Sounds like a shweet plan, I've heard of many people going there and returning with awesome equipment at a margin of the cost here! Enjoy, go mad then - you probably won't regret it. I very recently sold my dual suspension and road bike to finance the new Canon 50D with an 18-200mm IS Canon lens plus tripod, bags, cards, shutter clamp etc. I was looking at the 500D, it also boasts a 15 mega-pixel sensor and video recording - but stuck with the 50D as it is more professional (magnesium body, 900g as apposed to 560g 500D body - initially I thought lighter would be better, but as in all photographic cases you want something solid and comfortable in your hand). I would highly recommend the new Canon 7D - it boasts the same frame rate (10 frames per second I believe!) as the Canon Mark III which retails for about R85K, which means that you can capture every moment when taking cycling photographs. Having said all this, any SLR camera will satisfy your photographic needs - until you need bigger prints with immaculate clarity. I started off with a Canon 350D and was always happy with the photos. Enjoy!
