Bike Forums - Long-time mountain biker/road newbie

Hi,
I guess I really started riding when my parents bought me my first real bike when I was in 6th grade (Giant Acapulco rigid-forked steel frame), and I did weekend rides fairly regularly until I joined the Navy, and unfortunately took a 6-year break from riding. When I got out, I moved to San Francisco, put some street tires on the old Giant and used it as my primary mode of transportation for a few years before moving to Spokane, Washington.
The abundance of trails, and a coworker who was big into shuttling to the tops of hills and bombing down, prompted me to invest in a Giant AC, which served me well until the company I worked for went out of business and I found a new job, but my coworker/riding partner left town for work. I found that, left two my own devices, I much preferred packing a lunch, hopping on my bike and disappearing into the state park near my house for all-day solo rides as opposed to bombing down hills. I sold my long travel Giant AC in order to get Short travel Jamis Dakar XC bike.
Since then, I’ve gotten into some 24-hour and 100-mile MTB races and enjoyed the competition. Because I also enjoy running and swimming, I was considering buying a road bike that I could use for triathlons. When an acquaintance heard that I had been racing mountain bikes and was now looking for a road bike, he encouraged me to join his road-racing club. After I bought my bike (Used 2007 Giant TCR C3) a few days ago, I signed up for the club, and went of my first group road ride with some other team members yesterday. I had a blast, and I can’t wait for spring when the races start up again. I also know I have a lot to learning to do about how road racing works, and pack riding etiquette. That’s why I registered for this forum.