I just wanted to say thank you for this post and for all the helpful replies!

I'm a total newbie to road riding (just bought my bike this week -- a new 2011 Cannondale CAAD10 with Shimano 105 - and I adore it)!!!!

I've done a little bit of gentle suburban & bike path riding on my mountain bike (a handful of times over the last 10 years), and then I started spinning classes last year. I loved the more aggressive position, and decided to get a road bike to be able to join my partner and his friends who go out riding together.

And now I have a bike and a whole bunch of fear around getting used to it - so thanks for the beautiful words that help to chill me out a bit. It's nice to think about this as a learning curve that will get easier over time. PHEW!

My plan is to start on the trainer (no traffic!) and get used to the new position plus unclipping -- then to move to gentle bike paths...

I am so glad to have found a forum of like-minded ladies and mentors!!!!