Saddle height and fear

[papaver]

There is one bike that is really great for long distances. But dead expensive.

http://www.idworx-bikes.de/nl/bikes/trekkingbikes.php

It's the rolls royce of the trekking bikes. I've had one for a weekend. You ride just as fast as on a racingbike, but the comfort is of a much higher standard.

but like I said, very expensive.

A very good second best: http://www.koga.com/us/ and less expensive.

A friend of mine has a koga and he cycled from belgium to the south of India (and that is a looooooooooooooooooong way). He did this while having cancer. Unfortunately he died at the beginning of this year... but he was happy.