Originally Posted by
Machka
On the first descent after the crash, which resembled the crash (rainy and curvy), I had to stop 1 km down the descent, pull over to the side of the road, and shake for a while. I must have looked like I was about to go into convulsions because another rider pulled up behind me and asked me in a very concerned voice if I was going to be OK. I've gotten better than that now ... a bit.
This effect will go away with time. For a number of months after my crash, every time I went fast, I would start reliving the last few seconds before I wiped out -- despite the fact that I wiped out so fast that when I woke up, I didn't even know I'd crashed until I noticed my teeth were broken and people were trying to help me.
The trick to all riding is to come to terms with what is happening. You don't want to be afraid of cars, hills, or anything else. However, things happen sometimes that can mess you up. Several years ago, a friend of mine was killed and I suddenly became fearful of cars. My solution was to just not ride for 2 months while I could get my head screwed on again. When my head wasn't working after my high speed wipeout, I just went slower. I tried forcing myself to deal with it, but that made things worse -- the feeling that makes you shake is deep in your wiring, so you probably won't be able to rationalize yourself out of it.
There are certain risks that go with speed. Several years back, I hit a piece of metal at about 30mph that totally sliced through my tire and blew it out (miraculously, I didn't wipe out, but it was close). Last year, descending Mt. Shasta, my front tire went down, but fortunately, it went down slow enough I was able to feel the problem and pull over before it got really dangerous. I've had a couple blowouts over the years over 20mph. The moral isn't that going fast is insane, only that you have to be conscious of and OK with what you are doing.
My high speed wipeout was just over 20 years ago. At the time, I resigned myself to being slow, and I was for awhile. However, things get a lot better, and the experience probably helps you in the long run. Don't rush things or expect this to solve itself right away and you'll be OK.