70 miles in 10 days - go you! It's wonderful that you're getting so much pleasure from your new bike!

I actually enjoy my old bike more since getting the new bike, strangely enough. The mountain bike built my confidence through the early part of this year, and as my technical confidence has grown I've been able to change the saddle and seatpost on the old bike to give a better ride. I'm riding the old bike more on the kind of roads/paths it was meant for, rather than stretching it off-road. It's set up with panniers and basket and it does perfectly for errands. I can tow the trailer with either bike. The mountain bike is the one I take when I just want to ride (not shop, or go to the optician, or do the nursery run). It's just so much fun. Much as I love it though, I'm a lot more attached to my Marin comfort hybird though than I imagined I would be and a lot of that is down to the skills and confidence that I have (and still am) learning from the newer Spesh.

So yes, a new bike can make a huge difference, and not just in ways that you might expect!