I liked Zen's advice -- ask your LBS for a pair of throw-away (for them) platform petals and ask them to put them on your bike. And start riding.

And maybe shortly you'll find an LBS where there is someone more helpful or get it all sorted out here. (Can you post photos of your clipless pedals? Someone on this forum will recognize them and point you in the right direction.)

I felt overwhelmed trying to buy all the right stuff. Now that I'm settling into my comfortable riding style, I'm finding that most of the stuff that was so "necessary" isn't really all that useful to me. Guess I'm glad I have it all (now that I know what it is all for!) but I could have by-passed the buying frenzy in the beginning. (And saved if for now -- when I really know what I want)

Now I "realize" I need some Sidis (just found out what they were recently) -- will be doing a century soon and the shoes I've been using the last two years won't cut it. But I'm glad I didn't start out in the Sidis because I have really gotten proficient with riding clipless with my very loose and easy mtn bike shoes.

But, a lot of the fun and excitement at first was getting all this stuff figured out and getting all the new gear! Have fun and welcome to the forum.

The ladies here have really gotten me, and many others, on the right track.