-.- I just wrote a reply and pressed a button on the keyboard by mistake and it disappeared lol. So here's a summary of what I wrote.

I hear ya about riding steel frames..I love them too! I have two of them..an ice pink Schwinn Prelude fixie (that needs a new saddle asap..ouch!) that I built from the frame up and a Bianchi Eros (just like Tri Girl's!) that I'm building as a touring bike. So for this reason I'm looking for a sportier aluminum frame bike that I can do events like MS150 or a century ride. I checked out Surly's site but there are no dealers within 100 miles from me 0_0

Other than that one..which else would you recommend? Now I really like the idea of a cross bike cause it's a little bit of everything. I didn't know they make bikes out of titanium 0_o I'm curious...there's a store here that offers to convert a road bike to a cross bike for a cyclocross event coming up. What would they be changing other than tires? I know the brakes are different too.

@KnottedYet: What do you like better about a cross frame's geometry? I'm usually a 54 cm. If I can spend less than $1,500 that would be great!