OK,you got me there.I have no professional psychology experience and often lack common sense and pull medical advise out of my ass.
It,s not my fault he came to BF seek emotional help(it,s a pedal pushing forum).

I tell you one thing.Once he starts posting cool pictures of the rash and lacerations from the controlled crash:cry: he,ll be a celebrity:thumb: in BF and never fear a hill again(as long as he is still with us).

You are not alone. I suffer from this affliction. The older I get the more I don't enjoy speed or heights. You have described it perfectly. I can peddle at speeds on the flat with no problem. The major problem with my last ride was some very rough roads. A minor problem that I think is contributing to this is I just put on some Conti Gator skins, and I have not gotten used to them yet.

If your weight is too far forward, your bike becomes unstable going downhill. Scoot your rear end to the back end of the saddle and your bike becomes instantly much easier to control during fast downhills.

And learn to counter-steer and visualize your line through the hairpins.

As mentioned in one of the previous posts, find a straight hill and start slow but increase the speed you ride down it each time.

FWIW, I had the same problem. Was scared silly of "Quarry Hill", a 1/2 mile 20+% gradient hill. Hit it the first time (mtn bike at the time) at about 25 mph, then 30, 32, 35, etc. I finally got to the point where I would make my cousin, who usually rode with me, stand at the corner before the hill and give me a wave when I could go all out before the TOP of the hill and have as much speed as possible. I now LOVE high speed descents, as long as they aren't too technical.

I had the same problem. I was fine until a very scary almost crash going downhill event that spooked me. Then it became a psychological hurdle to overcome. Repeatedly doing hills over and over cured it. It's facing your fear basically, it just goes away. Assuming there is nothing wrong with your bike.

And while you are at it, ignore the internet tough guys that insult you because you are not as much of a man as they imagine they are.

Randallissimo, you can grow some balls too.;)

Hey, what about me?:notamused:

This may not help with your fears, but it needs to be said. There is a possiblity of overbraking suddenly on a downhill and flipping the bike over the front wheel. Practise braking gradually with both brakes, so you don't panic when you go faster than you want, squeeze too hard, and nose dive.

HTFU and that is all

It's not the speed that scares you, it's loss of direct control. You can't feel your pedals pushing you along and this makes a 9 year old girl out of you. (Similar to why so many people are scared of airplanes... control issues) Try some VERY light taps on the breaks and occasionally matching your cadence w/ your speed and hopefully your cerebral will be able to keep up.

If you still feel like peeing yourself... you should probably go ahead and do it. There's less shame in that than in being a cyclist who's afraid of hills.

OK... teach me then....

What two things did I say that were "wrong" and better yet why (so I can understand)?

By my count I made 5 statements???? (So help me undersatnd what/which is/are wrong)

Thanks

The crash idea is total idiocy.

Try riding behind someone who is a good descender, and following their line. Do what they do in terms of which foot is down (the outside foot). If you can, ask them to go a bit slower than normal so you can stay with them. Following someone else might help you understand that you *can* go that speed.

- relaxed & firm grip on the bars - no death grip, no straight elbows
- hands in the drops
- weight on the outside pedal, which is down

Find that "sweet spot" of beer consumption where total relaxation just starts to become a decrease in motor skills.

+1 :thumb:

Put some big slicks (1.25-1.5x26) on your mtn bike and hit the paved hills. Very confidence inspiring. Much more solid feeling than my road bikes were/are and let it rip. I rode a Vitus for awhile in the mountains of Colorado for a year, that was spooky on the flexy frame. Great for comfort though.

Another thing you could do is go on Youtube or some race video where they are showing descending and watch how the pros do it. Studying how others do it might help you get some inspiration and motivation to improve.

Riding with someone also helps. Maybe make a competition out of it and for sure, you'll want to beat your friend and not even think about (the fear of) descending.

We have a winner. Like others have said, keep practicing your descents and you will slowly gain confidence and increase your speed. Practice this on roads that are smooth and free of debris. Also have your bike checked at an LBS so you will not fear a mechanical issue as well.

Perfect answer. Sounds like a fit/position issue may be contributing.

In motorcycling we had a term "all balls, no brains' to refer to guys who would go faster than their skill level. This was usually a recipe for disaster and happens in bicycling, too. Fear comes from the unknown. Learn the skills to control the bike at speed.

I'd say most people here giving advice (at least the racers) have crashed hard at some point. We dismiss it because worrying about it doesn't help any, and you probably won't die, so don't worry about it. You're safer when you're calm and not death gripping the bars and freaking out.

And the contact patch isn't what's keeping us from stopping. It's the physics of not being able to keep from flipping over. You could be riding on a 38 inch wide tire, but you're still going to flip over the front before you lock up the front tire.

+1
And what valygrl is recommending also minimizes the probability of high-speed shimmy.

I think that's it too.

One way to regain a sense of control, is to learn that you can control the bike descending. Go down a hill at the fastest speed you are currently comfortable with. Bring the bike to a quick controlled stop. Then repeat gradually increasing the speed.

If you know you can bring the bike to a controlled stop at the speed you're going, you'll have more confidence in letting the bike gather speed.

Another thing to do is find a helpful volunteer that is a good descender. Work on following them down hills. First at a slow speed, then gradually increasing speed as your confidence grows.

+1 also consider getting used to what speed you can carry into and through a corner. A lot of folks find downhill turns challenging (because they can be), but it just takes practice and developing the sense that you are in control of your bike, not the other way round.

In a panic situation, it is very easy to slam the front brake on too quickly and instantly lock the front wheel. FYI, you should be able to avoid going over the bars by sliding back toward the rear of the bike...

Seriously? No. I meant lock up and slide, not lock up and go over the bars; when going over the bars you may or may not have locked up the tire, it doesn't really matter. Of course that's easy to do, that's the whole point. The point is the contact patch isn't keeping you from stopping faster, it's the torque moment around the front tire. Sliding back doesn't help enough, it's still the torque moment, not the contact patch.

When you stop your car, the contact patch of the front is what is the limiting factor, your front tires slide and smoke. In a car or motorcycle, since they have such short wheelbases and little weight towards the back, they just flip over instead of sliding.

It's definitely possible to skid the front wheel without flipping over the bars, particularly while turning and braking. Chest on seat, butt cantilevered over the rear wheel, the bike will not flip regardless how much front brake you use.

Now you don't want to lock the front wheel because front wheel skids are very difficult to recover from.