I am older and have an old neck injury from an old bicycle wreck so can only bend my neck so far. Plus being female I have short arms. Even though my bike looks funny I can get on the drops and have several comfortable postions to choose from. I also have arthritus in my hands and can only put so much wt on them. I didn't realize how wierd my bike looked until I took pics yesterday. My raleigh doesn't look that bad and I am postitioned almost the same on both bikes. And without further ado:





Here is my raleigh for comparison.




The thing I have attached to the rack on the nova is an rei backpack accesory bag, or whatever you call it. They are too bulky for my backpack but perfect for the rack. I cable tied it on. I dont' like a tall trunk bag. I also just got some sunlight panniers. Here she is loaded up and ready to go.



I used to live car free in bft SC but sold my bike when I moved to savannah in 1988. I got a lifecycle stationary bike instead. I had some bad bicycle wrecks and did not want to repeat the experiance after I graduated and moved. I am not carfree right now but am trying to work more commutes into my life as I now live where I can safely ride quite a bit. Mostly I ride for fun and exercize. One shop tried to steer be towards comfort bikes, not that there is anything wrong with that but I met some folks at the local bike touring club that had comfy road bikes and was able to adjust my riding to suit my aging neck and hands, I can still go fast and ride with clipless pedals. My next bike will probably be a recumbent, I'll keep the ones I have but I want to add to my stable so I can enjoy riding my entire life.