+1 on the Treks. I passed up a great deal on a garage queen 7300 recently. Still think I could have rode it a while and got my money back...
Also, before you buy look into the matter of frame size and personal fit, and then have whatever you get adjusted to set you up properly. That alone cured about 75% of the re-entry pains and aches I was dealing with when I got to the same point in life that you have described.
Good luck!
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Current bikes: Unknown year Specialized (rigid F & R) Hardrock, '80's era Cannondale police bike; '03 Schwinn mongrel MTB; '03 Specialized Hard Rock (the wife's)
Gone away: '97 Diamondback Topanga SE, '97 Giant ATX 840 project bike; '01 Giant TCR1 SL; and a truckload of miscellaneous bikes used up by the kids and grand-kids
Status quo is the mental bastion of the intellectually lethargic...