Starting to think about it and need new bike help

Hi All,
I've been a lurker for months here now getting as much great information and help as I could and it's been really great and helpful. Now I need a bit more individualized help...I ride 40-50 miles a week on road or crushed path..mostly roads with about a 50/50 split of hills and flat due to where I ride. I usually do a 25-30 mile ride on weekends and then 10-15 mile rides during the week. I've done two official rides..a 30 mile hilly one which almost killed me when I was three months back into riding and yesterday I did my first metric century and surprisingly enough I'm alive this morning. I currently ride a Raleigh passage 3.0 which was fine when I was just riding casually but I've noticed and especially yesterday I noticed that I need something more(if only a different seat!). I don't really care about what number finish I am...I'm three months shy of 50, 13 knee operations later and am doing this for myself...but it just seems like there must be a bike out there that doesn't feel as heavy as my Raleigh especially going up hills. Next summer I'm planning on doing the C&O canal and I think it's time to invest a little. I've read many posts on here and just can't sort the information out to determine what I might need at this point. I prefer the hybrid because of the handlebars but am open to suggestions. Can someone give me some specific pointers on which direction or brand or whatever to start narrowing a new bike search down? I have up to about 1500 to spend on this if that helps. Thanks!!

I tried the Devinci Amsterdam and that was a lot of fun for a hybrid! It's a Canadian company though, so I don't know if it's easy to get a hold of.

It sounds like you need a cyclocross bike or a touring bike that can accommodate wider tires. I, myself, have a touring bike that gets mistaken for a 'cross bike all the time. I have the Kona Sutra. Kona's cyclocross bike is the Kona Jake the Snake. Specialized has a very popular cyclocross bike too. I will let one of the ladies here who own won speak to that. I ride like you do. I take it off road sometimes and I needed lots of gears for my bad knees. I don't care how long it takes me to get somewhere, just that I finish, and I wanted to do endurance rides like you did. I just wanted a bike that would let me do all that, have eyelets for racks, tons of gears for my bad knees, with wider tires to let me go off-road. My bike is heavy as it is steel but it is a smooth ride. The Specialized looks like it is aluminum if I'm looking at the right bike. I definitely think a cyclocross bike might be right up your alley.

Look at the assorted Trek hybrids... tho' I'm a Trek fan because that's the best bike shop in town. THere are some nifty light ones.