Afraid of Speed

[7rider]

Gotta agree with SadieKate.
I have a friend who, well, when mountainbiking, used to call out "Pedal, pedal, pedal" and "Speed is your friend."
Speed puts the scary stuff behind you quicker, and on the downhill makes the next uphill easier.
You don't have to bomb down a hill doing a billion miles an hour, but as you get more comfy with the bike and how it behaves on the road, you'll get more comfortable expanding your limits.
Good luck and ...most importantly...have fun!

[CyclChyk]

My hubby likes to call me PuttPutt for that very reason. But I have managed to increase my speed to about 19 on average and 22-23 when I'm feeling froggy. I still break alot but I completely agree that its a comfort / familiarity level with your bike. I've had mine for about a month and a half and the more I ride it the more confident I get. I'll still be called PuttPutt in comparison to my cocky hubby, but give me a couple more months. I'll give him a run for his money!!

Give yourself time. You'll double your speed before you know it!

[mimitabby]

they call YOU putt putt and you average over 19mph!!

i guess that makes me a snail or a slug or something.

[eclectic]

My hubby likes to call me PuttPutt for that very reason. But I have managed to increase my speed to about 19 on average and 22-23 when I'm feeling froggy.

!

Just out of curiosity is that mph or kph? around here if you are doing 22-23 you could ride on the hammer nights!

[Geonz]

For me it can be a little like "being afraid of the ball" when you're trying to catch it. If you're in "fear" mode, you are looking for one thing to pay attention to, because it might hurt you... and pulling attention away from riding smoothly *forward* and being in the process of riding and anticipating. My few attempts at anything like mountain biking have been pretty silly because often you need to speed up to anticipate instead of slowing down.

[eclectic]

Just keep putting the miles on and the fear will eventually subside.

I got my road bike last summer and I was scared of it. I wasn't afraid to go faster on the roads where I could see a long ways and knew what was coming up. I always braked going down hills and any little gravel or debris on the road had me hitting my brakes. I HATED riding in town and would go out of my way to avoid busy streets.

Each time out I got a little more confident.

This summer I have put about 1800 miles on it and I was just thinking last week as I rode it how good and solid it feels now and how I am not afraid of it any more.

My top speed this summer was 40.5 going down a hill I knew well whoo hoo

As a matter of note - the only times I have fallen I have been going less than 5 miles an hour - go figure

[Kitsune06]

I used to be the same way. There are still hills that scare the bejezzus out of me... those are ones that are on gravel roads, with lots of loose, mushy gravel at the bottom. I might suggest using some of the mtn biker tips and tricks on descents until you feel better and more secure about your speed. i.e. move back a little and maybe even out of your seat a touch, with your pedals at 3 and 9. I'll be corrected if I'm wrong (I'm sure) but even though those are used to cushion blows and reduce the chance of endo, on descents they really do add to your ability to balance, and the way you 'feel' the speed, as well. I wouldn't necessarily reccomend it on a group ride, but while you're acclimating yourself to speed, I'd give it a shot.

[CyclChyk]

Please allow me to clarify as my thought process and typing were aparently on different planets (I'll blame it on blonde roots). I do about 17-19mph on average road; 21-23 on hills. My hubby is VERY competitive so he pushes me for all I've got. However my average speed for hills and road combined over a 12-14 mile run is only about 14mph. That's why I am nicknamed "PuttPutt".

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I've been riding for only about 3 months now. I too fear high speeds, especially downhill.
But I don't worry, experience will fix all that. I see little improvements in my riding every week. I just enjoy riding my bike.

Yesterday while I was breezing down an open sunny country road on my bike past a field of those wonderful giant hay roll bales. Suddenly there was a big highway dept flashing sign temporarily set up there on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

As I pedalled past, the sign lights blinked at me threateningly:

"YOU...ARE...GOING...(blink blink blink)...13 MPH!" Too funny.

Had to stop myself from "slamming on my brakes" in an automatic guilt reaction.

[Looeez]

There are some really big hills on my way to work (5 miles each way) and I too am really scared of going fast download hill and brake constantly. I worry that even though I'm looking ahead for cars that they might not see me. I don't know what speed I ride. Working it out based on the distance and the time taken on my usual commute I would say it's around a snailspace of 8 mph.

I'm hoping as I get more experience and keep going I will eventually improve. I don't really want to push myself too hard to the point where I'm not enjoying cycling. I figure that after 20 years of not having touched a bike then just commuting to work is a pretty good start. I really enjoy commuting at a leisurely pace and it still works out faster than the bus I used to take.

I should probably add that my bike is definately not built for speed - it a cruiser sort of thing, that looks like the basic bikes everyone uses in Europe except the tyres are fat. I really love it and because it was cheap I'm not too precious about it.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

It is obviously wise to maintain a speed at which one feels they still have control over their bike. Higher speed comes naturally later on, with more skill and control. I don't worry about speed- I do what feels good. It's a yucky feeling to feel like your bike might skid out of control!

[Geonz]

We were on our saunter ride, and a woman in our club who averages about 12 mph saw a cop car... and hit the brakes automatically. *Then* she almost fell off the bike laughing.
I love those big radar screens... I try to get 'em up as high as I can (usually about 18 'cause it will be on a busy commuter road and I'm negotiating stop signs). Haven't made one flash at me yet... *there's* a goal...
I used ot have a goal to ride faster than the temperatutre at least once... but now that's too easy 'cause I've got the gear to ride when it's 5 degrees.

[mimitabby]

At the plant where i work, it is big enough that we have streets and stuff on the company campus; which also means speed pr oblems so we have one of those machines too. We're all trying to see how FAST we can get the company bikes to go. I got it all the way up to 15, but the two guys who are also "competing" have gotten the worksman 40+ pound bikes up to 18 and 19 mph!!!

Who ever thought those speed monitoring signs would be so entertaining??!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We're all just a bunch of kids, aren't we?

[eclectic]

Please allow me to clarify as my thought process and typing were aparently on different planets (I'll blame it on blonde roots). I do about 17-19mph on average road; 21-23 on hills. My hubby is VERY competitive so he pushes me for all I've got. However my average speed for hills and road combined over a 12-14 mile run is only about 14mph. That's why I am nicknamed "PuttPutt".

Thanks for clarifying i thought WOW that gal is cruising and her husband is calling her puttputt! I'd never even show my face!

you wouldn't be nicknamed putt putt around here 14mph is very respectable