Roger Zoul wrote:
snip

Comments on how to avoid any more spills and what to do with a popped spoke
and an untrued wheel on a ride would be much appreciated. Somehow, I feel a
bit unsure if myself now....damn!



As others have mentioned, you'll get the hang of the pedals really soon.
Unclipping on one side and then falling over the other way has
caught me out as well, one way to avoid that is to hang your leg out
when you unclip to keep you leaning that side.

As to the spokes, if a wheel is built properly and tensioned correctly,
there's really no reason for spokes to break. I'd recommend getting a
new wheel handbuilt by somebody who knows what they are doing, and you
shouldn't have any problems. Once a wheel has started popping spokes,
you're fighting a losing battle to keep it true and tensioned.

Cheers

Peter