Fifty Plus (50+) - What i fear most while out riding is...

What little black cloud lurks in the back of your brain - what are you most afraid of happening while out on your daily ride?

Me? I'm always apprehensive about crashing and getting hurt. I'm also afraid of a breakdown while alone, miles from home, of something I can't fix on the spot.

When I think about all the miles I've ridden and places I've been, and the few things that have happened to me, my conscious mind tells me I can handle it. Still, I'm getting older and worry that one day, something will happen.

What about you? What do you think about before you hop on and start cranking? How do you try to be prepared for it?

My greatest fear is that I'll keep going and not come back. That is, that this will be the ride where I say, "Screw work. I don't mind being poor. I'm just gonna ride everyday, all day."

My greatest fear is that I'll keep going and not come back. That is, that this will be the ride where I say, "Screw work. I don't mind being poor. I'm just gonna ride everyday, all day."

Don't forget to take your debit card with you. You might get hungry. And you'll eventually need new tires!

Lying crumpled in a ditch, vultures circling overhead, and then somebody arrives, surveys the situation and....steals my bike.

My biggest fear is getting run down or assaulted by one of the many undesirables around here.

No fears. What happens, happens.

Cars, flats, and dogs are never far from my conscious thought, but my biggest worry is the speedometer reading.

My biggest fear is getting run down by a motorist. I don't worry much about just plain crashing without help from a car or truck.

Being harassed by some nutcase is on my mind at times, as well.

I keep my bikes in tip-top condition so breaking down is not a concern (jinx:twitchy:).

Today what could happen happenned and i was prepared.I just bought that 18 piece multitool and brought it with me for the first time.So,During the beginning of the trip my clips got loose and ,voila,screwdriver and fixed.Later I took a bad spill,dirt path and spinned out,and my brakes needed adjustment.Voila,Pedal wrench on the new tool and brakes were perfect.yeah,I'm okay.Wiser now about dirt paths!

I don't worry that much, I use to worry a bit about log trucks, but over the years that was basically unfounded, so now I just give them a wave and we both keep rolling. One ride I did last November was a solo ride in the coast mountains. It was so isolated, deep in the forest, no houses, cars, trucks....nothing. I thought that I had little margin for error, a fall, mechanical problem and I'd be very alone. I rode it fine, as usual, but it did make me think about the possibilities. I guess I could fear that all the blueberry pie will be gone when I get to the cafe ;-)

Worry is a misuse of the imagination.

Getting hit by a car. Not worried much about dogs while riding, those happen at work.

there is this one rough section i have to ride through going to and from work. Bad neighborhood but the only alternatives are high speed, dangerous highways. Lots of broken glass on the ground a always teenagers hanging out on all the corners.

The only thing I really fear much is being hit by a car in some unpredictable manner. The everyday dumb stuff that people do while driving isn't so bothersome because I can anticipate and thus avoid it for the most part. But I fear things like drunk drivers, or the scenario that happened on my street a few weeks ago: someone was running from the cops, turned suddenly from the main street into the quiet side street, miscalculated the turn and took out about 30 feet of the neighbor's fence on the corner. They didn't stop.

Getting hit by an aggressive or "distracted motorist", but that is more of a "manageable concern" for me than a "fear".

Being attacked by low lifes is at the top of my list, dogs are next. :eek:

Having been hit by a car once already I'm very cautious around traffic (though not really afraid), and whatever breaks on the bikes I can deal with.

Overcome your fears!
Most things you worry about never happen . . .

Worry is a misuse of the imagination.

The best words on the subject, ever. Yeah, sometimes we crash, sometimes we don't, but - such is life. There are no absolutes in this life, so you better enjoy and hammer it hard while you can. The only thing I fear the most, the thing that most of us fear the most, is living the this life to it's fullest extent. But everyday I try and let go of that fear, and I enjoy myself. Anything less is not enough. You have to enjoy life for every thing small and big that you get, to be able to say that you LIVE.

I don't think I have a single fear when riding--And that is not due to being young and No-Brain to not worry.

I ride sensibly and keep a good eye open for traffic and I get the respect back--I hope. On top of that there is a decent driving standard over here where I ride. I think that the only worry I do have is with regard to offroad riding. If anything happens on the road- you can bet your life I would be found by another road used shortly. But Offroad and it could be Hours or days before enyone would find me on some of the trails I ride. For that reason- my offroad bike of choice is the Tandem. Unless I really upset my co-rider- I will always have someone around tp pick up the pieces.

I do focus on being SAFE - whatever the situation may call for.
Always be prepared to change a flat and never use risky tactics around cars.

Fear is the mind killer.

I can't call it a fear but it is a in the back of my mind ( A ledgon in mine at least) while riding i am kidnaped and my wife would expect the kidnappers to pay her to take me back

Now that the days are shorter most of my riding is in the pitch dark on country roads. My fear is that some immature cycle-hating drunk is going to toss a half-full beer bottle out of his truck window at me as we meet on the road.

Having 3 or 4 goathead flats in a row with only two tubes - and yes, that has happened. I am absolutely lousy at patching tubes in the field, and, at times, it is almost impossible to find a goathead embedded in the tire to remove the cause of the flat. Also, often the hole in the tube is so small that, upon removing the tube, without inserting the tube in soap and water - even under pressure- one cannot find the leak.

How do I prepare?

Well, I carry two tubes, a variety of patching material including stick-ons, and mostly a good cell phone with the address book filled with a number of friends who would gladly pick me up. However, my wife and our "sagmobile" would be the first I would call.

Yesterday I did my first road ride on my mountain bike, 25 miles. I want to do longer rides and am considering a road bike. It was a much tougher ride then I had anticipated, very hilly with a stiff headwind. I was taxed a bit but loved it. I did, however, not like the cars whizzing by all that much. Most of the roads are country roads with zero shoulder. Traffic was minimal until one stretch of about three miles that is a popular shortcut from the normal congested areas in town, so it was busy and they were flying by. Not sure I will get use to that. One young girl slammed on the brakes behind me which definately caught my attention. Might have to get a mirror. Oh and I heard one dog behind me but I never gave it a chance to catch up. Fear might not be the right word in my case, maybe a slight bit of anxiety.

I hear you all when you say you refuse to "fear" but might be "concerned" or simply think about safety. I agree. But many years ago when I first got out of the military, my first civilian job was in the line department of a large electric utility (power) company. I participated in their mandatory safety campaigns, and became a "safety officer". I believe they referred to "safety" as being fear, properly channeled. For example, the mindset on that job was constantly, "What can possibly go wrong if I do this..." and then adjusting. (You make a mistake around thousands of volts at incredible amperage, and you disappear in a flash of light and puff of smoke)

That's how I meant to use the "Fear" word. Something that goes through our heads, that causes us be safe. Expecting Murphy's Law, and preparing for it...

Since I've been bike-jacked, assaulted, run over by a car and had several other near misses, had a front wheel fall off and another taco while riding, as well as numberous flats and mechanical malfunctions, I have a smorgasbord of worries I can choose from if I care to. But to be honest, since my step-brother got fatally run over by a school bus that left hooked him while he was riding his motorcycle last May, I've been looking at those yellow behemoths with a wary eye.

So mostly I don't think about such things and remember Ram Dass's advice. "Be Here Now."

Bears? ;-)

Teen aged girls texting their buddies while checking out how her hair looks in the rear view mirror, while coming up on me from behind. I can deal with them at intersections and/or coming at me because I can see them.

I hear you all when you say you refuse to "fear" but might be "concerned" or simply think about safety. I agree. But many years ago when I first got out of the military, my first civilian job was in the line department of a large electric utility (power) company. I participated in their mandatory safety campaigns, and became a "safety officer". I believe they referred to "safety" as being fear, properly channeled. For example, the mindset on that job was constantly, "What can possibly go wrong if I do this..." and then adjusting. (You make a mistake around thousands of volts at incredible amperage, and you disappear in a flash of light and puff of smoke)

That's how I meant to use the "Fear" word. Something that goes through our heads, that causes us be safe. Expecting Murphy's Law, and preparing for it...

I have been hit by cars three times over the past 30 years and suspect the odds are increasing due attention being paid elsewhere, an increasingly selfcentered and egocentric society and the numbers of vehicles on the road.

I tend to expect the worst from drivers and avoid roads I deem to be an accident waiting to happen. I think of it as a healthy respect for the shortcomings of others, not fear.

I nearly perished about 10 years ago due to a medical mishap and that changed my outlook on life and death so I don't fear either. As I said earlier, what happens, happens. That isn't to say I don't want to make it to 90 or as long as I live a comfortable life. I just don't fear not making an age milestone.

Vampires.

That I won't be able to ride again tomorrow.

Not fear, but in the back of my mind

1. Being hit from behind by a car
2. Front blowout on a fast downhill

I've had enough crash pain for while...

Puncturing on a day of freezing rain. I just hate having to replace a tube in the cold and rain! But this is more a dislike than a fear. I guess the big things I fear (getting hit by car or mugged by lowlifes) are out of my control (we're not allowed to carry guns in Canada, otherwise one of my fears could be taken care of real fast!), so why get stressed about it?

L.

Being passed on the MUP by a girl riding a beach cruiser. When that happens I know that father time has about caught me...

Fear will paralyze you or energize you, you decide.

Knowing this I prepare for riding in traffic with Petro burning machines driven by testing teens and distracted parents. I choose my routes as carefully as possible and stay as far to the right as possible.

When off road I have a cell phone and a pretty good first aid package. Crap happens, I am careful when alone, but have taken some tumbles for no apparent reasons.

Fear of dying as a stupid out of shape oaf has gotten me back to a better place.

Fear is the mind killer.
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

That I won't be able to ride again tomorrow.

+100

Now that the days are shorter most of my riding is in the pitch dark on country roads. My fear is that some immature cycle-hating drunk is going to toss a half-full beer bottle out of his truck window at me as we meet on the road.

What's the matter? You don't like beer?
He's not assaulting you with that beer, he's sharing!
You're supposed to thank him and finish the bottle! :D

Just the normal:

-- dog attacks
-- bike jacking
-- bike theft
-- distracted school drivers texting friends, or 20ish female nascar wantabee who doesn't know how to handle vehicle and confuses mindless steering with driving


And then the, opps, I'm tired and going to have to walk up this blasted hill.

Lying crumpled in a ditch, vultures circling overhead, and then somebody arrives, surveys the situation and....steals my bike.

:lol: That's a good one.:50:

My biggest fear is getting run down by a motorist. I don't worry much about just plain crashing without help from a car or truck.

Being harassed by some nutcase is on my mind at times, as well.

I keep my bikes in tip-top condition so breaking down is not a concern (jinx:twitchy:).

Oh Oh. Now you have done it.:50:

Each day I go out for a ride, I'm that much closer to 50!:eek:...........:roflmao2:

I fear small rocks, cracks in the roads and potholes hidden under leaves -- things that I might not spot (especially in the dark) and which would send me tumbling.

I always figure some day I'll have my eye on a distracted driver headed my way and miss the fact that I just caught the edge of my wheel on something.

No fears...biggest concern, cars piloted by inattentive drivers.

My biggest fear? Having a crappy ride. It's happened a few times, but I've only had one ride in 35 years that I wish I hadn't done: the one where I got hit by a pickup truck making an "Improper Right Turn".

SP
Bend, OR

Vampires.

Zombies!! (You know your girlfriend might be a zombie if she says, "I love you for your brains".)

SP
Bend, OR

Each day I go out for a ride, I'm that much closer to 50!:eek:...........:roflmao2:

Each day I ride, I am that much further from 50.....not fear, fact.

Biggest fear is bonking. Sometimes it just happens. Got to learn to slow down a little.

Texting teenage girls.
Drunk teenage boys.
Rednecks
Old people.

"What Me Worry" Alfred E. Neuman

oh jeez, I was in happy bliss till I read your post. thanks a lot!