indeed, i also think that slicks would be a better choice for touring.
i´ve been touring with straight bar with bar ends and have not encountered any major problems. however in my new tourer i put drop bar on because i´d like to see how it works, if i will like it better. so far (it´s been raining so far! dammit!), it´s been ok, but i do find it somewhat unstable because when i´m in "normal position" (as in straight bar position) everything´s fine then when i have to reach out for the brakes then it´s a bit unstable and i feel kinda weird, but of course, it could be that i need to adjust my setup a bit to get to an ideal poisition or that i need to get used to this.
the rack looks somewhat skinny, i doubt that they will hold.