Fifty Plus (50+) - Dealing with The Fear

Yesterday a colleague of mine, an Uber-hammer if there ever was one, announced that he had given up on road cycling and was only going to do trail riding from here on out. What influenced him was that he had a fellow bike team member get run over on a road that I occasionally travel, one with no curves or any possible obstruction to the vision of a driver. The cyclist didn't die, but spent quite some time in the hospital recovering from multiple wounds.

This triggered an attack of The Fear, one where I'm convinced that the next time I'm out on the road, some hydrocodone-popping gin-drenched psychotic on a cell phone is going to put me in the cross-hairs and give me my due. I'm going riding tomorrow and as it is too wet to ride the trails I'll be hitting the road, so to speak.

But The Fear remains.

Anyone have this problem?

Yes. And the fear alone is dangerous, because sometimes I'll panic if a car comes too close and I'll ride too far to the side. Once you've been hit, it does something forever.

I am a white knuckled flyer and I have a fear of fast descents on the bike; but, I do them. Getting on a plane in a storm- A Sam Adams gives me a little crutch. as to bike fears, I find driving among the crazed motorists more fearful than when on the bike. I like to think that solid line seperating the cycling world from the motoring world in impermeable. I find more rage on the other side of that line than on my side.

It is unsettling when you hear about one of these instances but the truth is that I have a much greater chance of getting into an accident on my crazed commute than getting hit while on my bike. So I really don't worry about it.

For me this comes up from time to time. I stopped biking twenty five years ago when I had just gotten a bike, and three times in one ride someone tried to turn right, right in front of me. It scared me enough to say it just wasn't worth it.

Then two years ago I finally returned. I was nervous at first but gained confidence and now am almost fearless in some absolutely ridiculous situations, such as one street which puts the bike lane in the middle of four lanes, because the road is going to make a V up ahead. The cars on this street are going FAST, and I've got 'em on both sides. But I just pray nothing will go wrong, and go on.

Also, I do things and take chances I wouldn't have taken before, such as riding up the right side of a bus toward the light, things like that.

But my fear returns when on this forum a rash (no pun) of posts occurs which all have to do with getting hit, or falling, etc. These posts seem to come in multiples and then go away for a while. When they get posted, I get a little fearful out there on the streets.

I ride almost exclusively in inner-urban streets.

I always say that there are not many cars up on the trails so it is safer but since road riding- I have realised how dangerous fast downhills can be. I do not worry about being hit by a car on the bike. I can be hit by a car whilst in my car just as much.

I swore off busy roads long ago. Fumes, dust, idiots, psychotics, dump trucks, and of course the purely distracted. It's back lanes, trails, and off-hours for me for many years now.

Also, I'm not red-hot on calling the feeling expressed here in this thread 'fear'. . .sounds like cowardice and it AIN'T, it's a time-tested* reaction leading to prudent behavior. Coyotes rely on it.

* - What we call 'fear' is a reaction to dangerous phenomena in our environment and is the product of 3 billion years of evolution passed down to us by nature's survivors. It exists for a reason.

LITANY AGAINST FEAR
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear - From Frank Herbert's Dune Book Series
© 1965 and 1984 Frank Herbert

The mother of a friend of mine was hit and killed by a half-blind 85-year-old driver. I've always been a pretty careful cyclist, but after that I decided to always ride wearing a high-vis jersey. I realize this is hardly going to protect me from everything that could go wrong, but it can't hurt.

At the same time, I hold with the superstition (perhaps) that thinking negative thoughts has a way of bringing negative results. I tend to limit my consumption of articles and posts about all the dangers associated with cycling or with life in general. Or as Helen Keller said, "Life is a daring adventure or nothing."

I swore off busy roads long ago. Fumes, dust, idiots, psychotics, dump trucks, and of course the purely distracted. It's back lanes, trails, and off-hours for me for many years now.

Also, I'm not red-hot on calling the feeling expressed here in this thread 'fear'. . .sounds like cowardice and it AIN'T, it's a time-tested* reaction leading to prudent behavior. Coyotes rely on it.

* - What we call 'fear' is a reaction to dangerous phenomena in our environment and is the product of 3 billion years of evolution passed down to us by nature's survivors. It exists for a reason.
The Fear is a technical term coined by Hunter S. Thompson in The Curse of Lono. I just plagarized it, like I do with everything else I submit.

I must admit, though, I found your discussion of evolutionary psychology really interesting :rolleyes:

By choice more than 75% of my riding is off road because of the fear. When I do bring the road bike out it is usually in vacation areas like Cape Cod or Martha's Vinyard or Block Island where bikes and walkers are so common that drivers are forced to be careful or slow down.

On the routine high speed commuter routes near my home your life is in danger even crossing the roads at the trail crossing points. Drivers who slow or stop to let you cross either are about to get rearended or passed by the hurried.

Also, I'm not red-hot on calling the feeling expressed here in this thread 'fear'. . .sounds like cowardice and it AIN'T, it's a time-tested* reaction leading to prudent behavior. Coyotes rely on it.

* - What we call 'fear' is a reaction to dangerous phenomena in our environment and is the product of 3 billion years of evolution passed down to us by nature's survivors. It exists for a reason.


I don't feel overly secure on the road either and take steps to limit my exposure. I ride the road bike mainly on early weekend mornings when there is virtually NO traffic. On the weekdays i ride my mountain bikes out onto country roads where there is no traffic at all, except for cows and a rare car.

But still, to address this FEAR issue...there are different types of fear. Some fear is rational and some is irrational. In fact some people have their entire lives stolen from them because of irrational fears. YOu apparently think that road cycling is dangerous enough to be a rational fear. I tend to agree, but I also feel that it exists with many other rational fears that we simply live with.

HOw many times do you go to bed at night worrying about the house burning down? It is a rational fear, because it can and does happen. Also, fearing injury from a traffic accident is rational as well because people are killed and maimed ever day.

So the question now becomes....do you give up something because of a rational fear or do you just take steps to minimize the risks, and enjoy your life? THat is my perspective right now. I love riding, more than a lot of things, and to have to give it up because of fear, is not a possiblity for me right now.

Some may regard me as a fool, if i am hit and killed on the road, but it isn't their place to judge. We all have personal decisions about what rational fears we will live with and which ones we won't. We have to live, and yes sometimes die, with those choices.

My biggest fear is the new Ford pick ups and their electric extendable side view mirrors. No one seems to retract them after they detach the trailer, so they just keep driving around with them fully extended. I'm betting one of them is gonna get me good right in the back of my head. But hey, if someone see's it happen, the driver will get a ticket so thats' fair right?

I did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that, while more accidents happen on MUPS, they are almost universally relatively non-serious. However, while less accidents occur on roads, they are frequently serious or deadly.

We have had only one person killed on a MUP in the past 10 years, to my knowledge, in this heavily biked city. Yet, each year we have several bicyclists killed.

My conclusion is to ride almost exclusively on the MUPS, taking the easy and appropriate cautions necessary for a MUP. Fortunately, we are well endowed with excellent MUPS around here.

Or as Helen Keller said, "Life is a daring adventure or nothing."
She's my hero... I can't imagine overcoming what she did. Given a choice, I'd prefer to lose my limbs over losing just my eyes, and she overcame blindness, deafness, and the inability to speak to become an amazing, successful inspiration.

But back to fear....

Reports of others' accidents makes the hairs on my neck stand up and I start to question if this is something I really want to do. It points out a harsh reality of something I'm finding to be an absolute a blast. And being a new rider I face my fears every time I set out on my bike. Fortunately I live in a neighborhood with lots of streets of different grades - up, down, and flat - so I can get a lot of practice in a whole hour's riding. Getting out on the busy streets makes me nervous, but I am working on overcoming that by "just doing it". Sometimes I'm just afraid of making a fool of myself while crossing the street or trying to start when the light changes from red to green, and getting up to speed quickly enough to not annoy drivers waiting behind me, since I am still learning how to do everything right on the bike.

It's often difficult to start something new and overcome fears as we get older and wiser. That's a normal, common reaction to new situations. But, I don't want to be overcome by these fears as I age .... I am having the time of my life on my bike and I don't see it as an unreasonable risk to ride in traffic as long as I am sensible, obey the bike laws, wear my helmet, and don't take unnecessary chances.

IMO bungie jumping is an unreasonable risk. What's the point of it??? Cycling itself is not an unreasonable risk... it's how/where we do it that makes it so.

My biggest fear is the person who is driving a Chevy Subdivision while eating an Egg McMuffin, drinking a cup of coffee and talking on a cell phone jammed under their ear. The road is the last thing that gets their attention. A bicyclist is just a bump in the road.

I stopped riding on the street when a friend's Dad was killed in an accident with a motorcycle at the end of a 35 mile bike ride one mile from home.

Of course on the trail you have to contend with people walking 4 abreast and failing to yield the trail. At least the grass is softer.

Gear spake. . .

>>> We all have personal decisions about what rational fears we will live with and which ones we won't

Absolutely agree. Each and every one of us looks out on a universe of hazard and does his/her own personal 'risk analysis'. There's no right or wrong here and it's a sliding scale. Case in point. . .In Alaska I once caught sight of a very large omnivorous predator [you know, the ones that can do 30 mph through an aspen-covered stone garden] and chose to make a dubious stream crossing to avoid her. Having crossed the stream [and increaded distance to the griz], I looked back with horror at the drowning hazard that I took without thinking once about it. S'pose it was the relative fear of being tumbled silly by rocks and drowned versus evisceration by the 'dread of my genetic nightmares'. I know [and knew] that more folks drown than are killed by grizzlies. . .they say more folks die from dog attacks in Alaska than do from griz, brown, and kodiak combined.

My biggest fear is the person who is driving a Chevy Subdivision while eating an Egg McMuffin, drinking a cup of coffee and talking on a cell phone jammed under their ear.

I totally agree and I might add - not just talking on a cell phone . . . texting on a cell phone.

I read only on:

A) Bike Trails (90% of my riding)
B) Roads with marked bike lanes and with speed limits no higher than 40 mph (maybe 2% of my riding)
C) Roads with no bike lanes but with a speed limit of 25 mph (maybe 7-8%)

I don't think anyone is going to purposefully injure me. I'm just not comfortable sharing a high-speed road. So since I don't enjoy riding a bike under those circumstances, I don't do it.

I totally agree and I might add - not just talking on a cell phone . . . texting on a cell phone.
You mean while putting on eye liner?

My biggest fear is the person who is driving a Chevy Subdivision

They are big, but not quite that big. :D

I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.


Which is exactly what a SUV will do!

Fear lurks, but if I let it consume me, I'd never get on the bike. And my riding is my outlet, my restoration, my exercise, my fun, and more. I can't not ride. So I pay the fear no mind.

I've lived many, many years with PTSD. Sometimes a road cycling situation will cause it to kick in and almost make me come unglued. My "attacks" always involve loud, sudden noises which are frequent on the road. There have been times when I've had to pull my bike off the road and try to re-boot my brain.

A few days ago I was about to begin a ride when a huge landscaping truck pulling a trailer sped down my road hitting all the bumps, causing one hell of a crashing noise. That was it for me...freaked me out. No ride.

I've been getting treatment. Understanding the beast has helped a lot, but it will never be cured.

It's a road bike, right? I ride on the road.

I do keep my head on a swivel and my rear view mirror is my best friend but I figure if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die no matter how or when. Might as well be doing something I enjoy.

Fortunately, Pacifica's not a horribly busy town (getting to be, though) and as a rule driver really -I mean literally- go out of their way to avoid me. Ridiculously so, at times.

It does get a little nerve wracking at times, though

If I didn't ride on the road, I don't know where I'd ride. I'd need to drive miles to get out of the city which is actually a series of small town/cities back-to-back. I'd rather just go out my front door and start riding... this is why I prefer to stay within my neighborhood where the speed limit is lower than on the faster busier streets with traffic signals and major intersections. I really hate the fear factor involved with this.... it does diminish the fun factor a little bit.

My time will come when it comes. I don't have the fear. All we can hope for in the end is that the end comes easy. Too bad we can't count on that.

Last summer, after a couple of fatal accidents on roads I ride frequently, I decided to go back to mountain biking. One of the main problems was that there seemed to be a bunch of rednecks who decided to educate us about the dangers of cycling by getting really close and honking their horns. I bought a mountain bike off Craigslist, since I had given my daughter my old one. The problem is that I forgot I just don't like mountain biking. I did it for about 2 months before I went back to the road. I am now more selective about where and when I ride. The truth is that cycling is probably less dangerous than driving my car to work.

The problem is that I forgot I just don't like mountain biking. I did it for about 2 months before I went back to the road. I am now more selective about where and when I ride. The truth is that cycling is probably less dangerous than driving my car to work.
Factoring out the cars, I like road riding better than MTB for the most part. What's interesting is that there's a bit of the 'dread factor' just before a trail ride that I don't have when I road ride, although MTBing is on balance much safer.

FEAR - It's always there but I shrug it off knowing that life is full of risks.

I am very lucky given that I won't ride on roads, for my house right next to a rail trail and my workplace is right next to a city MUP.

I've already decided that if I live to retirement, when we move out of Wisconsin, it will have to be to another home along a bike trail.

Still recovering from a bad fall the other day, but that was a front tire blowout. Plan to "get back on that horse that throwed me." But also consider a strategy of riding with a group. The one I ride with has a "Javelina Pact." Javelinas are small, wild pigs that inhabit south Texas. They are also some of the meanest critters on earth and when attacked the herd doesn't cut and run. Instead it counter-attacks the predator as a group. So if one of us goes down the others will take care of the "predator." We haven't gotten this message out do all drivers around here (some are too engrossed with applying eye liner) but we're trying.

Held off a while getting a road bike, just wasn't too excited about riding with cars. But since I've had the road bike, it hasn't been nearly as bad as expected, in fact, not bad at all so far. And since the nearest trail is 20 miles away, and the nearest trail that I really enjoy is nearly an hours drive, it was road riding, or very little trail riding because of time constraints. I try to ride roads I know are less busy, and often will start and end a ride in a nearby industrial park on the weekend-hardly any traffic, nice wide lanes with plenty of room for the occasional car/truck that you do see, and can connect to many other roads with little traffic. I just try to stay off the more heavily traveled roads, or ones where a car would have a difficult time passing me.

I have become fairly comfortable with riding my bicycle on roads with cars. I am very aware of what is going on around me and constantly looking for escape routes, a habit I picked up in my years of motorcycle riding. I am careful to ride in a consistent and predictable manner, as another vehicle on the road. I don't take excessive risks. There are roads I avoid, especially at times of day when they are crowded with go-to-work traffic. That is not fear. It is a rational decision to avoid a situation that I do not think is safe. If I do have to ride in a risky situation, I make sure that fear is not controlling me. I believe that fear will kill me. Confidence and caution will keep me alive by allowing me to react the way I need to in order to be safe.

If some truck driver hadnt been watching what he was doing I would have been dead at 5.. Luckily for me he was and I missed getting my head crushed by a foot or two 55 years ago..A few days later I got back on my bike and have been riding since.. I dont fear the road but I do respect it.

I ride on the road, and try to not put myself in harm's way. I quit riding out of my house as there's too much traffic. Even though I live out in the township, I'm situated between two interstates. I take my bike and drive 1/2 hr to a less busy area. There I have less cars pass me the whole ride than in a mile or so by my house. I realize it only takes one moron to do the damage but, the less cars I have to contend with, the fewer chances of the one moron finding me. What's going to happen is going to happen. I try to shift the odds in my favor, but realize nothing is completely without risk. I ride, and figure I'm better off than if I didn't. I'm going to get a mountain bike soon. Who knows, maybe the road bike will collect some dust. But I doubt I'll quit the road all together until I can't handle it any longer.
I think fear can be a real crippler. It would be hard to ride on the road if I was fearful of being hurt. Be aware of what's going on around you, and try to stay one step ahead of the traffic. Anticipate potentially dangerous situations...................and wear high vis jerseys. ;)

Road bikes were made to be ridden on roads. I live across the street from a very nice MUP, but I use it primarily to get to the roads that make up my "real" ride. I don't much care how heavy or fast the traffic is on a road, as long as the road has a well marked and maintained shoulder I can use.

When I started riding, I clung to the MUPs like a leech. But as I got faster and stronger, I found that I needed more challenging rides, and the only way to get them was to branch out onto the roads. MUPs often run along rivers and ex-railroad right of ways, which means they usually won't have much in the way of hills. MUP rides tend to be out and back rides, and the only way to ride long is to do multiple laps of a relatively short course.

If you wanna get strong, you gotta ride hills. If you wanna ride hills, you gotta get on the road. If you wanna ride long, and you don't wanna just grind out mindless laps of a boring course, you gotta get on the road.

I read only on:

A) Bike Trails (90% of my riding)
B) Roads with marked bike lanes and with speed limits no higher than 40 mph (maybe 2% of my riding)
C) Roads with no bike lanes but with a speed limit of 25 mph (maybe 7-8%)

I don't think anyone is going to purposefully injure me. I'm just not comfortable sharing a high-speed road. So since I don't enjoy riding a bike under those circumstances, I don't do it.

Seems to me that reading while on a bike is sort of dangerous.....

All the replies so far seem to imply solo riding. I tend to be (maybe foolishly) less fearful when doing a group ride. My favorite, least fearful riding is on park roads in the area that are closed on weekends and holidays to cars.

Originally Posted by BluesDawg
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

Which is exactly what a SUV will do!


Especially if you get afraid and veer into it path.

LITANY AGAINST FEAR
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
Been hit twice, never SERIOUSLY injured, last time 16yrs ago. That one earned me a Specialized lugged carbon fiber Epic Allez, up from my $200 Fuji steel frame,due to a stubborn insurance company (long post).
Do I think about it? Sure, when some soccer mom in her SUV on a cell phone feels the need to make that left turn out of the subdivision just as I'm crossing on the far side of the "T" intersection. Other times, I'll just echo BD's quote from "DUNE". Great pick and spot on!!!

If you wanna get strong, you gotta ride hills. If you wanna ride hills, you gotta get on the road. If you wanna ride long, and you don't wanna just grind out mindless laps of a boring course, you gotta get on the road.

Here is my wife (Nora - 67 years old at the time) at the top of Vail Pass (10,650 ft) - a part of 100+ miles of our "flat, boring" mountain MUPS :D
http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/Noravail.JPG

I'm not afraid of many things (clowns, black widows), but when I am, I really focus on facing them down. But I do it slowly.

One of the insights I've had recently was that my moving away from cycling (which I always blamed on a shortened commute, and then an uncomfortable bike), coincided with my getting hit by a car. I rode* the bike after that, but it just really took the fun out of it, and I don't think the bike was ever the same.

So my guess is that I slowly quit after the accident.

Now, I'm building slowly back up to city driving. I rode on a really busy road with a freeway entrance ramp the other day. But I still get nervous as a cat.

I'm not afraid of many things (clowns....)

Can't sleep. Clowns will eat me.

When your number is up, your number is up - period. It don't matter where you are, what you are doing or what you are wearing. The 'fear' isn't fear at all, it's respect for the realities of fate and Murphy's Law. I use that respect to to keep me aware and alert, because complacency and taking things for granted are what cause them little things that might not kill you, but will get you hurt. I've seen things that were worth fearing - riding a bike, in traffic or otherwise, don't even make the top ten. YMMV and you gotta do what feels best for you. ;)

In about an hour I am going out for a solo century, on the roads, helmetless as usual. I'm probably pissing off Murphy by saying so too! :eek:

I do prefer to ride in the early morning when traffic is light, on rural roads - it's just more peaceful.

My biggest concern of late is that a car passing me will slam head on into an oncoming vehicle - cars will often move entirely into the opposite lane even up a hill or coming into a curve where they cannot see oncoming traffic. Has anyone seen this happen?

I do prefer to ride in the early morning when traffic is light, on rural roads - it's just more peaceful.

My biggest concern of late is that a car passing me will slam head on into an oncoming vehicle - cars will often move entirely into the opposite lane even up a hill or coming into a curve where they cannot see oncoming traffic. Has anyone seen this happen?
I almost caused one of these on Wednesday. I waved a car by me, not seeing another one lurking in a hollow of a road.

Which reminds me of a saying: Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.

Hey PAlt -- I'm an alumnus of Davidson, 1974, before they had indoor plumbing.

When your number is up, your number is up - period. It don't matter where you are, what you are doing or what you are wearing. The 'fear' isn't fear at all, it's respect for the realities of fate and Murphy's Law. I use that respect to to keep me aware and alert, because complacency and taking things for granted are what cause them little things that might not kill you, but will get you hurt. I've seen things that were worth fearing - riding a bike, in traffic or otherwise, don't even make the top ten. YMMV and you gotta do what feels best for you. ;)

In about an hour I am going out for a solo century, on the roads, helmetless as usual. I'm probably pissing off Murphy by saying so too! :eek:

+1, no fear, just keep you head up and don't take silly chances, if I die on the bike at least I was doing something I love.

If your number's up when your number's up, then there ARE no silly chances to take. Nothing can go wrong, unless your number's up, and then it can't go right, no matter how careful you are.

http://s133702574.onlinehome.us/pictures/blog/tiretotheface.jpg

Does everyone break into a cold sweat when they get behind the wheel of a car. I mean you're much more likely to get seriously hurt or killed while driving, but most people don't give it a second thought when they turn the key. When you're time is up it's up, enjoy life.