Welcome to the boards, all of ya's!

Biking Chick - I really enjoyed your story. Your husband is very well trained

bounceswoosh - love the name! - I used to be very timid about riding in traffic, then I joined a women-only progressive training ride series leading up to (again) a women-only metric century. It was a great, supportive atmosphere, and we did a lot of riding in traffic which made me much more comfortable with it. I do prefer even now to be in a group rather than on my own when I'm in traffic or on narrow, windy roads, the larger group is much more visible (and the cynic in me says there are more witnesses!! ) Anyhow, if you could hook up with a group, that might help you get over the anxiety.

Here are a couple of links to sites about riding in traffic. The key is to be predictable and to let drivers know what you're doing. http://bicyclesafe.com/
http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

skibum - wow, I'm envious! You must tell us all about it when you get back. Good luck with the training, I hope you see very little of the inside of that bus

JanT - those links up above are for you too! Hope you find the perfect road bike. And enjoy the dirt too.

- Jo.