General Cycling Discussion - Finding the perfect bike for me

Ok, so i am totally new to the world of bicycling (aside from the bike i had but hardly ever used when i was younger). I recently decided to get rid of my old junker car. Well, i suppose i didn't make that decision. The car did when it decided to die for the seventeen millionth time this year. Now, due to environmental concerns and rising gas prices, I think i will opt for a good bike instead of a new car. I figured this would be easy. I would just do a bit of googling and, wallah, i would find the perfect bike. Haha, i have learned that it isn't quite so easy. So many kinds of bikes... My head hurts.... During my googling i stumbled upon this website and thought, "hey, these people can help me i bet!"
Anyway... I said all that to say this: Can someone help me pick out the right bike? I need it for traveling to and from work (about 10 miles there and back), going places around town (town is mostly flat with a killer hill every now and then), and traveling to and from Columbus to see my girlfriend (about 60 miles one way). I realize this last one is going to be a bit of a challenge and will take weeks or months (hopefully not years) of training. I am in kind of goodish shape; i run a few times a week and do yoga. What is the bike for me? Any suggestions? Thanks.

While there are other types of bikes you can look at, the obvious
choice will be a touring bike. What's the budget? Look at the Trek 520
and the Cannondale touring bikes to start the search.

Get something with a good rack, an internal hub, fenders, and possibly a chain case like the Cannondale Street Premium, the Specialized Globe City 3.1, or the Breezer Uptown.

Also, get a rain cape (also called bike poncho).

A touring bike like the Trek 520 is a great choice for this type of riding, some of the better hybrids, Specialized Sirrus for example should do fairly well too. Don't get anything with suspension fork and/or fat knobby tires, on the road these only slow you down. Internal hubs are great when they work, but finicky to service and costly to replace.

thank you all for your responses. the trek 520 looks really good and i might go with that. but what if i wanted to spend less? would there be a good bike for me in maybe the $200-500 range? or is that too low to get a quality bike?

thank you all for your responses. the trek 520 looks really good and i might go with that. but what if i wanted to spend less? would there be a good bike for me in maybe the $200-500 range? or is that too low to get a quality bike?
You can get a quality bike in the $400-$500 range. Check out some of the flat-bar fitness bikes like the Jamis Coda and Trek 7.2FX to get an idea. Also, check around and see if any of your LBS`s have any leftover `06 models on sale. Last September I found a still-new `05 Jamis Coda Sport at a closeout price of $475 and jumped on it(literally). You can also find good deals on Craigslist, too.

if you're going to be riding it as much as you say, spend the extra money

the trek 520 is a good deal

you can try to find last year's model on closeout or shop ebay / oddle.com for a used touring bike