A little nervous...

[Catrin]

I've always enjoyed riding my country roads, but after the dog bite I find it is a little more difficult to get started.... I still go, and have had several good rides since the attack, but it makes me a little nervous until I get going. Once I get started I am fine.

I am sure this is quite normal & to be expected, but for now it makes it a little more difficult to just head out and explore. I REALLY LIKE to do that, so I need to get over it. Now

[OakLeaf]

I do best in those situations if I push myself a little, only to where I'm slightly uncomfortable, and try to frame the incident as a learning experience in my head. If I'm terrified (I sure hope you aren't, but if you are), I don't think it's useful to try to push through it - it only creates more reluctance to go out the next time. If I'm gentle with my discomfort, explore it, poke at it a little, my head will heal.

It's been little by little getting my head back from my crash. I'm still wary about whose wheel I will take, and even if it's someone I've ridden with a lot and know to be highly skilled, I leave more space than I used to. On TOSRV, everyone I knew rode Saturday only - so on the way back, people I didn't know got one chance to kill me, and that was it. I dropped off a whole lot of pacelines that day ...

[Catrin]

That makes sense. It isn't terror, nothing like that. There is a little aversion to riding in new areas I've not ridden before because of the possibility of more war dogs...but I think that will pass as I push myself a bit.

I also recognize that it was a very specific set of circumstances that presented the opportunity for the dog to gnaw on my calf while I was riding. I was on my mountain bike for the first time, riding on gravel for the first time, my speed was quite slow, etc. The odds of that specific set of circumstances happening again are quite slim, so I am really not worried about a repeat. If I DO find myself on another narrow gravel road and see something similar then I will simply stop until they are past me.

I also think that it will help as I pass more dogs on my bike that do not try to eat me Obviously not all dogs are that aggressive. Right now I give all dogs the widest margin that I can - even the little tiny things that couldn't even reach my ankles on the bike

I would love to hit the roads in southern Indiana for some hill training, but I think I will give it a few weeks and see if I can find someone willing to ride with me the first time - I am slow so I don't usually seek a riding partner - but I thank that will help me to get over the dog fear. Club rides don't really count in this department as I still wind up riding solo

[Biciclista]

sounds like you need someone to ride with a bit while you are getting over your jitters?
what makes it worse is you know that dog is probably still loose.

[owlice]

Catrin, I hope you put foremost in your mind that you won, not the dog! He was hoping to have you for lunch; you didn't give him the opportunity!

Roar, woman, roar!!

(I'm partly serious there; roaring might really help you get past the jitters! Might get you to giggling, too, and that's always a good thing!)

[Catrin]

Catrin, I hope you put foremost in your mind that you won, not the dog! He was hoping to have you for lunch; you didn't give him the opportunity!

Roar, woman, roar!!

(I'm partly serious there; roaring might really help you get past the jitters! Might get you to giggling, too, and that's always a good thing!)

Yes, I try to keep this in mind - I did indeed WIN and got away from the dog even without beautiful purple chain-mail leggings This nervousness will pass in time as I get more rides in without repeats, and I think talking about it here helps. If I were to talk to my non-cycling peeps about it I KNOW what they would say and giving up cycling simply is not going to happen

I like the roaring idea

[Catrin]

sounds like you need someone to ride with a bit while you are getting over your jitters?
what makes it worse is you know that dog is probably still loose.

Yeah, that would probably be good for a bit. The "good" thing is the route I was on is not one I would ever ride with my Gunnar, so I was away from my usual roads. Not by much, but hopefully enough

I will say that my hot and windy 30+ ride Sunday was fine, and while I did see a few dogs none of them were loose

[tangentgirl]

Maybe you could get your own toy dog, like a small plastic dog or stuffed dog that you can tie to your handlebar for a bit. It will protect you from the bad dogs. Just a small trick to help you psyche yourself into the right mindset.