thanks guys, your kind words really made me feel better! my boyfriend has been telling me he's going to drop me off at the spot where I threw in the towel and make me finish. I told him I'll do it if he joins me!

I took the bike back to my LBS today, and they gave it a thorough once-over and determined I did no damage to it. Gonna take a nice leisurely ride on a low traffic route tomorrow during my day off to make myself feel better It also gave me an excuse to buy some handlebar tape. The white tape was getting grungy and driving me nuts.