A month or so ago, on uforgot's recommendation, I decided to go down to the Alpine Shop in Kirkwood to talk to Traci Berry, the bike shop manager there. Not only was she totally awesome in helping me find a bike, but she also took me out to demo the SuperCaliber during an all women's mountain bike ride/clinic. It was slimy at SIU Edwardsville, but we had a BLAST.

Anyway, the bike is an '08 model so it's going for half price. The '09 SuperCalibers list at $3849 and this '08 (not a demo) is going for $1900. Everyone with any mountain biking experience on the ride said it was a fantastic deal. I'd actually been planning to construct a Salsa El Kaboing with the shop, but as that would cost me significantly more $$$ for similar componentry, Traci convinced me that the SuperCal was the bike for me.

I'm off to the shop to put my first payment on it. Layaway is a total blessing for those who don't have $2000 hanging around to spare.

I'm so excited!