At least, the third time was the charm for me. I didnt fall over today!!! YaY I am quite happy about that as the last two times I rode my bike I fell over. Not crashed mind you... fell. The cause of the falling has been me unable to get unclipped from my pedals. 1st time, no harm done, 2nd time (yesterday) I am bearing wounds from it. Not too bad but I haven't done that in some time and wasn't really wanting to ever do it again. But today I rode to church (3.25 miles) then hopped the bike into beautiful Nikki's SUV and went out to lunch and rode home from there (8.75 miles). I got some good speed going too. 38 MPH in one spot and 38.5 MPH on the last hill before my house.
"How do you know" you ask? a little computer (a Cateye Enduro, avail from REI for $30) mounted on the handlebars with a sensor on the front tire. I love that thing. Helps to push me. At the push of a button I have current speed(always on), average speed, time ridden, max speed, distance ridden since last reset, and distance ridden since last battery change.
A few more rides like this and I might just feel confident enuff to hit a trail or two.