Help! I am scared of my bicycle!

[spatlese]

I really appreciate all the good advice and suggestions.

Switching to plain pedals is a good idea, but DH thinks I am confident enough to stick with these and he thinks I just need to get used to them. I am able to unclip at stop signs etc., but I am still worried about emergencies when I forget that I am clipped in and try to avoid traffic or something. This has not happened yet, but it might!....

Another problem I have is my shorts occassionally get 'hooked' on the nose of the saddle when I am starting off. This has happened to me several times and I try to keep my body really close to the handlebars before I start pedalling. (Does this make sense??!! ) Once this happened when I was trying to cross a busy street and that really freaked me out because I was sorta on my seat, but not quite and almost fell (again!) OOh... and I am also afraid of starting on hills coz I have (another) fear of rolling backwards.. LOL

Yes, I do ride with a good helmet. Another reason why DH thinks my fear of having my head smashed like a pumpkin is unreasonable. Practicing falling sounds like a good idea... but also the scariest thing to try

DH and I do ride the same route repeatedly (whenever he can convince me to get out there!), and I am starting to remember the 'dangerous' spots and turns. Hopefully this will help me be prepared to unclip and be a little more comfortable on my bicycle. However, DH wants to do an organized ride at the end of September, and I don't think I am ready yet to ride with a whole bunch of people or in unfamiliar territories (plus there is a BIG hill to climb on that ride!). I hope I don't sound too whine-y but I am just SCARED!! How long did everyone ride before they went on their first organized ride?

latelatebloomer, you really hit the nail on the head when you said "I know what it's like to ride with tears in your eyes, saying "I'm so scared." This actually happened to me on one ride when I was lagging behind DH and some friends and a creepy guy in a pick up truck slowed down (he was coming in the opposite direction, so he'd passed DH and everyone else) and he gave me the creepiest look. I was afraid he was going to pick me up and throw me in the bed of his truck! I tried calling out to the group but I was breathless and they were too far away to hear me anyway. I was tempted to pull over and cry and hope DH noticed but I sucked it up and kept pedalling anyway. Finally DH noticed that I wasn't keeping up and came to my rescue. So now, he cycles behind me all the time.

Oh well.. there are most of my other fears laid out for now... Thanks again for the wonderful advice everyone.. DH and I will go out for a ride this evening and I will keep you updated on my (hopefully less and less fearful) progress.

[SadieKate]

Read up here on chamois suck - could be your shorts or it could be that you aren't hoisting the patootie far enough.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ht=saddle+suck

Somewhere else we discussed the emergency stop. If I can find a link I'll post. Mimi might know. We were discussing good tips for beginners.

[mimitabby]

nope, sorry, not sure about the emergency stop. But thanks for that thread; it was Hilarious!
saddle suck happens to the hubby sometimes and me once too.

[SadieKate]

Oops, it was pooks. Sorry, mimi.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...emergency+stop

[Geonz]

I bought gear - elbow and knee pads - to practice falling... but haven't got the nerve to do it. The good news is that now three times I've crossed what would have been my "panic threshold" (like, when you're learning to play softball and you just cower down and throw your glove in front of your face and they say "don't be afraid of the ball!" - but it's afraid of the pavement coming at you) and found myself with all parts in appropriate places, wheels and feet nicely planted. Whether it's bike experience or taknig yoga and getting "awareness of the body" (which I wasn't aware was happening, so how can it be awarness ?) it's something that never happened before... there's hope!

JUST DO IT ... in small doses...

[mlove]

I am also afraid of traffic and falling and I haven't been riding long. But last Tuesday I managed to completely fall over, bike and all, with my feet still in the cages, and I was fine. I did fall into the grass, which certainly helped. It taught me that panicking is not a good thing. I should have thought about the problem (being in the wrong lane) and either tried to move over or pulled my feet out and put on the brakes.

The good thing was that it happened so fast that I wasn't actually aware I was falling until I was on the ground. So I may be less nervous next time.

Riding in a group has helped me build my confidence in riding, especially with traffic, left turns, and stops.

[spatlese]

and it only lasted 0.5 miles... DH had a blow-out , so we had to walk home. I am still not confident enough to go out on a ride by myself. But I didn't complain one bit on my way out. In fact, I was actually rather looking forward to riding after all the encouragement I got from everyone here! Thanks!!

We will try again on Wednesday... will keep you all posted...

[tygab]

Just keep getting out there, it gets a little less scary every time.

Some of my scariest moments on a bike so far have not been caused by cars at all, they have been caused by pedestrians!

This is my first season riding - so I know you can do it! I was scared of everything at first and I too had to learn the clipless routine. I think I must have sounded the same to my husband ("No, I don't wanna ride THAT road, it has too many bumps, cars, curves, or ...insert excuse here.") But since then I've ridden through a crowded tourist village dodging clueless peds, downhill on a rutted up road, crossed train tracks, and ridden alongside (get this) logging trucks among my travels. I am not a fan of logging trucks and might suggest you skip this step in your therapy . But now cars don't really phase me too much.

I still ride with a pocket dose of fear, but I use it to protect me rather than prevent me. Just keep at it and enjoy it as much as you can.

Oh and hello to mlove from CU! It's my hometown!

[sandy45]

ok...so i got into biking oh about almost a year now. my husband has been a cyclist (mountian) for most of his life. and he kinda got me into it and for most of the time i have been riding i was doing it because he wanted me too. so now i am wanting to do it for myself!! i havent been on my bike in about 3 months and right before i stopped riding we got me clipless shoes to go with an extra set of peddles my husband had. i got on the trainer once with them 3 months ago. so now i am wanting to get into for the right reasons, i am a bigger girl so we went looking for bike clothes to fit me and that is how i came apon this site. but anywho back to the story....

ok so tonight was the first night i had been back on my bike. i was initally going to get on the trainer and practice, but my husband called me on my way home from work and i decided to go with him. well we went out to the park and i asked him to help me practice with clipping in....he did once. so then i was too nervous to start riding, and i was getting alittle frusterated with him not being helpful. so we went to the playground where they had padding under soft mulch. this helped me not to be as scared of falling. so i started practicing and got it once then went to stop. i had one foot unclipped but the other wouldnt come when i stopped and i fell (right in frount of a bunch of kids!) but it didnt hurt too bad except i hit my head on the slide(yes i had my helmet on). so i kept going and almost fell again. then the last time i got it and was doing good then i tried to start coming to a stop and neither foot would unclip! and because of the soft mulch it slowed my bike down so much that i just fell. it was a hard one too. yeah you tend to find that soft mulch still hurts! and to make it better i have bad knees from growing as a catcher in softball. and my left one has a pocket of fluid. well my bike slammed into that pocket of fluid and the mulch cut me some. it wasn't that bad except the fluid in my knee. so we stopped then. but i am not as scared of fallling...the practicing falling on your bike helps. maybe you should try falling on to soft grass or something like on a playground. it helps and it doesnt hurt as much.

sandy

[sandy45]

oh and about the group ride...i like it better cause people encourage you when you are getting tired. i went once with my husband, his brother, and two other guy friends (they all can ride longer, faster, harder, and more technical than me). we did a road ride in downtown san antonio. and we went more than my limit of 5 miles and atleast one of them hung back with me the entire way. and they pushed me to finish. and i did!! (even if i had to use my inhaler when i got back)

i enjoy group rides much more than just the two of us. i had my first group ride my second time riding!

[Kano]

I remember being afraid of the pedals -- it wasn't so very long ago! I've only had them for a hair over two weeks now.

I fretted over the possibility of falling down a LOT. I kept reading about the tipping over thing, and that scared me even more than emergencies, I think! I mean, you know, if people can't even get off the pedals for normal time, well, emergencies, you just count on it's gonna happen, only worse, right?

Anyhow..... Bike guy at the LBS says, just put yourself in a doorway and practice in and out for a bit, then take it easy while you give 'em a try. He set them to "easiest" to get out of, and sent us home with our new pedals and cleats.

Maybe it's just cuz I couldn't stop my bike without hopping off the seat so I could reach the ground anyway, but it seemed and still seems entirely natural and why the heck doesn't everyone just do it to unclip a foot, put it on the ground and take my butt off the seat too so I'm resting my foot flat on the ground when I stop, and then I don't tip over -- which makes me wonder why people tip over while standing still, y'know? Seems like a simple thing to avoid, yes? But, apparently not -- so, my wee bit of advice is unclip a foot, never mind the other one, and put that foot on the ground with your butt off the seat before worrying about unclipping the second foot -- if you really need to! At stop lights, I just get that clipped foot ready to get started again.

Lately I'm reading about falling over as people start up again -- downshifting before I get to the stop so that pedaling is easy helps me here, and I've read about doing that lately. I was doing that before the new pedals too, just because it made getting going easier. I've also been waiting until I feel like my balance is steady before I try to clip that loose foot back into the pedal. I don't know if this is typical or not, since I don't remember reading it here, but it helps me. I'm not sure how DH is doing things, but I know this little habit I'm building makes him a little nuts: I don't get off to quite as fast a start as he does at intersections since I'm not clipped with both feet as soon as he must be!

Sandy's right about group rides -- it helps to have a reason to push ourselves onward, and if it's just me and hubby, it's easy to convince him that I really need to go home now! I find myself making more effort when I'm "biking in public" on these group things!

Shorts -- I HATE when that happens! BUT, if it means that the shorts are too big, and it starts happening more and more, then maybe I'll learn to like when it happens?

Karen in Boise

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Maybe it's just cuz I couldn't stop my bike without hopping off the seat so I could reach the ground anyway, but it seemed and still seems entirely natural and why the heck doesn't everyone just do it to unclip a foot, put it on the ground and take my butt off the seat too so I'm resting my foot flat on the ground when I stop, and then I don't tip over -- which makes me wonder why people tip over while standing still, y'know? Seems like a simple thing to avoid, yes? But, apparently not -- so, my wee bit of advice is unclip a foot, never mind the other one, and put that foot on the ground with your butt off the seat before worrying about unclipping the second foot -- if you really need to!

Karen, I think it happens when people unclip one foot in preparation to stopping, but then when the bike stops it unexpectedly tips over to the OTHER side that is still clipped in.

[Kalidurga]

I think it happens when people unclip one foot in preparation to stopping, but then when the bike stops it unexpectedly tips over to the OTHER side that is still clipped in.

Exactly what happened to me. Unclipped my left foot, eased on the brakes, shifted my weight forward off the saddle with the left foot extended and ready to hit the ground, but apparently leaned my shoulders a bit to the right and caused the bike to tip that way instead of to the left. I've learned to be much more conscious of how I'm shifting my weight as I move off the saddle, whether I'm clipped in or not.

[Kano]

Karen, I think it happens when people unclip one foot in preparation to stopping, but then when the bike stops it unexpectedly tips over to the OTHER side that is still clipped in.

Which probably takes us back to that thread from the other day where "we" got talking about how it's a good idea to figure out which foot your body wants to have you put down first -- and unclipping THAT one! I just figure don't worry too much about having both feet unclipped as you roll to a "planned" stop -- there's lots of time for the second one! Probably need to add figure out which foot should be the routine first foot out, though...

Karen in Boise

[HillSlugger]

I hope I don't sound too whine-y but I am just SCARED!!

Before I got into biking three years ago I was an avid rock climber (these days the climbing takes a back seat to the riding). I learned that it was OK to get scared. The thing is to *NOT* let the fear keep you from doing what you want to do.

There's absolutely no reason why you need to use clipless pedals, but before you ditch them (temporarily) try loosening up the setting on them so that they are easier to get out of. I have my Shimano m520's set 3 or 4 clicks looser than their default setting. They are still tight enough to keep me in while climbing, etc. but loose enough that I know that I can get out of them when I need to.

If you decide to take a break from the clipless, try cages and straps. I used them until a month or two ago. I kept them, too, loose enough that I could get out of them easily. Even set loosely, they are an improvement over platform pedals. My caged pedal are sitting collecting dust. If you'd like to give them a try I'd be happy to lend them out.