I think the best thing you can do for your cycling career, wherever it takes you, is to find a good, fast group of riders to train with. I don't know your part of the country, but there are probably some good racers there. Try to find out where and when they do their training rides and once you get reasonably fit go ride with them. Most guys are pretty open to having someone join them so long as they don't cause crashes. You'll learn more from riding one season with strong racers than you'll learn in five seasons on your own. You'll also get a very good feel for your potential for racing without even entering a race. If you can't stay with them on a training ride, you can't begin to stay with them in a race.