When people ask about being scared to descend hills too fast, I say, "Take it slow, you'll get used to it." In the meantime you might go through your brake pads faster, but that's ok.

When people talk about being scared of traffic, I tell them the statistics: most of your wrecks are caused by yourself and don't involve a car. Focus on bike-handling skills, you'll get better as you keep riding. Half of bike-car collisions are the cyclist's fault. Follow the rules. Take the bike class to learn defensive bicycling which will actively discourage drivers' mistakes.

But I have noticed a disturbing trend in myself lately. Someone else mentioned noticing the same thing about himself. I've gotten more scared of things. The last couple times we went sledding I didn't have any fun at all. The slopes were too scary and I quit after a couple attempts. Heights are scarier than they used to be. Although I have gotten better at going over bridges (the "get used to it" theory?)

When a friend commented that he doesn't like to walk on ice, even for fun, because he's scared of falling and he thinks he's getting more scared in his "old" age, that got me wondering. Is it an age related phenomenon? (Ok, I'm not quite 40, and he's only 55, neither of us qualify as "old", but it could be something to do with getting older?)

And, more importantly, what can we do about it? I don't want to lose things I used to enjoy, like sledding. Any ideas?