Learning to Ride all Over...Again 380 Days to Go

I realize that I can not ride like I used to. If I want to complete an Ironman Race, I was going to need a real tri bike and that meant I was going to have to clip in and get riding shoes. Tri bikes come in two types: Full carbon and everything else! My Dad raised me to believe that you should never do a half ass job. If I was going to do this, I needed to go all in (yes I was going to get a full carbon bike).
Full carbons start at 3K and go up to 10K. There was no way I could afford a 3k bike. Maybe a 2K...maybe. Then a strange thing happened. Prices started to drop. I might be able to get a real tri bike. With dozens of brands, how was I going to you know which one to buy? Everyone I spoke to said the same thing, "You'll know. It will feel right." I thought it was the laimest thing I had ever heard. Then it happened. I walked into a store, tried a bike and I knew.
$ 1,800 later I was the owner of a full carbon tri bike. Next, I needed to get fitted. Yes, fitted to the bike. I've been fitted for suits, so how long could it take?
Ten minutes?
Try 2 & 1/2 hours.
First they measure your foot.
Then they measure the shoe you chose.
That alone takes 30 minutes.
Then you stand next to the bike
(When do I get to ride the thing?)
They measure standing next to the bike. Sit on it. Get off. Move the seat. Get back on. Get off, move the handle bars.
Move them again. And again and again.
(Both the seat and the handle bars can be moved in all three verticees-x, y, & z)
Three trips to the meter and two plus hours later we are finished. I had a real tri bike and it was custom fitted to maximize my performance.
Now I had to learn how to ride it. I had never rode a bike where the shoes were fastened to the peddles.