First shave , began by crawling

Well today I began my SR shaving journey, and it was fabulous. I started with a hot shower, then out of the shower to a bit of Art of Shaving pre shave oil. Once the oil set for a minute I got a great lather with the Art of Shaving lemon shave cream and then on to the shave. Of course I gave my virgin Dovo a good stropping prior to the shave and then on to the right cheek,(im a righty) i had a tiny bit of pulling or sticking but nothing bad, maybe i have to try it witout the oil as my skin has a good amount of oil anyway. I shaved my right cheek, just the cheek, not the chin not the stash and it was perfect, smooth as a babys bottom, with only once pass and I finished with the Art of Shaving lemon after shave lotion(i guess i love lemon). As so many have said take it slow, so that is what i shall do. I plan on doing the right cheek for a few days then the right and left and so on as i build my confidence and comfort with the razor in my hands. I was a very powerful and satisfying experience though, so needless to say im hooked. Thanks for all the advice and information that everyone continues to provide for us Newbies.

Congrats:) where in norcal you located?

If you want to call it Cali, more like southern Oregon, I'm in Eureka,Ca

Know the area well,used to spend the entire month of Aug,every year chasing steelhead on the Klamath and smith rivers.

Summer months are beautiful I'll give you that, no rain, lots of cool sunshine. But they are also the busy months here for boating traffic.(active duty Coast Guard here) Amazing Oysters as well here.

I think you're really going to benefit from the slow approach you're taking. I did the same when I first started. You hear so many horror stories about guys who muscle their way through their first shave and slice themselves up in the process or end up with some knee buckling razor burn. Taking the time to get the feel for it really helps you avoid some of those initial mistakes. You'll know when you're ready to take on more. Smart move. Good luck.