Wow!, thanks for all the great responses.
I checked out the Street Smarts guide - very well done. I'm going to go over it carefully.
Right now, I'm in the Rockland County (NY) area, and I'll be moving to Ocean County, NJ. Any suggestions as to used bikes appreciated, but, being that I am a novice, I want to avoid lemons (I remember a bike bought as a kid, whose brake pads fell off on the first day! bought it new at a "bike shop").
The local bike shop carries Jamis, and recommened an Explorer 2.0 for $300. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any more advice or information (the conversation was basically "$300? Hills? Explorer 2.0. See you later.") I'm not sure if it can take racks and fenders.
BTW, when I go to buy a bike, anything to look out for?
Thanks for all the help. I'm going through Street Smarts - anything else I should know or see?
PS $300 is for the bike alone, I have some left over for gear