Dear Lizzy:

Thanks for the information about WOMBATS. Jackie sounds like an interesting person. After what you said about her classes using hybrids perhaps one day I might consider going to one of those classes as my bianchi is a hybrid and I just love it. My husband keeps encouraging me to get road tires but to be honest, our roads here are the worst in the whole world. They are cracks, pot holes, and patches upon patches upon patches making for a very rough ride even when going slow. Then there are the sharp metal pieces or glass that dot some of the sides of the narrow roads so I think I'll keep to my hybrid tires in the hopes that I won't get a flat any time soon. My husband already got one on his road bike and we were traveling down a fairly smooth road that time. Once I have the hang of this I think Jackie's classes could be of real use to me. What kind of a shop do you work in?