I finally switched to clipless and only fell once, but am still scared

[mimitabby]

Glad you are getting a helmet!! It's a great habit to get into. You can fall on a dirt trail and hit your head too, cars aren't the only danger.

I FLEW from my horse a few times myself, but the big difference here is that I am twice as old now.
A few years ago, I flew from my bike after hitting a rough surface and cracked my ribs.

I did lots worse on my horses and was never the worse for wear. I have been fallen on, kicked, and flew into a fence as well as onto a gravel road.


But now I am 50+ and I break more easily and heal more slowly. I haven't gone clipless yet.

[pooks]

When I first started using the clipless pedals I would look ahead and anticipate upcoming stops such as stop signs, heavy traffic, etc and while approaching that "have to stop" area I would keeping telling myself over and over again in my head "I am attached, must clip out" and I would make sure to clip out well before I came to a complete stop that way I didn't just stop and tip over while still clipped in. For some reason just looking far ahead and telling myself "I am attached, must clip out" over and over again in my head really seemed to help me a great deal. Congrats on switching to clipless pedals, they really are great and help with climping and even on the flats as you can pull on the backstroke of your pedaling.

I haven't switched to clipless yet, but I wanted to say that the first time my husband and I went to the UK we rented a car and drove. (As we've done on all trips since.) There he was with a standard shift -- sitting on the wrong side of the car, driving on the wrong side of the road, shifting with the wrong hand. And he did exactly what you're recommending.

Every time he took his seat, he'd take his left hand and "air-practice" shifting, saying, "Neutral, Drive, Reverse..." and say aloud what he had to remember to drive. We laughed about it, and then he'd take off. But after one day of that reinforcement, by the second day it was instinct.

Until we got home and he tried to drive down the wrong side of the road to get out of the airport.

[aicabsolut]

Now I just have to figure out how the bike is more dangerous than the horse.

A bike is not more dangerous than a horse. You ought to wear a helmet on both (this coming from someone who doesn't yet wear the new mandatory approved helmets for showjumping.. I will probably get one next month--I'm not riding right now anyway).

At least on a horse, you usually don't fall on pavement. But I've taken a nasty spill on soft sand (the horse fell down too), and had quite the concussion. Get a riding helmet TOO.