It's too late for me but you can save yourself. ..I had similar questions long ago. Bike shops seemed to want to give me either a full suspension MTB with big knobbies (lousy rolling resistance on the roads), or a racing roadie with razor thin tires (don't even think about cutting across the park), or an upright comfort bike with a huge butt-holder of a seat (ring that bell and wave). I've been building my own bikes ever since, and currently own a dozen or so of various types. BUt if someone had steered me to a cyclocross bike back then, it would probably be my only bike today (and I'd be off on some other hobby).