terrified of hills

[RoadRaven]

Yell cowabunga and carry a golf club...


Road -completely-unhelpful - Raven

[OakLeaf]

OK, now that we've got form covered how do I get rid of the fear of squirrels or groundhogs darting out into the road?

It's really all the same as it is in cars or motorcycles. You're forgiven since I remember what you said about what you learned in driver's ed

1. See with your whole eyes. Scan the shoulders, woods and grassy margins well ahead of you for critters that might be inclined to dart out.

2. Don't go faster than your visibility and reaction time allow you to do safely. You don't need to be bombing around at 100% all the time. "Save it for the track" is as true on a bicycle as it is on any other wheeled vehicle.

3. Do the drills velogirl's described, and/or other drills of your choice, to improve your handling skills so that your stopping/swerving distance decreases, and you can then go faster within the limits of #2.


The only groundhog I've ever run over on the m/c is one that was sunning itself on the center line - belly up I swear - DH and I both saw it and both assumed it was dead. He went by and woke it up, whereupon it ran directly under my front wheel. Fortunately I was straight up and down and didn't even slide. But that has resulted in another "rule of the road" for me -

Never assume anything is dead until you see its guts.

[smilingcat]

totally agree with oakleaf about not going so fast that you can't stop within your view. I like the fridge and the truck comment.

And yes always look where you are going not where your wheel is contacting the ground. At high speed I may be looking 100 to 300feet ahead of me.

The infamous death ride have straight downhill section where if you wanted, you could go over 60MPH (100+km/hr). And there were cattle guards. Thankfully, most of the metal cattle guards have been replaced with a "painted" cattle guard. Cattle guards are metal grates with slots in the direction of travel. Great to catch your wheels. So keep a sharp look out when going fast and NEVER, like oakleaf says, go so fast that you can't stop in time.

and to velogirl,

I guess I never thought about it in terms of pointing your core. I guess this is the same thing as "throwing my weight into the turn", my head is always facing toward the direction I want to go... and thank you for reminding me about weight over the bike in the turn.

I go slow around the turns these days. No need to push or test the limits of what the bike and I can do. Also I really lost my "edge" after the accident.

smilingcat

[Tokie]

I have years and years (20+) of wanting to cry at the top of hills because I hated descending soooo much. At cycling camp this Nov, one of the coaches took me down some really bumpy steep switchbacky descents nice and slow. She too used to be terrified of descending, and her tips have changed my life! Mind you, I have heard a bazillion times and know how to counter steer, move my body weight and legs, etc. What helped me is what I call "Slow, low and let it go". Feather your brakes on descents - and, as Dotsie told me, if you get going too fast when your confidence improves, "you can always slam on the brakes.". Don't brake during the turns, braking with the front brake will pull your front wheel out of carving the turn into a vertical pulling straight up and out of carving the turn which feels - and is- not safe. So as you approach that curve or switchback - feather,feather,feather your brakes - get to a nice SLOW speed that you feel kind of safe at. Next - GET LOW ! Down in the drops with those elbows bent - very bent! I used to avoid this posture because I thought it made you descend faster and I would lose control. Now I know it greatly enhances steering control and it feels SOOO much safer. And lastly, when you get to the beginning of the scary turn really slow and low in your drops - let it go! Let yourself carve through the turn! Once you get the hang of it, you can start going a bit faster, bit by bit. Dotsie called it "taking baby steps" and I have to remind myself that just because I can go sort of faster down familiar descents, if I try to push that expectation on unfamiliar descents, I will scare myself again, and feel like a failure. So watch what you are doing with those arms,that low elbow bent aero looking position in the drops may just change your life! Good Luck! I forgot to mention, as others have also said - look through the turns to where you want your bike to go, not just the few feet in front of your bike.This helps you relax and focus on getting through the turn and what's ahead!

[Melalvai]

OK, now that we've got form covered how do I get rid of the fear of squirrels or groundhogs darting out into the road?

Do not worry. They are biodegradable.

[KnottedYet]

Practice running over waterbottles.

[RoadRaven]

Heyt Knot, great idea... but she needs to glue some fake fur onto them to help desensitise her

[Tokie]

Hey Knot, is it safe to run over full water bottles? One popped out in front of my friend on a fast double paceline group ride and she managed to avoid it. If the bottle was full is there a chance it would make you crash? Does it make a difference if you are lightweight(?less mass to smoosh the full bottle?) Is this a hijack of a thread hijack? I really do want to know if it's dangerous to ride over a water bottle. Thanks! Carol

[Trek420]

I've never ridden paceline I'd think you'd have to make an executive decision whether a sudden movement could disrupt the group or go for the kamikaze chipmunk I mean water bottle with fake fur on it.

On Alameda Creek Trail chipmunks hide and wait then dash towards your wheels. Maybe it's a coming of age rite of passage for them? "My son, you are now a grown male chipmunk, you must dash at bike wheels". Or maybe they egg each other on "I double dare you, 'cmon, she's old and slow"

I've ridden over water bottles. The traditional squooshy plastic ones harmlessly squish. Anyone want to try the new hard plastic ones? Or the safe metal ones?

You go first

[smilingcat]

bad form to drop a water bottle in a pace line but if it does happen, run over it or atleast try hop over it. But never swerve. cause if do, it could cause multiple crashes. I think the lids always pop and water squishes out.

I've dropped my own water bottle and I've ran over it too. Bad form on my part. The lid popped and water squished. And I was out of a water bottle.

smilingcat

[teigyr]

My worst crash ever was to try to grab a water bottle in mid-air as it was falling to the ground. That's worse form than running over one though knowing me, I'd try to brake or do something spastic.

I am also way scared of downhills! What I learned though is practice is most important. I will go down hills I am familiar with. Some are more challenging than others and there are times that I will stop to regroup (and relax my hands because by this point they are cramped). There are also times I will ride with one foot unclipped as I'm going an ungainly 5mph down the hills. Anyway I learned that once I'm familiar with the hill and know how it ends and where the curves are, my comfort level increases and I can go faster and do things like not stop or not unclip. Once I reach that point, if I'm on a hill I'm not familiar with, I think "hey, I can do this. I've done worse.".

As far as technique goes, the other people have some wonderful ideas. My technique is not good...I just do what it takes to make me not want to curl up in a ball in absolute horror. Just keep at it, you will get there. You might not be one of those people who fly down hills at 50 mph but you will know your limits and be able to control your bike.

And the Death Ride? The ONLY thing that would make me not ride it (that and the fact I'm not in shape for hills right now) are the downhills

[iowagrad]

Thanks for all the tips. You ladies are awesome. I'll still remain terrified until the weather nicens up and I can get out there. If you think I'm doing hills in freezing cold with snow and ice, you're insane! I'll let you all know how it turns out for me this spring.

[Geonz]

I have years and years (20+) of wanting to cry at the top of hills because I hated descending soooo much. At cycling camp this Nov, one of the coaches took me down some really bumpy steep switchbacky descents nice and slow. She too used to be terrified of descending, and her tips have changed my life! Mind you, I have heard a bazillion times and know how to counter steer, move my body weight and legs, etc. What helped me is what I call "Slow, low and let it go". Feather your brakes on descents - and, as Dotsie told me, if you get going too fast when your confidence improves, "you can always slam on the brakes.". Don't brake during the turns, braking with the front brake will pull your front wheel out of carving the turn into a vertical pulling straight up and out of carving the turn which feels - and is- not safe. So as you approach that curve or switchback - feather,feather,feather your brakes - get to a nice SLOW speed that you feel kind of safe at. Next - GET LOW ! Down in the drops with those elbows bent - very bent! I used to avoid this posture because I thought it made you descend faster and I would lose control. Now I know it greatly enhances steering control and it feels SOOO much safer. And lastly, when you get to the beginning of the scary turn really slow and low in your drops - let it go! Let yourself carve through the turn! Once you get the hang of it, you can start going a bit faster, bit by bit. Dotsie called it "taking baby steps" and I have to remind myself that just because I can go sort of faster down familiar descents, if I try to push that expectation on unfamiliar descents, I will scare myself again, and feel like a failure. So watch what you are doing with those arms,that low elbow bent aero looking position in the drops may just change your life! Good Luck! I forgot to mention, as others have also said - look through the turns to where you want your bike to go, not just the few feet in front of your bike.This helps you relax and focus on getting through the turn and what's ahead!

When I was reading the tips from the folks who were talking about taking turns racing and when to brake, I was thinking "but that's not addressing the issue." I know when I'm weenie-ing, I'm not in anything like their form or posture and honestly, I'm not going anything like that fast. It's a completely different animal.
I go down steep hills a couple times a year so mostly I don't even worry about it... but I hate 'em. But I, too, have had a little bit of success trying to put myself *into* the turn, albeit slow-movingly, instead of as if my bicycle were a wild bag of laundry with handles and I was just trying not to get dragged away by it.

[jusdooit]

Thanks Velo for the info and pics. Went for a short ride this afternoon and tried this technique on a "gentle" downhill turn. I had been pedaling through because I like speed, but handling the turn as you described I was able to maintain speed (21.5 mph) and it was fun!!!!! I will continue to practice so I can handle tighter turns in the future.

[Zen]

Heyt Knot, great idea... but she needs to glue some fake fur onto them to help desensitise her

Very true, but then I'd probably get attached to the water bottle