June was my 30th anniversary of road cycling and an SL4 Comp and TCR Advanced Pro are way more bike than I need. If you spend $2000 less you'll still be just as fast (or slow), and as a newbie it won't be as embarrassing when you get dropped by an old guy on a 35 year old steel bike. For your first bike I would look at an entry level aluminum one. If you buy a bike from Performance Bike, they have a very generous one year return/exchange policy. One member posted that he rode a bike for an entire year, then took it back and they actually gave him a refund.

When you're brand new with barely an hour of riding time you don't really know what you'll like. Or even if you'll stay in the sport. The first time you hit a 30mph headwind when you still have 40 miles to go can be a rude awakening. After a few thousand miles you'll start to decide if you really want a carbon bike or if you need $1000 wheels, ect. You might decide you'd rather have an endurance bike. And when you try to resell a bike you bought for $3500 you'll find out you'll probably lose some serious cash.