I learned to ride a bike at a tender age of 34.
The way I did it was take my wife's bike, lower the saddle until I felt safe, and went to the local bike path every couple of days. The locals were treated to the spectacle of a grown man trying (badly) to balance on a bike. It helps if you can laugh at your own expense 😉 Learning to tolerate doing something embarassing is a useful skill to cultivate in general.
A slight downhill and I could balance, but it was hilariously bad. A month later I was sort of ride. Two months later I was buying myself a bike.
That was a little over 4 years (and 32000km of riding and 3000km of running in that time) ago. My bike handling skills are still lacking (but improving) compared to someone who learned as a kid, but I've done a couple of full distance Ironman races so far, recently a 300km bike race with 5500m of climbing, and so on; I class myself as a pretty solid rider. So, it doesn't take very long.
So, basically, just go outside and learn and don't let causing a bit of public spectacle bother you. It goes by fast. Who cares about what people think? With some luck, in some time you'll be dressed up in lycra head to toe and everyone who doesn't ride will think you are weird. Who cares 😉
Last edited by Branko D; 11-25-21 at 03:18 PM.