My arthritis is very tied to the foods I eat, particularly gluten and to a lesser extent tomatoes and other veggies of that family, also corn, cow's milk, sugar and beans. There are other foods that give me trouble but those are the principal ones. People think it must be a nuisance to be so restrictive, but the pain relief is worth it. In the past tumeric hasn't helped much but I think I will try taking it again and see how I do. Thanks for the suggestion.

My knees are now affected and I'm hoping that a three speed might be easier when I'm having an episode. I realize that you get what you pay for, but I really can't swing anything more than 500 at this time so that does limit my choices. We have a great lbs nearby and I have researched all the brands they carry and made a list of possibilities, including used. Worse comes to worse, I'll have the old junky bike fixed up and ride it until something better comes along. There's always a way.

This is such an awesome place. People's eyes tend to glaze over when I want to talk about bicycles, even my very supportive DH, but here I can read all I want about bikes and have people understand my single-minded quest to ride a bike despite some physical setbacks. Joy.