What is your greatest fear as a cyclist? A friend of a friend last year was right-hooked and is now a quadriplegic: she will never be the same again; is 26 years old and has a whole life of...

This is my greatest fear (as a cyclist and in general). I know that the moment I'm unable to ride is when I'll become depressed. I wouldn't even be able to commit suicide nor find anyone to do it for me. I'd be stuck in a chair my whole life. Whoever is up there, if I may be hit, kill me quick. Don't leave me a para or a quad.

Speaking of getting hit by a car, I was down hilling, not too fast, but I need to get to the left lane because at the bottom was an intersection there's a light. The hill curves slightly to the right the whole way down, and there are cars parked on my right.
So I'm going down, and I dont here any cars, but I always look, and what do ya know, I big white lexus suv hyrbid was there, scared the crap out of me. anyway I got over and continued my ride.

My biggest fear is that a deer or a moose will come out in front of me on one of my downhill runs.

I've told my wife and family [parents] that if I die in a cycling related accident that they should know that I knew the risks when I threw a leg over the saddle and that riding was important enough to me that I'd rather die doing it than live and not do it. I'm with the OP that my largest fear is becoming disabled and a burden on my family.

I agree with one sentiment, I'd rather be killed outright than suffer mentally or physically.

My biggest fear is this......I stop riding and put all of my weight back on. Honestly....That is my BIGGEST fear.

Once you got over the loathing and self pity, I am sure you would find new challenges in life and perhaps even strengths you don't possess now.

There are quad's and para's in a variety of activities and I am betting all would find this part of your post offensive and distasteful. Stephen Hawking hardly leads a worthless life.

I'm very sorry about your friend. How is she doing now?

You might live longer if you let fear run your life, but you will almost certainly live less. The only thing that scares me about cycling is getting injured to the point that I won't be able to do it any longer.

If Stephen Hawking can give mankind a better grasp on cosmology and black holes, I'm thinking with enough free time, I'd be able to dream up a clever and ironic way to off myself.

And if that sounds haughty, I've already had two back surgeries, after going 4 months without being able to sit in a chair, drive a car, go on dates, or sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. Heck, I had to stack books under my keyboard, monitor & phone and stand all day, every day at work for four months. Even doubling up the vicodin, I could only sleep for 3 hours at a time. And the doctor said (without even looking at the MRI) that there was no discernible cause for the pain. I thought life was over at 38. After the surgeries & therapy, I was able to sleep through the night; though I had to stack coins on my doorknob because I'd continued to sleepwalk, because I'd gotten into the habit of getting up and walking around 3-4 times a night to ease the pain.

I guess my fear is crashing bad a la some of the photos I've seen on this board. I don't worry much about a cager mowing me down, if it happens, it happens. I've been living with the knowledge kidney disease will probably take me down, maybe at age 40 (I'm 35) so I kinda feel as though time is running out, anyway. I don't take stupid risks though.

I more fear ghastly crashes with ugly road rash/broken bones/nastiness. I've crashed twice and nothing seriously bad happened. This made me less afraid, crashing doesn't always mean you're going to be FUBAR.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, according to FDR. Life is not fair, and bad things can happen to good people. We can be killed walking across a street, with a clearly-painted crosswalk and a "walk" signal in our favor. Ride!

Fear can paralyze us just as surely as physical paralysis. Ride!

Or, don't ride. Your choice. Just don't get on the forum 20 years from now and lament not riding enough for the last 20 years.