Today I went bike shopping, and after looking at several stores came to the conclusion that Cambridge is actually a relatively cheap place...I got my bike there for 70 pounds, and the cheapest thing here was $249. I think I'm going to look into shipping mine form home. Let me know if you have any suggestions as to how to do this.

I also concluded that people in California really are nice. I was testing a road bike, which I'd never ridden before, and I wanted to see how quickly it would stop. So as I was coming up to an intersection, I yanked on the brakes, and was thrown forward over the handlebars onto the street. Immediately the guy working in the furniture store I was in front of ran out and said, "Are you okay? Can I do anything?" I was pretty much ok, just a few bruises, so I just asked for water. While he was gone someone else saw me sitting with the bike by the side of the road and asked if I was ok. Would this happen in other parts of the country? Anyway, after sitting for a few minutes I retuned the bike to the shop and then hightailed it out of the neighborhood before they discovered that the handlebars had gone slightly crooked...