Originally Posted by
Luddite
IMO I ride a lot. I've put hundreds of kilometres on my hybrid and she's just past her 1 month birthday (typo in original post, week not year, sorry.)
Truth be told, I'm afraid of wiping out again. I actually fear going downhill fast now. It wasn't even a "bad" wipe out though I jammed my shoulder and messed up my wrist a little. I know it sounds neurotic..I hate admitting it. I feel if I can't touch toes on both feet while on the saddle, I'll wipe out again or something. It's a security issue, I guess.
I hear you about your crash. Those little psycological "issues" can be a pain. I crashed bad in a race last year and it kind of messed with my head for a little while after I got back on my bike. My first race back (at the same venue even), I was a mess with my bike handling. I'm sure that nobody wanted to be close to me. I was flinching at every little move someone made around me; I'm actually surprised that I didn't cause a crash. But I survived that race; nobody yelled at me too loudly and I didn't crash again, which would have been a disaster to my mindset.
About the saddle position. What the bike shop told you is absolutely correct for the mileage you are doing. When you start getting more physically conditioned and start pushing the pedals harder, you will start feeling it in your knees. Now that you know what is "correct", I would suggest marking that spot on the seatpost, then set the saddle height back to where you feel comfortable, from a mental standpoint. After a week or so, raise the saddle a few millimeters. Do this every week until you are where you should be. That might get you over your mental hump.
Oh, and when you fall, try not to stick your arm out to catch yourself
. Don't think you did anything wrong. It's just natural instinct. I haven't dislocated my shoulder yet from my crashes simply because I am blessed with elbows that don't lock. I hit with my hand and my body goes down rolling like it should because my elbow naturally collapses and doesn't transmit the shock to my shoulder. I have lots of scars on my elbows to show for it. For your confidence, you might want to have someone teach you how to fall and practice it on grass so that maybe you won't jam your shoulder next time you go down.