Advice: Don't Crash, it hurts, lol.
Take your time and ride a number of bikes in your price range and get the one that feels the best to you. There are a number of good compnaies to go with including Cannondale, Trek, Specalized, Giant, and Gary Fisher. I suggest that you go to local bike shops (LBS) to get a bike and not a big box store like Walmart. You will get a MUCH better quality bike as well as better service from a LBS over the big box stores. I personally ride a Cannondale becasue it was in my price range, the bike feels great to me and the store owner and employees were great. I get excelent service and they have all become good friends to me.