Definately ride as many bikes as you can, road and hybrid. I started out on a hybrid, quickly got the road bike bug, bought a road bike, road it for maybe six months and decided it wasn't for me. I've been riding hybrids ever since and that was 1995 or 1996. It really depends on what type of riding you end up doing and that's hard to know until you start riding and find out what you like and don't like. If you end up emphasizing speed and distance then a road bike is absolutely the best choice. If you discover you like adventure biking (mixed pavement and gravel/dirt road/hard packed earth) then a road bike is not a good choice.
I would strongly advise against getting a hybrid with any kind of suspension. If you just want a bike to cruise along with, get a beach style cruiser bike. If you want a bike for fairly quick and short to medium distance rides, get a hybrid like the Trek FX series. Fast and/or long distance, get a road bike. Adventure biking, get a cyclo-cross or the new "gravel grinder" category of bike.
I'm gonna disagree with the majority here. I would never recommend a road bike for a first-timer. They are very specialized, very limited in what they can do and they are near the top of the ladder in expense.
This is my new bike that I just spent a decent amount of money building up. I can put skinny tires and light wheels on it and have a 24 lb flat-bar road bike, I can ride it with heavy touring wheels and tires (as shown here) and have a 26 lb hybrid, I can put 45mm knobby tires on it and have a good off-pavement dirt riding bicycle, I can put racks and fenders on it and have a first-class commuter bike or a decent, light touring bike. It's very versatile and about the only things I couldn't do on it are fast club rides or singletrack, neither of which interests me anyway. To me, this is the type of bike the average person is best served by.
