Quote Originally Posted by limewave View Post
Yay for a pre-clinic ride! That will give you some confidence going into the clinic. You'll do great!

As for the nervous nellie thing--that's ME!!!! I've had that near-panic attack on the trail that you mentioned. I put a foot down or walk a lot of obstacles. In fact, the nervousness is a lot of the reason I wanted to bike so badly--to conquer some of my fears.

I credit mountain biking (specifically racing) with unleashing my alter ego. In a race I go from Nervous Nellie to Speed Demon. In fact, when I recall races, I give myself panic attacks thinking about the crazy obstacles I rode over the high speeds I reached on some of the descents! I would never, EVER do those things on a regular trail ride. It's weird.

I hope you can find your inner Superwoman on the trail! Good luck at the clinic!
Thanks, LW. You're a nervous nelly, too? Wow; I never would have gotten that from your posts. You seem so fearless and brave....but you give me hope.

I do feel confident on a road bike, so I'm hoping it's just a question of learning some skills in a concerted way and then gaining some confidence from exposure. More than anything, I would love if DH and I could eventually plan some trips around this. We love being out in the woods and biking, so it just seems like a given, especially after being in Utah. Boy, would we love to go back there.

Poor DH; I think he felt rotten after my near panic attack. I told him well before today that I needed him to appreciate that what might feel pretty natural to him was likely not going to feel that way to me, and to please avoid being patronizing when he gave me advice. Unfortunately, he did just that--and he's not generally a patronizing kind of a guy. So, I got upset. It's not that I can't take or don't want advice; it's all about the delivery. He was really supportive the rest of the time, and I know he was happy for me.

Yay! I'll be honest that I've kind of held off on feeling really excited about the clinic because I was just so nervous about it. I'm allowing myself to get a little more excited now.