I'm new, too and enjoying my bike. I agree about the shorts and gloves.
I have really appreciated the great advice on this forum.

I started out with very thin bike shorts (my spinning shorts) which were ok for the short rides but when I rode 30 miles, I got a very bad friction rash on the inside of my right thigh. I went out and bought better ones after that with great relief. I wear my running tights over my shorts on cold days and that works out fine.

The other thing I learned right away...I rode at first with my weight training gloves. WRONG. They didn't give me any padding in the right places. Much more comfortable for the longer rides to have a nice pair of gloves.