I broke my cardinal rule . . .

[new2ride]

I sure hope I can get past the nervousness of riding on the rural roads. My friend stopped over yesterday and I told her what I did. She doesn't ride at all and she said "you're nuts." She proceeded to tell me about a lady that was jogging on the road and was hit by a car. The lady survived but had to have her leg amputated.

I also know of another accident on our road. A person was riding their horse and I don't know how this happened, but a car hit the horse and the person. The horse had to be put down and I think the rider was hurt bad. The person riding the horse was riding in broad daylight so I don't know what happened. It wasn't a blind spot, nor was it in a hilly area. Pretty scary stuff.

The ride I did on Sunday was about 10 -11 miles and it was early (8:30 ish). The closer it got to 9 AM, the more motorists appeared on the road, probably going to church.

I hope I can get past being afraid.

[OakLeaf]

Motorcyclists call those "Uncle Fred stories." Do you know anyone who's been hurt in a car accident? Did your friends quit driving as a result of someone else's accident - or even their own accident, if they were still physically capable of driving afterward?

It's good to be aware of your surroundings and practice safe riding skills. It's good to respect the dangers of the road, whatever your mode of transport. But study after study has shown that the more people ride, the safer it becomes.

[grey]

Motorcyclists call those "Uncle Fred stories." Do you know anyone who's been hurt in a car accident? Did your friends quit driving as a result of someone else's accident - or even their own accident, if they were still physically capable of driving afterward?

It's good to be aware of your surroundings and practice safe riding skills. It's good to respect the dangers of the road, whatever your mode of transport. But study after study has shown that the more people ride, the safer it becomes.

Both good points.
I hate riding alone, but sometimes if I want to get the training miles in, there really isn't much choice. I'm also in a rural area, and plan routes with as little contact with busy roads as possible. I went alone this evening - screaming yellow jersey, 200 lumen blinking light, rearview mirror (mounted on the bike) and my RoadKill ID - all that and just watching out for all possible scenarios is all you can do.

I try to always smile, and wave and be friendly. I only had one car be a little rudely close while passing today. my biggest near-miss was an ambulance - the EMTs had just had dinner it looked like, they were in no rush but the driver looked right at me and.... went on anyway. Yay (swerve, hit brakes, shake head, keep going). I try not to ever yell, or react negatively, just try to improve people's opinion of us crazy cyclists.