Well... after all of this agonizing over which bike to take, I ended up taking the Trek 5200 for logistical reasons. I had my Trek stored at my girlfriend's house, near the departure point where the group was leaving in two vans. I had my LHT stored where I live, 20-miles away. On short noticed, I volunteered to lead a 70-mile club ride the day before this double-century. So, in order to take my LHT to the departure point for the double century, I would have had to have left it on my roof rack all day while I led the club ride on my tandem (with my 10-year old son as stoker). I was afraid the LHT would get stolen out of the parking lot... so I simply left it locked in my garage and, with much trepidation, used the Trek.

I had a lot of time to ponder racing vs. distance vs. touring fit differences during this double century... with bike fit, it seems like you can't have everything. Here is my 2-cents...
- A bike set up for distance riding generally has a slightly larger frame, not too much handlebar drop, has a comfy saddle, and is vertically compliant. Steel "sport touring"/"traditional" geometry bikes are common.
- A bike set up for racing generally has a smaller frame and more constraining geometry, high saddle position relative to the bars, and a narrow saddle to allow for semi-comfortable riding when in the drops. Frames are usually optomized for stiffness rather than comfort.
- Touring bikes also normally have a larger frame than racing bikes, and the geometry is optomized for comfort. Brooks saddles are common... they're the gold standard for comfort in a more upright riding position. Saddle and bars are often level, and the frames are somewhat laterally stiff for carrying loads, but are engineered to be vertically compliant for comfort.

Of the above, I have two of the three... a bike for touring and a bike for racing. I need to get a distance bike for rides longer than 12-hours. It seems like your Pilot falls into the "distance" bike category. The geometry is somewhere between touring and racing, and that bike has a fairly tall head tube, so the handlebars probably aren't very low.

About the ride... we left from Bloomington, IN on Saturday at 4:00, and traveled to Lawrenceburg, IN. Lawrenceburg is in southeastern Indiana is right on the point where Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky come together. Our goal was to ride all the way up Indiana to Michigan, with the ride terminating at the Michigan border north of Clear Lake, IN. This was a small charity ride called RUIN (Ride Up INdiana... like a more extreme version of the popular Ride Across INdiana, or RAIN). The length of the route was 211-miles, most of it flat to rolling terrain. We had two vans of riders. Both vans were used as SAG vehicles during the ride.

We thought it was going to be hot yesterday... but the weather forecast was totally wrong. It ended up being overcast and 85 most of the day, with occasional rain showers. The weather made for some good times... everyone in the group finished with an average speed above 18mph. The riders didn't stay together as I expected... instead, through much of the ride, riders split into two groups (a lead group and a larger, "normal" group). The SAG met us every 30-miles and we regrouped at these points. I am glad that there were two riding groups because I actually ended up spending only about 11-hours, 20-minutes on my Trek. That wasn't so bad... it was the possibility of spending 14+ hours on that bike at slow speeds that was scaring me. I think we stopped too long and too much and I kept stiffening up, and I was sore from the 70 hilly miles I rode on the tandem the day before, so I really can't say that I performed up to my potential, but I'm happy with my time and the ride was a fantastic and memorable experience.