Quote Originally Posted by breeze View Post
... Also, I was really struggling to get on the saddle and moving because I was having some trouble touching my foot down. How much should I be able to reach the ground from the saddle?

...I'm also back to thinking about the Surly. While most of my current riding is on paved trails, one of my goals has been to ride part of the GAP trail between Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. Its a crushed limestone rail trail. So perhaps I need to think more about what I want to do with this bike, too. I want to go fast and far, but maybe I need to compromise.
You should not be expecting to put your foot on the ground from the saddle. This can be done by cruiser riders on things like Electras with the extreme (almost semi-recumbent) seat tube angle. On a normal road bike, you'd have to have the saddle far too low to be able to do that.
The usual way to start on a road bike is with one foot on the ground, the other on a pedal (usually the right, if you're right-handed) at the high side of the pedal stroke. Push off, find the other pedal in a standing position, then sit down.
If you're feeling stretched out on the WSD bikes you've been trying, a Surly (unless it's very tiny) will probably feel even more so. I looked at their frame geometry charts a couple years ago when searching for a touring bike and found that the top tubes were quite long compared with other makes in the same size.