Good to hear from you again, Mr. Froman.
I didn't know you had a beard.
To the OP: pretty much buy a bike you are comfortable riding. I am a clydesdale and I don't break stuff ... though I do take the weight off my seat for bumps and I don't bash curbs. I was worried when I started riding 20- or 24-spoke wheels but now I don't.
Weight limits on bikes are like "sell-by" dates on canned goods.They have nothing to do with the actual product, they are designed to give lawyers a way to deflect lawsuits.
People act like a bike with a 285-lb "weight limit" will shatter into a million shards if someone who weighs 287 gets on.
My wife thinks that of the milk is older than the "sell-by" date it needs to be dumped ... even though it looks, smells, and tastes fine. I try to explain that the distributor expects you might keep it for a week or ten days in your refrigerator, and adds a few days onto that just in case ....
Right now I am halfway through a case of tomato basil soup which "expired" a month ago. Got it cheap, and it is delicious. That stuff will probably be exactly as edible ten years from now if I don't break the seals on the containers.
Test-ride some bikes. Don't spend too much until know what kind of riding you like best. Try flat-bar and drop-bar. Then ....
Buy a bike and ride it. You will find it is as easy as riding a bike.