Hi Tanis. I'm in Tennessee, so I think it would be a bit more of a challenge to meet up with you than I'm ready for I have back problems too and was thinking of getting an inexpensive bike to start out upright and explore the different options, road bikes, mountain bikes, etc. before I drop a lot of money on a fancy one. Thanks for the tip about the seats. I was thinking of the fat girl seat myself, but bruised lady bits sounds terribly uncomfortable.

I saw a Schwinn at Target (I don't do walmart either) called a hybrid bike. From what I read, it's good on paved roads and light trails. It's inexpensive, so it wouldn't be tragic if it got stolen or if I crashed it to bits. It has over 20 gears, I can't remember now exactly how many. Are there particular things to avoid if I'm going the retail store route?