@Yogacat, I'm a fairly new cyclist myself, you will figure it out. I went from a $37.50 mountain bike that I bought at a garage sale to a $600 entry level woman's road bike to now three nice road bikes and a time trial bike. That has taken me three years.
The key in my opinion is surrounding yourself with good people and more importantly listening to their good advice. Join a cycling club, ride with other people, find a good bike shop (easier said than done) & cultivate that relationship, read and post on bike forums (where there is a huge amount of static but also some really helpful & knowledge people).
Before you think about racing or organizing a charity ride, just focus on riding your bike for awhile. Buy a bike computer, join Strava and just ride for around 2000 miles or so. Get to know your strengths and weaknesses. Formulate a game plan as to what you'd like to do. I'd recommend starting with some challenging non-competitive events- test yourself against yourself before you attempt to test yourself against others.
Welcome to the world of cycling. It's something that will make your life better.
