Mental Setback...?
 

Recently, two Tuesdays ago recently, I had my first crashed in motion on my bike (a new Cannondale CAAD8 I am proud to say). Was going about 20-25 mph on a shallow decline, on a shoulder as well, and I ran out of room on the shoulder. I soon was on gravel, then I decided to try and turn two vertical inches up onto the road. Bad decision as my front tire slipped to the right and I face planted the asphalt, and rolled into the middle of the road. Thank God no cars were around.

Today my face is healed. I have pushed 40 mph on a short decent to get rid of any fear I may have about fast decents...but there's a decline that I could easily top 45 if I push it. but, the descent has a long, sharp-ish turn...that I am scared to death to haul ass through.

I was wondering if y'all had any tips to help me get rid of this fear so I can start attacking these mountains again like i was.

thanks,
Justin

Both your body and mind are fascinating machines that work in sync together...When they're ready, they'll rejoin quite naturally without being forced.

Ever listen to the Eagles?....Take It Easy! ;)

- Slim :)

Just as you have been doing. Get back on the horse. Your confidence will return, and I doubt seriously you'll ever make the mistake you made, again. Sharp turns... I've been practicing my technique on that as well.

Shoot...forgot to say that the main reason I'm scared to death, is that I'm afraid my bike is just gonna wash out from underneath me

You must be an inexperienced cyclist. I say that because, usually the experienced cyclist has had more than just a few spills.

I've been riding for decades and I've had over twenty spills for certain. That's just as an adult! Most of my spills involved wet surfaces. However, I've also been downed a couple times on fast descents. Just this past July 3rd, I went down real hard an almost got clipped by a sports car. I dislocated my shoulder and ripped an inch of hand skin off (please get gloves!)...

I'm accustomed to falls. I've adapted to the routine. You get up! Brush yourself off! Check your bike! If you can, you remount and ride to your destination. You ride home immediately, if you just want to recuperate!

Adaptation and experience is key...

I know that feeling. By the way, I ran over a Toyota about four years ago. Been a little gun shy ever since.

Ride a familiar road that includes a stretch that can test your confidence and abilities, over and over again. Start riding that section at whatever pace feels comfortable to you. Each successive time through it, pick it up just a little bit until you're going through it at the speed you finally want to achieve. The familiarity of the road will help you build confidence with each pass, since the road is known to you and you won't be continually wondering what's coming up and if you're already way too fast for it.

Slow down...Fast is not always better.

First and foremost: Thank God you are alive!
Cycling is inherently dangerous, period end of story.
If it isn't crappy roads, it's weather. If it isn't weather, it's inattentive motorists. If it isn't inattentive motorists, it's mechanical failure. If it isn't mechanical failure it's a really dumb biking maneuver.....the list for feeding fear is endless.
On the other hand, if it wasn't for all of the negative possibilities, none of the really good stuff would be available....
Cycling is joyous, challenging, fun, spiritual, invigorating, healing, medicinal, provocative, political, life changing,......the list for feeding courage and serenity is endless.
Cycling is just another aspect of life....and death....just like love or hope, success or failure......it's worth the risk based on my experience. My fear is that it may bite me in the ass just like any other risk we all take as we travel the road to a happy destiny.
You'll be fine, just like you have been your entire life.
Ride safe-

I've been riding for close to a year now, it's just I've never crashed before (I've fallen...but that's because I forgot to unclip :twitchy:. Same thing happened on a skateboard when I was 10, but I got through it. And when I got smacked by a pitch in pee-wee baseball...took another stand in the box.

I'm going to take a slightly different tack and say, you're inexperienced because you haven't crashed enough. I crashed about once a year for my first few years. I learned from each experiences and haven't repeated those mistakes.

But that's not what happened during your crash, by what you wrote.

You made a dumb mistake. Instead of steering to the left to stay on pavement, your steered to the right into the gravel. That's dumb. Then you compounded the error with a second dumb mistake, trying to to steer over the two-inch edge of asphalt. That's what tripped the bike--the two-inch edge of the roadway.

The bike was not at fault. It was the fault of two rider errors. If you learned from the experience, you won't do the same thing again. If there's anything to fear, it's not the bike "washing out from under you", but that you failed to learn and will repeat the errors.

Stay on the pavement. Don't ride so close to the edge. If you fail in that, slow and stop, then lift the bike from the gravel to the pavement. Or learn to bunny hop it.

I've made my fair share of dumb mistakes. One nearly got me killed when I tried to power out of a corner and hit the pedal on the pavement. This sent me off the other side skidding on my arm and leg into oncoming traffic. Dumb mistake.

But I'll tell you this, I never once blamed the bike, and I don't even dream of pedaling when I'm leaned way over into corners now. And that night, I finished the ride and tended to the bleeding when I got home.

And a few weeks later, I confess, I did the same thing you did, riding too close to the edge, then off into the gravel. I slowed and stopped, instead of crashing my way back to the pavement. Once was good enough for me. I haven't done that one again either.

Most likely, your bike didn't wash out. Often, when you go off the road, there's a small lip back up to the pavement. Bikes don't handle that lip very well and the all-too-common result is falling into the road. I did that myself on Labor Day and broke my hip. Now I'm suffering the same anxiety that you're having.

The solution is simple: "If you go off, stay off." Bring your bike to a stop, lift or roll it back onto the road, and restart. Nobody wants to do that because it seems a little wimpy but think of all the time you would have saved if you did it that way.

Downhill Biking is different from uphill biking. What works best for downhill won't be much good uphill.

You need to reduce the seat tube angle, get wider rims and tires, and wear motorcycle leathers with a full-face helmet, if you want to do it right.

You probably don't want to wear leather, or get wider tires, so just own up to the fact that you're not going to set a world record for downhill speed.

Like the Eagles song says : "Take it easy, take it easy, don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy". SlimRider mentioned that song (above) , I agree, it's not worth getting badly injured.

http://gravitybike.com

Their message board has crashed.


Here's a video of me when I was younger, riding for downhill speed. Note: I have Kevlar Fairings ( indestructible protection against road rash), using 20x2,125 tires (95psi), and I'm wearing a winter jacket.

Tsl says:

All cyclists take spills. It doesn't matter if it's a road bike, hybrid, a utility, fixie, cruiser, or motorcycle. The more you ride, the more opportunities you have to spill. Of course, your skills increase, your ablility to pick lines gets better, and your cycling manuverability increases. However, it's not exactly like driving an automobile!

I've found that with my experience with driving a car. I just get better and better and there seems to be no upper limit to my improvement. Sometimes, I scare myself when I know that the only reason that I've avoided some accident was due to prior experience. Cycling only has a few parallels like that! Mostly, when cycling, two wheels can just put you at a disadvantage, for which experience, just can't compensate. For example, you're descending down a wet city street and it looks like the street is all but abandoned. You almost feel alone, then suddenly a car door opens up, just in front of you. You quickly swerve to the left and lose it! That's happened to me twice! Making left turns after it has rained at slightly higher speeds, than what you're supposed to go. I've done that least five times before. Three times with roadie friends. We all fell together in sync! There's just been times when I've fallen, guy! I can't explain it! We just fall!

Additionally, when I belonged to a touring club, a had a few falls then too. Riding after it rains, was a major problem there too! Most of my falls were wet pavement related. That's all I can tell ya, guy! Also, most spills were taken when I was much younger and traveled much faster, too!

Hey! The bottomline and the point is, that when we fall, we learn to get back up, regroup, and start it all over again! We remain steadfast, keep a stiff upper lip, suck it up, and get ready for the next trek. That's it!


Those scenarios once learned, get bagged and you most likely won't repeat them! However, the scenarios keep changing on the road. Often times they're similar, but sometimes there's a wrench in a scenario or two and you just can't compensate in time for it! Hey, but you should know this by now!

I'm beginning to suspect that maybe you're the inexperienced one here....

- Slim

TSL, actually...I did no turning. It was a busy road, and the shoulder dropped into a gravel surface.

And, yes, the fear is washing out. I feel like I'm gonna fall everytime I go through it, even if only at 30 mph.

BTW, I want to thank all for your input. Will definitely apply these thoughts to this road

Wicked sick. How fast were you going?

sounds as if riding on the shoulder was the first mistake.
Keep your speed down on that descent with the long, sharp-ish turn until you feel comfortable with whatever speed you work up to.