Nicole, surprised you say the Cannondale is heavy. Anyway if you want a ligth bike suitable for light touring check out the various Specialized bikes. tri-Cross would be nice with a different front crank, or the Vita. A large part of the decision making is based on how much you're planning on carrying and what you like in handling. If you're not a heavy person needing to carry a lot of gear there's a lot of choices out there. I could imagine if you're light then one of those lighter bikes with 5-10lbs forward under the bars or on a mini-front rack with 20lbs on the rear would work.