clueless

[BikingNurse]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement. I really appreciate the stories. You gals are great!

[shootingstar]

I don't know how your bike gearing is set up but you might find this article useful.

http://bicycletutor.com/gear-shifting/

For now, set your left-hand gear shifter at 2 and on the right-hand gear shifter, shift between 3-6, depending on whether or not you are cycling over flat terrain or must deal with a rise. Make sure, BEFORE you start ascending a hill, shift on right-hand gear to smaller number (ie. to 3), so that you will find it easier to pedal.

(I actually have never used setting "1' on either left or right-hand side. It's just my style of cycling. Everyone is different.)

Recognize that you can end up shifting gears several times in 1 short trip. It's for your comfort and cycling efficiency.

On my first bike touring ride (and I was carrying my own bike pannier) in Vermont which was 550+ kms., many years ago, the first half of trip I didn't know how to use my gears. To the say least, I was grateful to have understood it otherwise the entire trip would have been unnecessarily difficult for me. And Vermont has hills.