I do all my riding on paved asphalt but the shop suggested hybrid because road conditions around here in New England are awful. Even in the summer after they sweep the roads the seismic sized cracks and divots in the asphalt vomit sand, oil and gravel. I feel much more confident with this "bad" terrain grip than I do in a road bike.
The issue is there are a lot hills, some intersections, traffic and a very nice state park that has some people around. You have to watch the people, there are some nice tight curves too making some sections like a racetrack. Fun fun fun, not with a drop bar. So I need control of all elements and be able to brake, shift and steer at the same time and I would prefer to do so comfortably if I can manage it.
And as I said, the drop bar is too.... bent over. It doesn't matter how many positions there are when none of them are comfortable and I can't control my bike and go as fast as I would like in any of them! What do people do in order to like drop bars so much?