First, congrats on your adventure!! Thats exactly what i did when i started riding, was setting goals to accomplish. First it was to get the bike inspected 10 blocks away. Then to the gas station 2 miles away. Then to my moms house 7 miles away. Then to my dads 30 miles away... eventually i was doing 100+ miles a day just riding around. It all comes natural after a while. Keep at it!
As for the Shadow incident ... (the kickstand sensor went in mine, it will only start in neutral now). What probably happened is what happens on mine .. since i have to start in neutral .. is when the bike is off and you want to change gear (mainly for neutral), it gets stuck even with the clutch pulled in. Seems that if its off and in 1st or 2nd, the gear is engaged, and rocking the bike back n forth slightly lets the pressure off the gear so you can go into neutral (or 1st for that matter) easily. Remember that for next time
