Is that a Soma porteur rack you have? I've been itching for a porteur rack that will easily take panniers in addition to whatever I feel like putting on top.

And while the wording of the original post may not have been the most artful, some of these responses are a bit...well, I'm not sure what to call them. What I do know is that I ride my bikes with front loads, rear loads, and every possible permutation of both. Low trail, medium trail, high trail. Wind, hills, flats, commuting, errand-running, touring. And really, you can get used to almost anything, within reason. No reason to try to make hard and fast rules for other people on how you ride a bicycle, just ride the damn thing.