For the past couple of years, I've been almost obsessed with comfortable, upright riding. I guess that came from 20 years of riding only a hand-me-down road bike with drop handlebars - as dumb as it sounds, because that was my first "grown-up" bike, I assumed that all adult bikes were like that. 3 years ago, when I discovered that there were bikes for adults that are more upright, I put my bike by the side of the curb and let someone take it.

I ended up buying a cruiser, the Giant Simple Seven, and I was in pure heaven at the cushy tires and completely upright position. I mainly used it for errands and "joyrides" around the neighborhood. Then, when I realized that my new job was within easy cycling distance (under 3 miles) I started riding to work too.

Last year I became interested in Dutch bikes, and when I was recently able to try one in person, I purchased a WorkCycles Oma. Based on things I had read (and a test ride that I took), I didn't think the weight would be a problem, but I'm starting to think I don't like having such a heavy bike. If you want, check out my thread in the Utility Cycling forum for the long drawn-out story on that.

So, I think I will end up selling one of those bikes - either the cruiser or the Oma, since I think some of their uses overlap. However, I'm starting to think that I was a bit hasty in eschewing all road bikes, because it would be nice to have a lighter, faster bike for longer trips. So I'm wondering, is there such a thing as a lightweight, somewhat fast bike that is still somewhat upright? I realize that sitting up straight sacrifices some speed, and I'm okay with that - I'm also okay with having some bend, I just don't want to be all hunched over. But in my searching, it seems that all the really light bikes (20-25 pounds) have a completely bent position. All the more upright bikes are at least 30 pounds.

Although I guess there's more to speed than just being lightweight, right? I suppose the type of tires/wheels comes into play as well, which just goes to show that I really have no idea what I'm looking for. I guess I want something that is at least somewhat all of these things: fast, light, comfortable and upright. I'm looking for something good for 7-12 mile rides. I'm not much of an athlete, so I don't anticipate doing longer than that in the foreseeable future.

Is the Jamis Citizen a good option for what I'm describing?