I've been looking into the
Olympus Pen e-pl1 - it's not a DSLR, but a micro four-thirds camera, it's almost like a "point and shoot DSLR" (almost...), it has the options of interchangeable lenses, better picture quality than most point & shoots, and it comes close to some DSLRs, but with a much smaller form-factor.
I'm not really a photography buff so maybe someone that is could fill in a bit more, but looks solid from what I can tell, and have heard a few people recommend it. Was at the store the other day looking at it, and it's small enough that I could see being able to take it out on rides and not be much of an issue