I'm thinking hybrid

Many of you who know me in real life didn't know me in my cycling days. Back when Marc and I met, I was much thinner, and I was into cycling to keep fit. I would regularly ride 20, 30 or 40 miles at a very nice clip. Not today.

So when Marc and I recently talked about getting into better shape, I immediately thought of getting back into cycling. It would do both of us good, although Marc has a lot less weight to lose than me. He just has a bit of a belly he's fighting to get rid of.

My old bike was bought when I was in college. I think it's still in the back of the garage, but it wasn't looking good last time I looked. So we'll probably start from scratch. Perhaps matching bikes--and how obnoxious is that? :)

The question is, what kind of bikes? My old one was a road/racing bike, but I think that may be a harder ride than I now want. Also, my back doesn't appreciate prolonged bending quite the way it used to. So perhaps a hybrid bike? We have to go shopping, but from what I've found on these here Internets, it looks like a hybrid might be better than a mountain bike (or a road bike).

If any of you know about this stuff, feel free to chime in. I'll take any info I can get!