I'd suggest Giant Defy 2 like this one:

http://kozy.com/product/11giant-defy-2-72337-1.htm

It's fast, with a relatively upright position and can accomodate fenders/racks. yet you can still put some serious miles and climbhills with it unloaded. Very versatile and save you some dough for shoe/cloth/accesories.

Crosscheck is nice tho. it's really sturdy but a bit on the heavy side which might affect climbs.