Anne

Suggest you look at radonneur bars. These are similair to the drop road bars (typically callled 'Maes' bars) but have 2 additional features which are helpful for genral riding and touring:
1. A small hump where the bar makes the bend to the front. This raises the bar wrt the sadddle and gives and extra hand position.
2. The bars angles outward in the drop giving you a slightly wider drop position.

This style was developed by the French for long distance touring. Schwinn equipped a number of their bikes (including the touring Paramount) with this style drop bar in the 70's. I use one and like it better then the traditional Maes bars.

These are availble in widths of up to 46 cm, although a standard one, at approx. 43 cm may fit you better.

John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ