I would disagree about waiting to be comfortable in your shoes before a group ride, you just have to find the right group. No pacelining, etc. (Yikes! I don't think I'll ever do that...) I've gotten quite a bit of help about clipless from being with others.

Try to get into CP when you can but yes, pedestrians are almost worse than cars because they think cyclists can manuver faster than they can walk. And dont get me started on dog leashes.

NYC Cycling map is here: http://www.transalt.org/info/maps.html

Go on all the "smiley face" rides with the 5bbc. Those are the very recreational rides. http://www.5bbc.org/rides.shtml

It's too late for this year, already started AND filled early, but join the NYCC and do the C-SIG (special interest group) next year. You will NOT get dropped. I was quite slow last week and someone stayed with me the whole time. I did choose to move to a slower group this past Sat though. We started the day with how to change a tire, simple maint. and had pizza. My group then rode from Central Park to the GW Bridge and were taught how to take a bike on an escalator. (Who knew there was technique for that.) Unfortunately, the Port Authority police saw a bunch of bikes and made us go outside. (Think RNC convention problems.) It was late and going to rain so we did not go into NJ.

http://nycc.org/rides_sig_c.shtml

*****The C SIG is for beginners and uncertain intermediates who seriously want to have fun. Maybe you haven’t been on a bicycle much since you were a kid. Or you’d like to do more than circle the park, but don’t know what to do about it. Here’s what to do: Join a group of fun-loving, relatively easygoing riders for bicycle day trips that start small, but will eventually have you confidently doing 50 miles or more into the countryside and back in a day. 50-plus miles? Yes, that’s you we’re talking to—and you can so do it. Just wait until you actually manage your 65-mile graduation ride in May!****