tarwheel, you probably already know this but just in case....Performance has a huge sale starting on the 8th (Thursday). You might get even better discounts, but I'm not sure (I haven't been over there for the discount lunch...sounds very tempting! Do they do that every day?).

My commute: I nearly ran into the back of a van.

For parts of my commute I take the lane. I was doing so this morning and stuck in a line of bumper-to-bumper (fender?) traffic in a spot that backs up nearly every morning. We took off, and I was pedalling nice and fast to keep up. Suddenly the van in front of me stopped. I locked up both wheels but the bike went into a skid. I managed to both keep her upright and steer to the left (couldn't get her right) of the van. By the time I stopped I was just behind the driver's window. Then traffic started moving again. The driver was so freaked-out to see a cyclist to his left that he just sat there, so I took off, threaded in front of him, and kept going.

Man, the adrenalin was pumping...