Miranda, let me clue you in on something ...

I've gone on a few club rides with some really hardcore long-distance riders. The kind that do double centuries on alternating weekends for fun.

One thing I've noticed is that a large number of these folks use CamelBaks, have helmets with visors, wear mountain bike shoes, have triple cranksets and/or mountain bike casettes on their bikes, have lots of reflective stuff on their bikes and on themselves, and carry moderately large saddlebags.

All the things that get poo-poohed by self-proclaimed "serious" roadies as being "fred".

Well, these long-distance riders are about as "serious" as one can get (serious in the dedication/motivation/ability sense - the ones I've met for the most part have great senses of humor), and while I use what I like and generally don't give a rat's azz about what others think, it's a real eye-opener to see that these people I look up to find that "fred" things work for them as well.

Hope this helps. - Jo.