From my Introduction:

I’m 67 and have been riding about two months. The bike is a Schwinn Frontier which I bought fifteen or more years ago. It hasn’t received much use till now but I did put on new tires and tubes and cleaned and greased the chain. I ride three 3 times a week and always take a rest day after a longer ride. At this point longer for me means 20 -22 miles. I’m finally getting the hang of dealing with somewhat steeper hills. I retired last year and for the life of me I don’t know why I didn’t start riding then. Of course I’ve discovered that the mountain bike is fine for riding downtown to the post office but I need something that is better suited for longer rides. The Willamette Valley where I live has a lot of nice back roads and as I get better at this I want to explore them.
More:
As on older rider I’m quite surprised at the progress that I have made. I never thought that I’d get up to a 20 mile ride in this short period of time. Like most sedentary people who sat at the desk fro the last 30 years I’ve put on weight. I was a jogger in my early 30’s but feet problems have made it impossible to go back to that form of exercise. Voila! Biking allows me to get my heart rate up without wrecking my body. Sure, I’m a bit sore at the end of a ride but nothing like some stretching, a hot bath and a rest day won’t take care of.

Right now I’m trying to figure out what model bike that I should buy after I’ve put some more money aside. There are so many choices. I want a road bike which will also be good for one day tours. My budget will be in $1000 $1200 range. There are a number of LBS in town selling Specialzed, Trek and Branchi models among others.
I’d like to hear from anyone who has had experience with the above brands in the way of road bikes and price range.

Thanks