Starting to think about it and need new bike help

[carol1]

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!!