embarassingly stupid question

[Miranda]

Don't worry, OP, I can top any dumb question.

You experienced guys talk about rings. I only see "numbers on the handlebar".

How am I supposed to figure out which "ring" I'm in while shifting and not run into a tree or something while I"m twisted around trying to see what I'm shifting into?
I see "1,2,3" on the left and "1,2,3,4,5,6,7" on the right.

So if I"m staying the the left- 2 gear, that's the middle ring? And some of those overlap with left 1 and 3- is that what you're saying Yelsel?

On my first roadie I had a Shimano Flight Deck cycle computer. It has a gear indicator once programed. The display on the pc shows a tiny pic of the rings based on size (large rings up front in the crank set w/pedals & small rings clustered together in the back on the cassette)... in oval shaped icons. When you shift, the gear indicator shows that--thus you don't need to look backwards or down at the crankset / cassette rings to see. Not sure which component group your bici has. But, FWIW.

Oh... and btw, when I first started riding, reading this forum was so helpful... but sometimes made my head feel like it was going to explode (w/all the info to process) ...and sometimes it still does.