Commuting - Were you afraid?

I cycled a lot as a kid around my neighborhood. I was never afraid of cars, but I knew the rules: stay to the right, obey traffic signs, stay off the sidewalk (this last one got me in trouble the first time I rode to school: the student patrol ordered me off the sidewalk and into the street.)

But when I took up cycling again as an adult in my 30's, I was intimidated. No longer were there 25 mph. streets to stay on, but I was faced with 35 and 45 mph. arteries. I painstakingly found as many ways as possible to avoid these high-speed roads, navigating my way on 25 mph. lanes all the way to a local library, where I locked my bike and caught the bus. I had found my niche. I was happy.

Then, I moved across town. In my new area, there was no way to avoid the arteries. They surrounded my quiet neighborhood like a moat surrounds a castle. I couldn't even get to the train station. For a while, I had my wife take me and my bike to the train station using the car, then I took my bike on the train to a spot about 4 miles from work where I could ride my bike through slower speed neighborhood streets. On the way home, I would take the "PATH," which was a network of "safe, bicycle friendly"
routes about 18 miles long which stretched from Atlanta to Stone Mountain. Again, I was happy. But not for long.

The "PATH" was not good. I got restless. I tried new routes.

I soon found that the streets I had avoided were perfect for cycling. Now, I may still take the 25 mph. routes at times, because they are very pleasant, but I'm not afraid of the arteries anymore.

THE END. :)

Not only was I afraid, I'm still scared sh****ss everyday.

Front page of of tonights paper: Chain Reaction Accident Injuures Woman - Apparently this woman didn't notice a car stopped in her traffic lane waiting to turn left and slammed into it. Now if she didn't notice a car, what chance would a bicyclist have had?

Last nights Paper: Alcohol involved in Fatal trafic accident - The driver of a car speeding and dodging through traffic which eventually collided head on with another vehicle has been tested and found to have a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. The driver was estimated to be travelling 85 MPH at impact, had already hit one other car car and a third car took evasive action to avoid a collision, what chance would a cyclist have had with this Bozo?

Two nights ago's paper: State Police reconstructing fatal car / bicycle accident. A delivery van hit two out of three cyclist on a rural stretch of roadway, killing one and critcally injuring another. The whole story isn't known yet, but come on, two out of three were hit, my suspicion is they didn't both ride into the delivery vans path.

I just want to grab these people and yell"Pay Attention to driving while you are driving and do all those other things when you're not behind the wheel

You bet I'm scared, and I think that's to my advantage.

It was dangerous when we were kids too - we just didn't know it.

Ignorance is bliss. As I reflect, some kids I knew did die from bike/car accidents and a great many others were injured.

I believe there were MORE drunk drivers in the past because drinking and driving was more socially accepted and even the laws were more loose about it.

We are afraid now because we are informed enough to be afraid.

I Don’t worry about most drivers, but there are two types I do worry about:

1) The ‘talking on the cell phone, smoking a cig and drinking a coffee’ (all at the same time) folks

2) AGGRESSIVE (what is this A**H*** on the bike doing on MY road) animals.

The last group is most scary. I ride through an area with a lot of residential construction going on and see more of those types of animals than I would like.

well, as far as i can remember i was never scared...

as a kid i rode around the neighborhood but rarely rode on the big streets b/c i wasn't allowed.

then i cycled a lot about age 15 before i had a car and i remember riding on the big roads too although usually not during rush-hour and school was only 2 miles away. then i got a car a quit riding for 3 years. :(

when i started again at 18 in college i rode everywhere and within weeks started doing long rides and tours and then joined the college road-racing team. i don't think i was every scared although this was in Austin before it had really bad traffic and i did some dumb things like riding 30mph at night wearing all black with no lights...

now i am rarely or never scared although i am frequently annoyed by the noise, pollution and lack of attention and consideration many people have. i frequently have near-collision incidents with inattentive motorists... through my skill and defensive cycling i have not had a crash with a car in over 12 years (back when i was new and dangerous)

as Mike said, i think there are fewer drunks on the road than in the past and we are generally more aware of the dangers of cars so people probably drive a little more safely, but so much of the 'danger' is just because we hear all about it. the car is the number one killer of people under 35 in the US - and most of these deaths of people IN a car.

but at the same time there is danger. Operating a motor vehicle is a dangerous act and should be thought of as operating a deadly weapon - but we think of driving as a right and anything in our way as something to pass or tailgate or accelerate around as quickly as possible w/o any consideration for the danger involved. many people feel wronged when they are 'inconvenienced' by a cyclist or a pedestrain and this is just a horrible selfish attitude. i grew up acting this way, so i know what i'm talking about - i was one of the highly skilled teenage drivers who always drove double the speed limit and ran stop signs, etc... i did pizza delivery and drove to get there fast...

i find it particularly frustrating the attitude taken toward 'accidents' and inattentive drivers killing pedestrians or cyclists. Usually the driver is hardly even punished, because of the accident they "just didn't see the bike or the person". an example is about 3 years ago some 65 year old guy in Florida decided to make a u-turn on a highway and didn't look and ran over a cyclist stopped on the shoulder about 4 feet off the roadway. the man said he couldn't see because of the sun and was not even charged with manslaughter - he kept his license and was only fined something like $200... if you can't see then don't drive a deadly weapon --- it's like coming in from the rain and walking through the public library hold a knife blade in front of you even though your glasses are fogged up and then stabbing someone and then saying, "oh, i couldn't see because my glasses were fogged so i accidentally stabbed the guy". drivers who create collisions or kill others whether pedestrains, cyclists or other motorists, should be seriously punished - i believe after a crash a driver should be treated much like current drunk driving laws with suspended licences, restricted priviledges and major fines.

anyway, the current trend is to make our autos safer with airbags, side-impact bars, crumple zones and larger vehicles.

the preferred answer is to accept the dangers of the auto and take responsibility for your actions and drive at every moment recognizing the danger of operating a few thousand pounds of metal at high speed.

i heard that one of the big insurance companies has discontinued the use of the term 'accident'... maybe just a way to earn more money but at least it's a step in recognizing the dangers and resposibility of operating a motor vehicle...

I grew up in a city, San Francisco, and roller skated in the streets with the cars and buses and trolly cars. Never had fear. Never had any close calls with other vehicles. When I started riding a bicycle -a single speed w coaster brake- there was no trepidation then either. Un fortunately, the bike was stolen, so I reverted to roller skates; graduating, eventually, to Shanks Mare, and promptly got run down by a drunk.

Now, in rural Maine, my guard is up all the time.

...but I'm still not afraid.

There is a difference between fear and wisdom.

Wisdom keeps you safe. You know how to avoid dangerous situations and so you reduce your risk. You think ahead. You pay attention.

Fear is an emotion that distracts the thinking. When cycling, the mind should be focused, free and clear of distracting emotions and thoughts. Free of fear.

A safe cyclist, just like a safe driver, is a wise cyclist, not a fearful cyclist.