The Cannondale CAAD series consistently gets good reviews from both the "press" and people who ride them. It's a good, reliable model that will give you enough bang for your buck for now. But perhaps more important than that is what your local store carries. If you don't have a Cannondale dealer within 100 miles, then that's a problem.

Most of the bikes at the 1.5K level from the major manufacturers will be good... it's probably more important to get a model that your local shop can fit you to. Hopefully they will do a good job, rather than try to sell you whatever they have on their shelves. Shimano or SRAM drivetrains are very good in that price range so I think you'll do fine (Shimano 105 or SRAM Rival are probably what you'll find, maybe with FSA cranks).