What was your scariest ride?
06-28-03, 08:58 PM
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What was your scariest ride?
My Scariest Ride!
I broke my leg riding my new bent. It was my third ride on it. That was April 19, 2003, about 9 or 10 weeks ago, but that was not my scariest ride.
This week I went to the doctor and he said that my bones in my leg had healed! The eleven screws and metal plate had done their job. I’d still feel some pain but that was caused from the ligaments in my ankle recovering from the ankle being dislocated in the crash. It is kind of amazing that ligaments would take longer to heal than bones, I thought.
The fact that my leg had healed was great news and the good news kept coming. When I asked if I could start riding my bike again he said, “Yes. That would be prefect! I recommend that you ride your bike a lot this summer and I’ll see you again in three months for a check up.” I was so excited I that I stood up and shook my fists in the air and shouted, “Yea!” I looked at my wife and she recognized the excited look on my face. (It was the one I get when I am about to get fanatical about something.)
That was Wednesday. On Thursday morning I started exercising on my recumbent exercise bike that I keep in the basement and use in the winter. I rode it for about 15 minutes. I was curious about how my leg and ankle would feel during and after the light workout. I felt great all day long and the next morning I felt fine also. Friday came and went with no time to ride.
I was determined to get a ride in today. This Saturday morning was perfect for a ride but family obligations kept me away from the bike. It rained in the early after noon, so the ride had to wait until early evening.
I went out to the garage and started getting the bike ready for the short ride that I planned when the feelings started. I was beginning to feel nervous about riding. The weather wasn’t helping. It was right after a few days of rain that I went on the ride that sent me to the hospital back in April.
I grabbed my helmet, filled up my water bottle, put my cell phone in my bag and closed the garage door. I sat on the bike and my nervousness started to rise again. I was slow and clumsy starting off. I was too nervous to put my clipless shoes all the way into the pedals. My nervousness (fear really) caused me to ride the bike like a five-year-old who just took off his training wheels! I must have looked silly. I hope my neighbors weren’t watching, they used to see me take off looking so confident and coordinated, only a couple of months ago.
I spent a few minutes just riding in my neighborhood before I headed out to the bike trails. And, I went S-L-O-W. Every turn scared me. Every puddle scared me. Every bit of sand in a turn scared me, but I kept going.
It was down right frightful! I rode like an old lady who hadn’t rode since she was a kid. Everyone on the bike trails passed me. I used to average at least 14 mph on my mountain bike, a bit faster on my road bike, but on this ride my speedometer mostly read out at about 8 mph. (My wife would have been please. I promised her that I would be careful and go slow.)
I pressed on. By the end of the ride I was starting to feel a tiny bit more confident and coordinated. In total the ride was about 47 minutes long and I went 6.89 miles, according to my mileage computer on the bike.
When I went inside my supper was ready and my wife asked me how the ride went. “Scary” I told her. I didn’t go into details. Maybe I’ll let her read this later.
Now supper is over and I’m sitting at my computer and thinking about the ride. It was my scariest ride ever. But at least I got back on the bike. I suppose it is like the old adage that when you get bucked off a horse, you need to get right back on. I wish I could have done that, but a surgery and three different casts on my leg prevented me from doing that. Now I’m doing the next best thing. I’m back on the bike. I’ll slowly put the miles in until my leg is back to where it was or better. And with time, I know that I’ll get my confidence back.
I’m and expert at self-hypnosis and positive thinking, so I know it is only a matter of time and determination. I’ll just keep my attention on my self-talk keeping it positive. I’ll send in those hypnotic suggestions when I do my daily self-hypnosis, and keep on riding.
I’m back bro’s. I’m back in the seat and putting in the miles again. And, it is really good to be back.
HypnoBassMan
I broke my leg riding my new bent. It was my third ride on it. That was April 19, 2003, about 9 or 10 weeks ago, but that was not my scariest ride.
This week I went to the doctor and he said that my bones in my leg had healed! The eleven screws and metal plate had done their job. I’d still feel some pain but that was caused from the ligaments in my ankle recovering from the ankle being dislocated in the crash. It is kind of amazing that ligaments would take longer to heal than bones, I thought.
The fact that my leg had healed was great news and the good news kept coming. When I asked if I could start riding my bike again he said, “Yes. That would be prefect! I recommend that you ride your bike a lot this summer and I’ll see you again in three months for a check up.” I was so excited I that I stood up and shook my fists in the air and shouted, “Yea!” I looked at my wife and she recognized the excited look on my face. (It was the one I get when I am about to get fanatical about something.)
That was Wednesday. On Thursday morning I started exercising on my recumbent exercise bike that I keep in the basement and use in the winter. I rode it for about 15 minutes. I was curious about how my leg and ankle would feel during and after the light workout. I felt great all day long and the next morning I felt fine also. Friday came and went with no time to ride.
I was determined to get a ride in today. This Saturday morning was perfect for a ride but family obligations kept me away from the bike. It rained in the early after noon, so the ride had to wait until early evening.
I went out to the garage and started getting the bike ready for the short ride that I planned when the feelings started. I was beginning to feel nervous about riding. The weather wasn’t helping. It was right after a few days of rain that I went on the ride that sent me to the hospital back in April.
I grabbed my helmet, filled up my water bottle, put my cell phone in my bag and closed the garage door. I sat on the bike and my nervousness started to rise again. I was slow and clumsy starting off. I was too nervous to put my clipless shoes all the way into the pedals. My nervousness (fear really) caused me to ride the bike like a five-year-old who just took off his training wheels! I must have looked silly. I hope my neighbors weren’t watching, they used to see me take off looking so confident and coordinated, only a couple of months ago.
I spent a few minutes just riding in my neighborhood before I headed out to the bike trails. And, I went S-L-O-W. Every turn scared me. Every puddle scared me. Every bit of sand in a turn scared me, but I kept going.
It was down right frightful! I rode like an old lady who hadn’t rode since she was a kid. Everyone on the bike trails passed me. I used to average at least 14 mph on my mountain bike, a bit faster on my road bike, but on this ride my speedometer mostly read out at about 8 mph. (My wife would have been please. I promised her that I would be careful and go slow.)
I pressed on. By the end of the ride I was starting to feel a tiny bit more confident and coordinated. In total the ride was about 47 minutes long and I went 6.89 miles, according to my mileage computer on the bike.
When I went inside my supper was ready and my wife asked me how the ride went. “Scary” I told her. I didn’t go into details. Maybe I’ll let her read this later.
Now supper is over and I’m sitting at my computer and thinking about the ride. It was my scariest ride ever. But at least I got back on the bike. I suppose it is like the old adage that when you get bucked off a horse, you need to get right back on. I wish I could have done that, but a surgery and three different casts on my leg prevented me from doing that. Now I’m doing the next best thing. I’m back on the bike. I’ll slowly put the miles in until my leg is back to where it was or better. And with time, I know that I’ll get my confidence back.
I’m and expert at self-hypnosis and positive thinking, so I know it is only a matter of time and determination. I’ll just keep my attention on my self-talk keeping it positive. I’ll send in those hypnotic suggestions when I do my daily self-hypnosis, and keep on riding.
I’m back bro’s. I’m back in the seat and putting in the miles again. And, it is really good to be back.
HypnoBassMan
06-29-03, 05:20 AM
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I had a similiar situation where I crashed and was afraid to go back on the road. When I did start riding again, I had an unsettled feeling for quite some time. Just kept riding and it went away.
I am now more conservative with my riding due to age and experience. I now ride for fun and do not worry about the speed factor. If I want a work out I will just try to climb a hill faster and get the same if not better work out than sprinting at high speed.
Good luck on the recovery and it is great to hear that you are back in the seat again. (Did not say saddle because this is way to comfortable)
I am now more conservative with my riding due to age and experience. I now ride for fun and do not worry about the speed factor. If I want a work out I will just try to climb a hill faster and get the same if not better work out than sprinting at high speed.
Good luck on the recovery and it is great to hear that you are back in the seat again. (Did not say saddle because this is way to comfortable)
06-29-03, 12:14 PM
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Just got done with my second ride on the bent. It was great. I went almost twice as far and added about 2.5 mph to my average speed. It is so great to be back in the seat of my bent. I wanted to stay out longer, but decided to be cautious for the time being.
I like to ride for the exercise and the fun. I just like to push myself a tiny bit more than the last time. But I like your advice about the hills
Ride safe and have fun!
I like to ride for the exercise and the fun. I just like to push myself a tiny bit more than the last time. But I like your advice about the hills
Ride safe and have fun!
06-29-03, 05:57 PM
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Glad to hear you did much better the second round. What was going through your head? Did you have any concerns or flashbacks? I know I did for a while.
Pete Penseyres from Race Across America said that to win this race you train to go faster up the hills since you spend far more time going up hill than down. Climb real fast at the break neck speed of 6 mph on some of the hills around here and then slowly go down the other side for a longer enjoyment. The bent is so much easier to brake on than the uprights so I can go down hill at what ever speed I desire. Also due to the comfort, there is no rush to get off the darn thing. A little extra time on the bent is easily accomplished.
Pete Penseyres from Race Across America said that to win this race you train to go faster up the hills since you spend far more time going up hill than down. Climb real fast at the break neck speed of 6 mph on some of the hills around here and then slowly go down the other side for a longer enjoyment. The bent is so much easier to brake on than the uprights so I can go down hill at what ever speed I desire. Also due to the comfort, there is no rush to get off the darn thing. A little extra time on the bent is easily accomplished.
06-30-03, 09:40 PM
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Hi Gary,
Just went out for my third ride and crept the mileage and speed up a couple of notches (Distance was 17, time was 1:38, and the average was 10.4). I wanted to stay out longer but I had to get to work. There were people who needed hypnotizing!
I’m still feeling the fear, but it is far less.
But, I am sooo much more careful than I was before. If I see a patch of sand, or puddle, I mentally hesitate and then proceed carefully. (My hesitation is decreasing with time in the seat.)
I’m more careful about everything, even things that had nothing to do with my accident. I just feel a bit more vulnerable now. I know that I am much more careful in tight turns. The day I had my accident, I remember slipping a bit in a turn but recovering. Somehow it might be connected in my mind.
Regarding flashbacks… The main thing is that I just keep running the accident through my mind, trying to figure out what happened. I have settled on the following combination of things: going too fast to put my feet down (hence the leg suck), hitting my breaks too hard for the conditions (it had been raining for three days and had only stopped about an hour before I went out on the ride, I hit a bump in the road rather hard which destabilized the bike, and finally it was only my third ride on that bike, so I was not that familiar with how it handled.
I’ve been thinking about it and I think that the wheels are too small on the EZ-1 SC. It causes all of the bumps and cracks in the road to be especially harsh. My next bent will have much larger wheels.
Nice chatting with ya,
Just went out for my third ride and crept the mileage and speed up a couple of notches (Distance was 17, time was 1:38, and the average was 10.4). I wanted to stay out longer but I had to get to work. There were people who needed hypnotizing!
I’m still feeling the fear, but it is far less.
But, I am sooo much more careful than I was before. If I see a patch of sand, or puddle, I mentally hesitate and then proceed carefully. (My hesitation is decreasing with time in the seat.)
I’m more careful about everything, even things that had nothing to do with my accident. I just feel a bit more vulnerable now. I know that I am much more careful in tight turns. The day I had my accident, I remember slipping a bit in a turn but recovering. Somehow it might be connected in my mind.
Regarding flashbacks… The main thing is that I just keep running the accident through my mind, trying to figure out what happened. I have settled on the following combination of things: going too fast to put my feet down (hence the leg suck), hitting my breaks too hard for the conditions (it had been raining for three days and had only stopped about an hour before I went out on the ride, I hit a bump in the road rather hard which destabilized the bike, and finally it was only my third ride on that bike, so I was not that familiar with how it handled.
I’ve been thinking about it and I think that the wheels are too small on the EZ-1 SC. It causes all of the bumps and cracks in the road to be especially harsh. My next bent will have much larger wheels.
Nice chatting with ya,
