slightly neurotic newbie on a hybrid

[BarbaraAlys]

Everone tells me that if you are feeling excessive pressure on your hands your fit is probably not right. You might look into that. Tingling hands might be pressure on the nerves going through the wrist, too much of that over time could be a problem.

Barbara

[malkin]

Keep up the good work.

The terror I experienced regularly 18 months ago has faded. I'm not sure if it's because of increased strength or experience or possibly because the teeny tiny head injury I sustained a year ago, but I'm riding like a different person this year.

Really! I can start and stop and dodge cars, go up and down hills and sometimes I even go fast (ok, that's relative).

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Most often tingling or numb hands are just a sign that there is too much weight on your hands. However, it can also be caused by clsoing your glove velcro straps too snugly. This happened to me! I found I had to adjust my gloves straps VERY loosely in order to not get tingly hands. Just one little thing to check.

Here's another couple of thoughts-
-Be sure to wear BRIGHT clothing so cars will see you better.

-Do not move over so far to the right that you are afraid of catching the pavement edges with your tires and falling. Drivers and other cyclists are more experienced than you and they'll have no problem going around you. If you are wobbly then leave at least a foot between you and where the pavement drops off.

-This last tip is weird but true. Studies have shown that when cars pass bikers on the road, they give a wider safety margin to bikers dressed in such a way as to be obviously female. Long hair, bright flower prints, pink helmet, a jersey that doesn't cover up your shape, whatever. Seems that drivers associate feminine looking bikers with irratic or beginner biking skills, so they give them a wider berth when they pass around them. It's unfortunate that things are this way in our world, but there you go, and as a terrified new rider you could use this to your advantage until you gain more confidence on the roads.

[DebTX]

Great tips, Lisa - thanks for sharing that list.
Amazing piece of trivia about driver behavior around female riders. The feminist in me hates the idea, but the newbie cyclist is grateful for anything that keeps me safer!

[Aggie_Ama]

Deb- I find what Lisa said about women cyclist very true and I am in your neck of the woods. When I ride home from work I wear a wrap skirt over my shorts, it is amazing how much nicer the drivers are than when I am not in the skirt. I should just wear it all the time I guess.

[TrekTheKaty]

Hang in there! You'll get better with experience. My sister didn't start riding her hybrid until she was 60. She was very difficult to ride with--she laid on the brakes and swerved a lot. We once had to turn around on a trail, because she was sure she was heading into the ditch (don't stare at the ditch--just look straight ahead. Your bike will go where you are looking). Any trail that crossed a road, also involved turning around.

Now, I can barely keep up with her. She's learned to ride on narrower trails, across and ON country roads. Just the other day, we were in downtown St. Charles and they were setting up for a festival. She rolled right through the middle of everything and then headed off through the grass when she saw a booth she wanted to visit. I just stopped and watched in awe.

The death grip will get better when you get comfortable. Just scan your body every 10 minutes or so, and try to relax those tense muscles.