Riding To Different Places

[lph]

Do you have a biking "comfort zone"?

Not really, but I'm not a new rider so I have no business answering anyway BUT I wanted to say that I do get slightly queasy if I have to DRIVE somewhere new, as I'm a fairly new driver (3-4 years now, but drive less than once a week). Funnily, the roads I usually bike are the ones I'm totally cool about driving, even if they're the rush hour monsters. As long as I can curb the impulse to give hand signals and bunny hop pot holes

And I wanted to add that I think being a bit anxious is a good thing, it means you're a responsible person who realizes that riding a bike is neither like driving a car nor like walking, and you need to be awake and attentive.

Have fun, sounds like a cool outing!

[Velocivixen]

Hi There in Oslo! So I see it can go both ways in regard to comfort zones. I know things will be just fine, but still, you know what I mean.
I really like seeing things via bike vs car because on bike you are "in" the environment, and in a car I feel insulated/isolated.
I'll post how it went when we return.

[Reesha]

Also, I just donated to this great Kickstarter project Portland By Bike in which they're making a pocket sized guide to Portland for bicyclists. Check it out-- I'm not sure when it will be done, but I do know that their project was funded!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...oun?ref=search

[jessmarimba]

I feel the same way. A lot of it has to do with the fact that the way I go by car isn't the way I would go by bike. Plus here there is a lot of construction that makes the feasible bike ways not as safe as I would expect (they are putting in a light rail system about 12 blocks north of me, so pretty much every road/MUP/trail system is under construction or blocked or walk-your-bike-only and I never know what to expect).

I've gotten in the habit of doing trial runs to places on weekends when I don't actually need to get anywhere in a hurry. That way if I run into a route that should be safe but isn't, I have time to find another way to get there.

[Tri Girl]

I'm the same way. Whenever I travel new places by bike I'm always a bit nervous/anxious. I think it's just- like you said- are "in the environment" and more vulnerable.
It's gotten better over the years and I've found that I'm less nervous/anxious than I was when I first started riding for transportation. I think the more you do it, the better it gets. And it's a great confidence builder for me when I make a trip/do an errand by bike that I wasn't sure I could.

How did your trip go?

[shootingstar]

I'm geo-spatially challenged --I don't have a good sense of direction.

Nevertheless I went exploring again today..except I get messed up in the head when I get away from bike routes that wind into the valleys and underpasses here.

Due to lots of rain in past few days, river levels are quite high now and have flooded sections of the route. So I had to get to street level and road to bike around, explore.

As long as I see certain landmarks to help myself, I eventually get somewhere.

Do tend to want to know in advance if there any highway interchanges ahead so that I don't end up in the wrong lane...

[Crankin]

I get anxious when riding in unfamiliar places, even if I am with people, and the riding is not challenging. I like to know "where" I am and am not one to just "explore." Well, I might be OK with that in my local area, but generally, I need to do a ride once before I am OK. My sense of direction is pretty good, but it's like I have a need to "feel" where I am. It sounds weird and I am pretty sure it's a mild form of agoraphobia. I am the same if I am in an unfamiliar place on foot. I do travel, though and now I know to just ignore it and eventually I feel fine. For a long time, I would just be in a bad mood and snappy in the beginning of a ride, mostly with my friends or my DH (not on bigger group rides) until they figured out to just leave me alone until I got over it. So now I just keep it to myself and meditate if I feel anxious.