Rosie8 - that's a good idea-- trying different handlebars to see what works. The only trouble is that I live in Italy (in a small town no less) and the shops here are not into letting you try things out unless you already have a good relationship with them or know someone who works there ..and I don't.

However, what I have done is to switch to a taller (longer?) stem, that has an adjustable angle on it. So I've got more height and the bar is closer to me. Today was the first day out and I could feel a difference already. I will have to tweak it a bit more, but I think I'm going to do reasonably well with this solution.

Over the next few months I'm going to see what I can do to try different bikes and bars - I do know one fellow who is a member of a (men's) bike club and I'm hoping he'll help. Right now just about everyone and his brother is off on the traditional August vacation ... so for now.. I'll work with the adjustables.

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.