I am absolutely riding high on endorphins right now and must, must, must tell you all about my very first ride. I am a new rider (had bikes when I was younger, but never with gears). I've spent the last few weeks learning shopping, and stressing over which bike to get. Yesterday I finally brought my new Lemond Tourmalet home (pics soon). And, today, I went on my first ride!!!

I'm in socal, so my boyfriend and I went to the Malibu canyons. We did a 12 mile loop with some climbs that about killed me. I averaged 11mph and tried to keep my cadence decent, but it was generally lower than I've read it should be. I switched out the bontrager saddle before I even started (thanks to advice I read here). The specialized saddle I put on felt fine. The only real pain I felt was pressure between my thumbs and index fingers, a little soreness in my neck and shoulders and the burn in my legs. However none of it was unbearable. I'm proud to say that I only rested twice for about a minute and a drink. And, despite threating to, I never actually walked the bike up any of the hills.

Shifting was difficult, especially since I had no idea what I was doing. However, by the end I felt that I was getting the hang of it. Thanks to you all and Sheldon Brown's article. It also helped that my boyfriend would occasionally yell out for me to shift if he saw that my chain was too angled.

Clipping was intimidating, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I did topple once. I made the mistake of resting in the middle of a long, somewhat steep hill and then trying to clip back in while going uphill. I just sort of wavered then fell. It gave my boyfriend a good hard laugh.

Riding with my boyfriend was good. He seems to enjoy teaching me and was very helpful. He's stronger than I am, but I don't think I held him up too much. The funny thing is, after we finished, he was raring to do more. I had to remind him that we shouldn't get too crazy on our first ride. Now he's passed out on the couch and I'm full of energy

Now for a couple of questions. Could the hand pain be from having to reach too far to shift and brake? Can I get something for my shimano 105's to shorten the reach? Or, does it mean that I've got my weight distributed wrong? I assume a little shoulder and neck pain is normal at this point, am I right? The bike shop has a slightly longer stem on order for me- is that likely to help or hurt? Also, would you recommend doing the same ride again tomorrow, or switching it up?

By the way, I just want to say thank you again to everyone posting here. The information and advice here is priceless. After riding today, I have a whole new appreciation for you ladies.