Okay, this is such a remedial question.

But my dismounts are still shaky enough to be dangerous if I have to stop fast (another reason why I'm scared of speeding up too much).

I realize in retrospect that both crashes I've had (into the CURB, ladies) are because I didn't know how to judge the U-turns I was making. (Once I was going too slow and in such a low gear I had no control of the bike; the other was unexpected and I didn't turn as sharply as I expected and was going too fast.)

I'm like somebody who was turned loose with a car and is fine on straight streets and has gotten okay on turning corners, but still has a lot to learn.

I am going to spend some time at the school parking lot. Off hand all I can think of to do are some figure 8s in both directions, and practice stopping and starting.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks much!