american bicyclists (although portland got top honors), there aren't too many options. this is a small town (though many ppl from wisconsin would not agree).

since i am a shortie it has been hard to find a small road bike. 48cm or 50cm frame, with a max 76cm standover height (i figured this all out yesterday). i could buy one on clearance at rei, but i would prefer to buy a used bike. especially because buying one new would take at least three weeks to reach me.