Shannon,

I can related. A few of years ago I crashed on a hill (during a group ride) after a knee gave out and I could not get unclipped from my pedals. I spent the balance of the season healing my knee and my ego. I was so afraid of hills that I was driving my car to "flatland" neighborhoods so that I could ride and avoid hills. It took the balance of that season and the next to get my confidence back (it did not help that I had learned to ride as an adult). I have found group rides too stressful and avoid them as much as possible. I enjoy riding by myself and in lower traffic areas. I think this is more about learning to ride at age 51 than anything...more fears and phobias. I still feel some anxiety when approaching hills and have bailed more than a few times, rather than risking panic and another fall. If I did not enjoy riding so very much it would have been easier to put the bikes away and never ride again. Last year I started commuting by bike part of my daily trek to/from work. There is this one hill that freaks me out, but to avoid it I have to spend 2 additional miles on a state highway and it has become mind over matter.