anorange - welcome! And congratulations on finishing your ride! In the rain, no less. Its smart not getting up to speed in the rain, at least that's what I say. So good for you for finishing. One day you'lll have as much experience on the hills as those folks flying down them and you still might want to take it conservatively. No harm in that.

I wear progressives, and they work fine for me. Like so many things, experience and Patience, patience, patience are all that's needed.

I almost wrecked a couple of times last week trying to unclip -- the problem was I was wearing tennis shoes and not clipped in ! Kept waiting for the click/release and it didn't happen! I haven't fallen (yet) from being clipped in, but almost went down twice trying to unclip my tennis shoes. Go figure. Got my cycling shoes back on and it is sooooooooo nice - they're second nature to me now.

Good luck and take care. Lauren