"recycled-one" wrote:
One must carry a laptop on tour so one can read and post to the
Usenet cycling groups while at rest stops.

I've often fantasized about a dream bike with handlebar mounted
notebook pc with cell/satellite connections.

It's been done -- 23 years ago, in fact.

See http://microship.com/bike/winnebiko/across.html, part of a site that
describes the adventures of Steve Roberts, bike nomad extraordinaire. In
1983 he hit the road on a recumbent loaded with with, among other things, a
Radio Shack Model 100 laptop and a radio link to Compuserve. (Though
usually he had to depend on phone links to upload/download his email.) The
bike's loaded weight varied from 135 to 195 lbs (ouch!!) during the 10,000
miles he rode it.

Within a few years he evolved his bike to include several computers, a
packet-radio networking connection, a specialized chording keyboard on the
handlebars that allowed him to write while riding, motion-sensing security
system and Votrax speech synthesizer ("Please do not touch me!" :-) and
lots more. The guy was nuts. It's pretty amazing reading.

Gary