bargo68 

Larry, wasn't our introduction to you here at BF a story about crashing your hybrid accompanied by a photo of your leering, bloodied face?
You sound like a real hard-charger, bud.
Be careful, you don't want to end up like Arthur Digby Sellerz:

downtube42

C3 fracture here, two years ago, cycling.

Probably was six months before I was fully comfortable on the bike, particularly descending.

I've worked on improving my descending and cornering skills, addressing the deficiency that led to my crash. That probably helped me deal with things.

I do have a healthier respect for descending in darkness.

afm199

Two years ago I had a C5 break ( bony process) in a motorcycle crash. I also had scoliosis prior to the crash, and my spinal cord was compressed in the crash. I was paralyzed from the neck down briefly. Took a long time to recover from the nerve damage, but mostly recovered. I also had five neck vertebrae fused, laminectomy, rods and screws.

No more motos, I am too nervous now, but I am back on the bicycle and my favorite ride is a steep road vertical and then a long dirt trail back to my house. I run a gravel bike and just let some air out of the tires. Lovely ride.

And it took me a while to get used to riding again. I really don't want to repeat that experience.

PeteHski

Proper Frankenstein stuff right there ^
Motos are dangerous, no doubt about that. Almost everyone I know who rides them regularly has had a serious injury at some point. Bicycles are about my limit for risk vs reward.

smashndash

I like to keep myself sharp by doing cornering drills in a parking lot or low traffic road. The key is consistency, not speed. What you need is the ability to believe that you can execute *exactly* what you plan to. Hit the brakes and trail them off at exactly the right time. Dive in with the right amount of aggression. Clip the apex exactly as you planned. Keep your head up, looking at the vanishing point the entire time.

Once you're able to do the exact same turn at the exact same speed holding the exact same line something like 10-20 times, the confidence will return automatically. From there it's just a matter of slowly and steadily pushing your limits.

dkatz1

Not exactly the same but: in 1972, I was in a head on collision: a drunk passed out, crossed the center lilne and slammed into me. I was in the hospital 65 days. In traction: broken, shattered femur in three places. For the next 5 years or so, I was always scared of everything while driving. And even more than driving, I coudlnt' stand to be in a car anyone was driving, as I wouldn't trust anyone.then I got a job for a couple of years as a Boston Cab driver. And being constantly in horrible traffic, sometimes in bad weather, etc....actually helped me put some fo that fear to rest. Though it still took longer than that to feel more "normal" (whatever the hell that is). I feel like it's behind me at this point, but most likely, I would feel different if that hadn't happened (some of the injuries have followed me around my whole life).

Marci

I ride with limitations. Old back injury from a horse accident, (crushed vertebrae, causing scoliosis) I kept on riding horses but learned to be more careful. But the resulting arthritis is really wrecking the back slowly... and it spreads to other joints. I had to quit the horses a few years back and found bikes give me the same hair in the wind feeling of freedom-with 1/4 of the work. LOL
I had a cool specialized but kept crashing, one time breaking a rib. I ended up getting a semi recumbent, one with a backrest and easy on joints. Being able to put my foot down and touch ground has saved my butt a few times. And I am no speed freak at all.
Don't beat yourself up, your doing fine. 2 months is really early days. And actually your really brave to try a bike at all this soon. If you need to ride the breaks downhill until you feel more confident then do so, just watch the breaks for wear.
If it doesn't get better there are people who help with regaining confidence. But it might just be a good idea being careful, We get better sense when we are fragile. But being careful is not a bad thing at all. And though the body may heal but that brain is a bit slower. Listen to your gut, speed comes later and you may NEVER go back to the way you were before...but perhaps that may mean you will live longer?
But 2 months out is really early.

a77impala

I’m 77 years old, started riding again after I retired in 2002. Fifteen years ago I fractured my left cheek, three weeks later
I fractured my right shoulder. Five years ago I fractured left hip, I was back on my trainer in two weeks, back on the road in two months.
Do I think about getting injured again, yes. I’ve gone down hard a couple times since but was able to get up and ride home. A couple months ago I was day dreaming and rear ended an SUV, I was sure I’d broken my clavicle but just severe bruise. I think about what could happen often but
never have considered quitting. I’ve ridden 93,000 miles in 15 years and no intention of quitting any time soon!
All I can say is, Never Give Up!

peterraymond

I've had accidents skiing and bike riding. Each was somewhat a wake up call and in that sense not all bad. Both made me act a little more sanely and bike riding is intrinsically more dangerous than a lot of other things in our lives.

You have pointed out what is kind of a catch 22. Lack of confidence hurts your bike handling skills, which further dings your confidence. The repetitions in a parking lot make a lot of sense to me. Then maybe repeats on a short loop with a twisting descent - if you can find one. Once you build a core of confidence you can build from there. The transition into a corner may be the most important part to work on.

As far as general skills, I had to tell myself to loosen my grip on the handlebar and that helped a lot. Also, looking further ahead helped through the whole corner. I try to stop looking where I'm heading in the moment and instead try to look more where I want to end up. Maybe that's a switch from looking 1-2 seconds up the road to looking ahead maybe 4-6 seconds.

LarrySellerz

Thanks for the input y'all. Might go on a dirt ride with the squad tomorrow, will probably be less intense than the usual ride they do. So out of shape.

FireWaterBoy

I had a bad crash on a very fast descent. Didn't break anything but still took me a few months to recover. It's been over two years and I still have the fear on high speed descents. Was meant to do some master racing this year but where I live it's so hilly that you are constantly climbing and descending. I'm not able to keep up on the descents and instead have turned to gran fondos, where you can descend at your own speed.

CAT7RDR

After my last crash six months ago, (rotator cuff injury), I find myself choosing to ride a heavy rigid 29er with disc brakes more and more.
I had a pinch flat on a descent and flew into the asphalt landing on my left shoulder and hip.

I can see where PTSD like symptoms such as hypervigilance, avoidance and fear can come into play.
I just try to keep my speed down below 30 mph in the straights and closer to 25 on any curves.

A heavy bike with 2.2' tires and a 203mm front rotor helps give me a sense of security.
However, human error, mechanical failures and multiple other factors, have made me consider giving up cycling altogether and just hiking.

afm199

I hear that. I live in a city, Oakland, where riding bicycles can be pretty hazardous. I pick my rides really carefully. Fortunately we are a bicycle friendly city with many bike paths established and some street lanes marked for bicycle use only, which means that any bicycle in the lane has the right of way and may take the entire lane. Cars may use the lane only if bikes aren't.

Anyway, I pick my routes carefully and avoid rush hour and weekends on dangerous roads. Those are the times I take my safe routes exclusively.

It just takes five seconds of inattention to become a statistic. I almost got nailed last week by an idiot.

zandoval 

Yes... But my biggest fear is that if I have another accident I am

Grounded!

That just sacres the hell outta me...

zandoval 

Yep... Kinda like me trying to pick out the next place I'll fall if it happens...