Greetings, everyone!

I find myself in a strange place here. I would say that I love biking, but not necessarily bicycles themselves.
I cycled to work out of necessity for two years starting when I was 18 on the same bike I'd had since I was 12. It was an adult-sized bike that my parents probably got from Sam's Club. It said "Tahoe" on it. I still own it, actually.
It was the bike I took with me to Ohio when I got married and took on all my biking adventures until last year when my husband managed to snag a slightly better bike from a co-worker. This bike I know is a Schwinn, but I don't know much else about it. I've always been the type to just go with what works. Can I pedal it for long distances and see fun things in nature? Yes? Okay! However I would like a lighter bike.

I figure now is as good a time as any to maybe do a bit more research among real enthusiasts to see what would be good.

I try to commute to work when I can. Winter is slowly coming which will rule commuting out for me soon. But when the weather is good I often seek out trails to ride. That's my primary motivation for biking - seeing more nature.