thank you everyone for your help and suggestions! this morning i woke up and while my bedside clock said 7am, my phone and watch were telling me it was only 6am. i realised daylight savings had ended here last night (it's autumn/fall here in my part of the southern hemisphere) so i figured hey, traffic will probably be pretty light and most everybody with some sense is still asleep so early on a sunday morning, why not slap on your helmet, jump on the bike, and check out that path you were curious about?

so i did! even managed to get halfway up the hill around the corner before having to get off & push. the path turned out to be a bust but there are plenty of other options. got in about 20-25 minutes and already feel way more optimistic about my improvement. i was right about traffic being light to non-existent, even saw someone else pushing their bike up a steep hill before zipping off and disappearing. going rapidly downhill on narrow sidewalks was terrifying and there were a few wobbles but no harm done! hopefully i can continue the momentum and do little rides frequently to build up my skills & confidence