Thank you everyone for such rapid responses
Funny mimitabby should mention her husband scolding <G> Part of the reason the First Mile Sucking is such an issue for me is that my boyfriend's one of those really GungHo Ya Gotta Push Yourself To Improve kind of people and seems to think most the fun in riding with someone else is that it encourages you to push yourself more. So every ride together by the end of the first mile when I'm finally starting to enjoy it I'm also ready to reach over and tip him off his bike. He's not very impressed with my urge to tip him like a cow.

I'm just going to put some ear plugs in I think and go just as slow as I please for that first mile from now on. I'm sure it will get better as I get less out of shape. And he can just bite my increasingly shapely and fit butt for that first mile. For the record, he really is a great, sweet guy. Just 'warming up' for me seems to mean "Moving slow as a sloth in a deep freezer while devoting all attention to avoiding inclines." and for him it seems to mean "a cheerful, brisk sprint up a hill"

Pretty sure nothing is wrong with my bike and that it's all me<G> But I'll go over it later tonight and check her out.
And I'll try going into even lower gears and getting into the hang of this whole spinning concept And smile knowing that it's GOT to get easier than this