To my amazement the neighbours on both sides of the hosue have tried the recumbent with success the very first time. I know one of them does not know anything to bikes, while the other might have been riding bkes in the past (recumbents not). That one went right out of sight on the very first try (which is a bit scary for me the recumbent owner ! ;-)
So you see, it depends. This was a very SWB recumbent (AB HiRacer). Perhaps you should not base an idea of what it is on a single try. I for one took more than 10 minutes just to get out of the garage and into the drivewway on the very first day.
Cheers.