For emphasis, I'm going to try to add clarification.
Routes are challenging, but not overly difficult. On average, our century routes have between 4000 and 5000 feet of vertical climbing on each route. Texas Hill Country features countless short, steep hills that when taken cumulatively can be just as demanding as riding in the mountains.
The bike will be used strictly for distance, not touring. It will be fixed-gear w/ a front brake and it will not be replacing my el diablo. So I already have the perfect touring, club riding, dicking around with the wife, kids, family and friends fixed-gear bike covered. This bike will be a non-track race bike. I'm not sure why an ATB came into the equation.
tl;dr
If you post "you should get ....steel framed touring..." you didn't read or don't know that I already ride an extremely badass Handsome Devil already. This is a race-specific bike (frame) we're talking about.