but why does it have to be just an errand/townie bike? i've regularly done 40 milers on my sweetpea mixte with no problem, and have mounts for racks to eventually do touring/bike camping with it, once the kids are old enough to pull their own weight so to speak. it's set up to be a great all-rounder and very good at it. i have no doubt that it'd be just fine on longer rides, i just haven't had the opportunity to do so.

i've held my own on club rides and hill repeats on it too, much to the surprise of the other women who looked at me sort of askance when i showed up with that instead of my road bike. in fact it gave me great pleasure to pretty much dust my friend who's a very strong climber on a ride this spring, on a big hill. my back was bugging me and i didn't want to be on my road bike. she said, ok, take that one, but i don't want to hear you complaining when we hit the hills. first big one we came to, she was struggling and i dropped into a nice low gear, sat up and spun past her, whistling the Wicked Witch of the West tune as I did so.

and someday when i'm old and my gimpy back doesn't let me ride my road bike anymore, or i have trouble clearing the top tube, i'll still have my mixte to keep me company. at least that's the plan.