Well, I went to the bike shop last night. I was there a month ago and this time I got some kind of punk who seemed to have better things to do than deal with an overweight balding guy who wants to buy a bike. He kept trying to push me into a 7.2 and get me out the door. I did talk him into getting me a Cyclocross bike (cyclofit) and I was pretty impressed with it. I wasn't ready to commit to it, as I had never used drop handles before and the test ride wasn't that long.

He didn't have any of the 7.4 or 8.4 bikes in stock to ride. So, I left without buying anything.

I think I am going to take my Trek 820 in to see what repairs will be. I hate to buy something that isn't as much of a leisure bike without being in the habit of biking. If it's cheap I'll just fix my 820 and then look again later before my trip.