Is this a normal experience?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Nothing wrong with feeling the seams in the street while you are riding- unless you are experiencing discomfort because of that. If you are like me, then the more you ride the less the small things will bother you.
If the tiny bumps bother you- you could also switch to fatter tires rather than buying a carbon seat post...if your bike will take fatter tires. Fatter tires definitely give a smoother cushier ride. A cheap test is to not inflate the tires you have to full limit- try 15 pounds less than max.

[coyote]

Along the same lines as Lisa's thinking....you might want to see how much air your tires have in them. If they are at the max. PSI, you could take about 10psi out. That might make a difference. Some tires have a min and max. If yours does then try playing around with them.

[jusdooit]

What ever gave you the idea this would become an obsession? LOL.
Never feel dumb, you're just learning. And trust me there's a lot to learn.
BTW ditto on the tires.

[malaholic]

Take a close look at the saddle angle - is it tilted slightly downward? If so, adjust it until it is nice & level; that may help if you are having lower back pain. When I bought my bike the saddle was angled just a few degrees down and my lower back was just killing me - the guy leveled it out, and I've not had a back problem since.

If you're feeling too "stretched out" you may also want to have some other adjustments made to effectively shorten the length of the cockpit and give you a more upright riding position. This could be along the lines of either using a shorter stem, or rotating the bars up, or changing the angle of the stem to raise the bars, or sliding the saddle slightly forward (note on saddle sliding - that may also take your knee position out of whack so don't do it if your saddle is already adjusted correctly). As you ride more and start to ride more aggressively, you may eventually want to return to a lower riding position.

I'm not really sure about the legs aching, where does it hurt & what type of pain is it?

[OakLeaf]

If you were riding a steel frame before, aluminum transmits way more road shock. Keep your elbows bent, wear gel gloves.