Hi, I am new too. Been riding for about 3 months.

You need padded shorts, made a huge difference. You need to make sure your seat is the right width for your sit bones, that made a huge difference. They have a thing at the bike store that you sit on and it tells how wide your sit bones are, you can't tell by looking at a person.

Padded gloves.

I assume you have a helmet and water bottle.

I bought a small pack for the back of my bike, my husbands is larger, why did I think I needed a smaller one??? I need to carry Kleenex, chapstick, debit card, phone, xtra tampon (you never know!) etc etc etc

I did a 50 mile ride yesterday and it was too much too soon. The last 10 miles were not fun, grueling would be a better description.

I think we have to keep it fun!