Very new and a little scared

[Catrin]

I know, it's a common thing, I'm seeing.

I just bought a new road bike today. ..........
I took a bad, bad spill on a mountain bike (not sure why I even tried that knowing how poor my cycling skills are) over a year ago, and I'm very scared to fall again. Is it inevitable that I will crash again? The mountain bike incident wasn't even on the trail, it was once we got back down to the road and I turned too sharply and spilled over the handlebars and bloodied up my face, breaking the visor on my helmet... needless to say, I'm kind of scared to get into riding, even "just" road riding.

Anyway, I knew it would be this way, and I know there's a learning curve... but I'm not very good! The road bike is a different feel from the hybrid or the mtn bike (which was borrowed), obviously... and I'm sure it will take some time to get used to it. I'm wanting to use the bike for commuting to work as well (about 3 miles... easy!). I chose the road bike because I'd like to become a better cyclist and would like to build up to longer rides of 2-3 hours.

But... I'm scared of riding in busy traffic, which will be part of my commute, unfortunately. I am able to look over my shoulder to see what's behind me, but I am still having a hard time actually seeing what's behind me....I have a feeling I just wasn't comfortable looking over my shoulder for a long enough period of time to see anything coming at me... does this make sense?

Congratulations on your new bike! A picture would be nice

I wouldn't say "just" road riding, it is all exciting and fun - with different challenges I am sorry to hear about your spill, that sounds scary. I am glad that you escaped without serious harm!

I got on a bike for the first time 6 months ago. That learning curve is an interesting one for sure. Have you considered putting a mirror on your bars? Personally I like Mirrcycle and they have one for road bars, it goes on the hoods. They do make several types for road bars and you will find that a good number of us here do use bar-end or helmet/eyeglass mirrors. I use my bar-end mirror to check what is coming up behind me, and then look over my shoulder to see what might be beside me.

Can you find a less busy route to work? I know sometimes that isn't possible. Perhaps give yourself a little time to practice on less-traveled roads before hitting the busy streets?

Also, I'm having a bad time riding with one hand, like during signaling, or needing to scratch my face or something... Tonight I was just trying to take my hand off for a short moment, and then increasing the length of time that the hand was off the bar each time... but I still feel very uncomfortable with it.

Maybe all of this will just take time, and I need to get used to it... but I would appreciate any help and/or tips you may have!

This will come with time, I have been riding for 6 months and can only now signal properly and drink from my Camelbak (not yet from my bottle). Can you do these things on your mountain or hybrid bikes? I assume that your hybrid bike has mountain bars? If so then your body is in a different position than you are accustomed.

For me at least, the key has been to not over-think/analyze things too much - this is my tendency. It doesn't work The very best thing I have found - and very patient TE women kept drilling into my head - is to ride, ride, and ride some more.

I just took a Traffic Skills 101 class that was offered through the American Bicycle League and found it quite helpful - especially on how to maneuver through heavier traffic and dealing with busy intersections. There was also emergency stopping instruction and a few other things to help deal with unexpected situations. It was very inexpensive, perhaps it is being offered in your area?

[christie1]

Yep, my hybrid bike had flat bars, so definitely different positioning than what I have now. There's a trafic skills class about 2 hours away; it's weird because I live in Boise, and there are no classes scheduled for this area (the largest city in the state), only one in a town up in the mountains. I'll keep looking for resources for something similar at least.

Do you have a mirror on both hoods? Or just the left one?

[Catrin]

Yep, my hybrid bike had flat bars, so definitely different positioning than what I have now. There's a trafic skills class about 2 hours away; it's weird because I live in Boise, and there are no classes scheduled for this area (the largest city in the state), only one in a town up in the mountains. I'll keep looking for resources for something similar at least.

Do you have a mirror on both hoods? Or just the left one?

I no longer have road bars on my touring bike, I changed them to 2-inch riser bars - so I have bar-end mirrors on both of my bikes. I just have one mirror, on the left side. There are those who don't consider that to be "cool", but it helps to keep me safe so I don't care about that

[northstar]

Hi!

I started with a Giant Hybrid, too! Welcome to the dark side!

I just wanted to pop in and say give it time. A road bike definitely handles differently than a hybrid or a mtn bike. It feels different checking behind you for a car, no doubt. But with practice and time, it will be like second nature!

And regarding the bad spill...give that time, too. I lost it at the bottom of a hill a couple years ago, and I'm still scared when I descend. So I go slower. No biggie.

I hope you come to enjoy road riding as much as I have (and so many others here have as well). It's my favorite thing to do...I bet you'll find the love soon!

[ColoKate]

Congrats! I'm pretty fearful of falling too after some crashes a looong time ago LOL. I recently started commuting (albiet on my old mtb and not my new road bike) and the last mile is all downtown on busy city streets. Terrifying to me at first but I get more confident every day. It just took a little time and like Catrin said, just riding riding riding! A mirror would definitely help. I saw a woman yesterday with a mirror attached to her helmet.

[Blue_Fedora]

Congrats just on getting back in the saddle
I use two mirrors... one on my helmet and another on my drops. The one on my drops is the Italian Road Bike Mirror which I love love love beyond words. Between the two of them I'm pretty confident of what's coming up behind me. That said, however, I always physically look before I decide to move to the left (especially into the turn lane) regardless of what my mirrors show

[JennK13]

Welcome to the board! I've only been riding a year and a half, and got my "road" bike about 4 months ago. It was definately a progression for me, starting with a Trek cruiser style bike, moving to a Giant commuter bicycle where I was stil upright, but not as much - the Giant is substantially lighter than my Trek, and that took the most time to get used to. First time I rode it at any kind of speed it scared me as it's so much more responsive to any movement I make. Then I got my Fuji in February of this year - a lot lighter bike, but I was already past the weight issue - now it was a different riding position. I was fortunate enough to have a good fit from the beginning with the bike, so I was comfortable physically sitting on it. I had issues with the first pedals I had on it, as they were road pedals and I could not unclip for the life of me- fell over in the parking lot the day I bought it and left to ride home! Changed them out a week later to SPD pedals, and once I was comfortable clipping in and out (with DH holding the bike for me), I started riding on bike paths or on the roads during the weekends or early morning hours when traffic was lowest in order to get used to it. Practice, practice, practice!!!

As for traffic, when I started commuting, it did take a while to get used to it. I'm actually a very aggressive and defensive rider (and driver) - whether on the bike, or behind the wheel, I'm always looking out for the next idiot to cut me off or hit me - probably comes from riding a motorcycle. I make eye contact with drivers, especially crosstraffic who are likely to pull out in front of me - a lot of people don't realize how fast a bicycle is travelling and think they can "make it" across the street ahead of you - or they "see right through" you as they're looking at CAR traffic and don't even realize you're there. I will look at the driver, making eye contact, and especially on a downhill if I'm hauling butt, I'll shake my head "NO" at them, so they know I'm continuing straight in front of them, and that I know I have the right of way. No matter what, I always cover my brakes in case I need to stop, and if I see that they are still "creeping" out in front of me, I'll start to slow down in order to make any kind of evasive maneuver if needed.
I will also "take my lane" when coming up on an intersection so the cars behind me know what my intentions are, and don't try to cut me off to turn right in front of me (either intentionally or not) - especially important when there is a right turn lane, make sure you're not along the curb if you're going straight, but get over in the lane to go straight and make your intentions known!! Likewise, I will signal that I'm changing lanes to that straight lane so traffic knows that's where I'm going.
I also ride with head and tail lights on my commuter (and a tail light on my other two bikes), and turn them on DAY OR NIGHT for more visibility. My commute has quite a few shadowed areas and bridges where a driver's visibility is compromised by pupil constriction - the lights help a lot in making yourself seen.
I guess the point of these things are that by making myself visible, and alerting drivers of my intentions, it makes me "feel" more safe. That gives me peace of mind, and makes me more comfortable.
As to your issue of not seeing vehicles, I have that problem. I have an....attention issue All joking aside, seriously, I sometimes don't see what's right in front of (or behind) me. Not a good thing! Once you're comfortable with the physical act of looking over your shoulder while moving without pulling to that side, you'll be able to compensate by looking more than once or for a longer period of time to make sure a car isn't there. I've also found that some of my glasses actually obstruct my peripheral vision which forces me to turn even further to really look behind me as opposed to simply turning my head a little and looking out of the side of my eye - I hope that makes sense In other words, maybe the car was there all a long, but the arm of your sunglasses blocked it and you couldn't see it until it came closer to you and was in a greater field of your vision. You can also try to make your looks back more useful by looking further back. I try to look down the street, past what's right next to me so I know what's coming. If I'm coming up to an intersection that I need to turn left on, I'll start looking back when I'm like 100 yards or more away from the intersection to see how traffic looks so I know how soon I need to try to get over. That gives me time to adjust my speed in order to get over, I know approximately how many cars I saw back there, and can make my move accordingly.
Lastly, I know a lot of people here do listen to music while riding - I don't. Only if I'm strictly on a separate bike path where there are no cars will I wear an mp3 player. Riding to work in traffic on the street, I keep my ears open as I, like you, also listen for traffic. If I can hear that there's a car coming up behind me, I may not even HAVE to look - I can hear it and know it's there, and probably close enough for me to touch so I wont worry about looking and risk going over into its lane. Use all of your senses especially when you're starting out and aren't as comfortable yet as you will eventually be!!!
It really isn't doing any more than we should be doing when we drive (with the exception of the music!!!) rather it's being more conscience about making sure we're actually doing these things since the threat of physical injury is greater when we aren't surrounded by metal. Just like when we learned to drive the more you do it, the more comfortable you'll be at it. Just get comfy on your bike, practice the movements that you'll need to do on the road off the road first, get visible, then ride, ride, ride