Getting over fears

[clarkbar]

I'm afraid of hills and traffic plus I have a hard time with left hand singles. Afraid cause the bike wobbles. Suggestions?

[bikefam2]

I'm not to thrilled with downhills and traffic either, and find that I have a hard time with the hand singles. It does cause the bike to wobble. I'm getting a lot of advice from people around me who are serious riders & racers and they say to practice practice practice!! So I'm riding in an area where I feel comfortable...plus I have to get use to my new bike fit....

[linzq]

Oh, I'm so glad to see this thread.

I'm a bit nervous of riding in traffic - mainly it's the clipless thing and the thought of falling INTO traffic!

And I'm glad this is a safe place to admit it -- I've been feeling a bit "girly" about the whole thing! Thanks for the tips. I'm hoping that soon I'll be able to advise others too!

[Catrin]

Oh, I'm so glad to see this thread.

I'm a bit nervous of riding in traffic - mainly it's the clipless thing and the thought of falling INTO traffic!

And I'm glad this is a safe place to admit it -- I've been feeling a bit "girly" about the whole thing! Thanks for the tips. I'm hoping that soon I'll be able to advise others too!

You could hold off on the clipless thing until you are more comfortable riding in traffic. There is no shame in platform or BMX pedals - just a thought. That way you only have to adjust to one thing at a time, not two

[Roseisarose]

I'm afraid of bridges, hills and other cyclists.

The hills are either trying to kill me when I'm going up because I start to wobble, or they are trying to kill me when I'm going down because of the flying.

I love riding over the bridges in Portland, but during rush hour I'm so pokey and there are all these flying cyclists and I'm in the way so I'm afraid I'll fall off the bridge.

I'm just going along though with the fears.

Rose

[Bethany1]

So glad I found this post. Nice to know I'm not the only one who gets scared. I've only been biking for a little over two weeks so everything is new.

My son can go down hills at top speed leaving me to eat his dust. He can do 35mph on one of them. I haven't been brave enough to attempt going down that hill. Most I've ever done is 21 mph down a hill. Usually it's about 12-13mph as I panic when going through the neighborhood intersections and almost come to a complete stop. To be 15 again with no fear like my son would be nice.

I'm getting better at hills since my entire town is built on them. I may be going only 5mph and having to stop to rest, but I figure as long as I'm not walking with my bike up the entire way, it's all good. Some of the hills are a 1/2 mile in length so it's a long walk if needed.

I have two major highways intersecting town with semis/trucks/cars going 60mph so it was scary the first time I went down into town. What really scared me was that my son didn't tell me the overpass bridge narrowed to nothing leaving you open in the right lane. I had to wait until it was safe and pray that I could go fast enough not to terrify drivers or myself. I made it and was really proud of myself, but don't plan on doing that ride until I'm faster. As you get closer into town, the roads narrow again leaving no space for a bike and a vehicle to be in the lane. I just have to go off into a side street to get home.

Today I made it to 18mph down the highway back home. I just said "get over it" and went.

Biggest issue so far is that my mountain bike sucks in town and does great out on the graveled rural roads. There isn't a decent middle ground yet.

[Biciclista]

. But my feeling is, no matter if you are going fast or slow, when you fall, it's going to hurt.

Maybe ignorance (of physics) is bliss? I've seen the difference between falling at over 40mph and falling at 10mph...

[Sky King]

I have been riding since before some of your were born and I still have to practice deep breathing and relaxing my shoulders when I come down a hill that has railroad tracks at the bottom. I have never crashed on tracks but my DH lost his front wheel going over tracks many years ago and my daughter just destroyed her rear wheel when it slipped into the rail in the rain last week. Fear is healthy sometimes as it keeps us from getting to complacent. Good luck, you will do fantastic.

[Lavigne]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I thought I was the only newbie having to learn how to clip in, start, unclip, stop, turn, etc. I actually had to LEARN to remember that I have brakes. My biggest fear right now is making a u-turn on a street without a shoulder. I was successful at it a couple of times in my neighborhood on my second ride, then I tried it on my third ride and hit the concrete (got some road rash on my leg AND my beautiful Orbea). I'm not ready to ride in high traffic areas yet and I'm no where near ready to try hills (which we don't have many of in south Louisiana).

My husband bought a bike for me so I could ride with him. I have a total of 63 miles in four rides so far. Each time gets a little better, but I have a long way to go.

Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone.

[Antaresia]

I'm new , I'm afraid, but I'm doing it anyway.

I read the "crazy drivers" posts. Whenever I tell someone about my new bike they relate to me the time they got hit by a car, or how their buddy died. A good friend of mine lost control of his bike once and ended up with some pretty serious nerve damage. I think someone beeped at me in traffic today, but ffs I had to take the center lane (I didn't cut anyone off) because I *live* here and I know the right-turn-only lane disappears after the intersection, and I'm NOT tuning right fu fu fffffuuuuu...

My friend, who had the really bad accident, is still riding. He's really encouraging of my new found zest for biking. For me, it is scary, but it's *worth* it. Oddly it helps me to think "well, I could die of some other thing tomorrow, might as well live it up".

And I have never met a down-hill I haven't breaked on.

[Dogmama]

Traffic - as Westtexas said - wear very bright clothing. Yellow is most visible against black streets - be very bright. Hot pink, lime green, bright reds.

Signal all of your intentions. Act like a slow moving vehicle. Ride WITH the traffic, never against it. Think about how you drive. When you come to a stop sign, you look left because that's where the traffic is coming from. More cyclists get hit because the driver isn't expecting anything coming from their right.

In a bike lane, ride closer to the LEFT of the lane rather than hugging the curb. Drivers merging into your lane will see you easier (they often won't crane their necks all the way over to the curb. Also, you stay out of the debri = less flat tires. Any trees or other shrubbery blocking their view of you will be less likely to do so.

Coming up to an intersection where you have the green light or right of way - if I think somebody is going to do something stupid (I can see the driver is texting, eating or otherwise not looking at me), shift into an easier gear where you are pedaling faster and slowly apply the brakes so you can stop if you need to. Drivers think bicycles = slow but if you're pedaling faster, they think you are actually going faster. Be prepared to stop.

Unclip - I always unclip with my left foot. That way, I can't fall into traffic.

I took an Effective Cycling course through my community college that taught me these things & lots of other tips. I recommend it.

[MollyJ]

This thread could have been designed for me.

When I got my new bike, I avoided my favorite down hill for at least TWO Months. Just went down it in the last week. Frankly, I did a lot of braking. It's a faster down hill (I live in Kansas--how bad can the hills be) that curves.

Nonetheless my ED experiences give me lots of bad mind pictures and so I know that my fears are not groundless. Road rash with asphalt in it. and oral-dental trauma. I HATED oral-dental trauma as an ED nurse having spent more than my fair share of time in the dentist's chair.

But what is that with bridges? Like a river monster is going to grab you pull you over the bridge's edge? But me, too, and my fearless DH too.

In Kansas the wind is strong enough to push you around.

My motto is breathe and push through. Do the things that scare you under the most optimal conditions possible. Low traffic. Dry roads. Reduce your speed but like some other posters, low speed can make things worse so keep moving.

I would love a safety oriented bike ed class but doubt that my little LBS sponsors such things.

I need to do a ride with other riders which I could do through the LBS. Believe it or not, that's one of my fears. Riding with other riders so that I know where my puny self measures up. I am not a competitor but I have gotten to where I am by improving compared to myself. Competitive people crush my spirit and led me to see myself (when much younger) as a not coordinated, non-competitive person. All of that is true but it crunched me down so much that I didn't try to be physical and everyone has to try to find a way to be physical--our bodies are meant to be in motion.

So this thread has helped me to see the way ahead. Yep. It's a group ride. I also have a goal to ride to a nearby town but my two flat tires have made me see that I have to have a someone who can come and get me if my bike goes wheels up (or I do). My other bike _never_ had flats and I felt I could ride anywhere and be okay. Silly, lucky me.

Great thread.