Welcome to KF. +1^ on Deej' comments. Never allow yourself to get into a situation you can't recover from (i.e. if you don't know what to do to recover froma situation, you're in too deep.) Glad to hear you're serious about your gear, too.
Find a good bike; whatever size, color, or type, and justenjoy the ride!
Welcome.

 

Welcome to the KF family. Good choice for a learners bike. Just keep your head on straight and you'll be fine. When I got tired of paying $140 a month for gas, I bought an Eliminator 125. That saved me a lot of gas. Needless to say, I couldn't ride it for long. I took it on a trip from Augusta to Birmingham (6 hour ride) and back. My back hurt so bad when I got home, I decided to never ride the bike again.