Do you ever get Scared/Daunted by Cycling

[Auntie Helen]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I've done 1,650 miles since buying my trike at the end of May and only 800 miles in my car in the same time. I don't think I've ever had a 'scary moment' on the trike (the sort that gets your heart rate going) but I'm sure I've had at least one in the car - maybe some idiot cutting across or swerving out of lane or something.

I imagine part of the reason is that my cycling area is largely rural and if I use the car it's generally on a fast dual carriageway but I still think that overall the bike speed is lower and so I feel that if I have to make an emergency manoeuvre I can stop more quickly and safely.

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

I feel scared and daunted a lot when out on my bike. I find it even worse too when I come on here and hear about how feeling scared and daunted makes you cycle worse! Makes me more scared and daunted than ever and the circle goes on!!!

I didn't used to mind about traffic and stuff but have had such a lot of bad luck this year it's put me off. I have been cycling (a lot) since I was 15 and started to cycle an 8 mile round trip to school and back. I have always ridden on roads and never had a problem before.

What I have done recently however is change my route again in an attempt to keep off busy roads altogether.

Unfortunately, the less busy roads can seem a lot more unsafe on the dark nights anyway!

How do you get over feeling scared anyway?

 

[Origamist]

I feel scared and daunted a lot when out on my bike. I find it even worse too when I come on here and hear about how feeling scared and daunted makes you cycle worse! Makes me more scared and daunted than ever and the circle goes on!!!

I didn't used to mind about traffic and stuff but have had such a lot of bad luck this year it's put me off. I have been cycling (a lot) since I was 15 and started to cycle an 8 mile round trip to school and back. I have always ridden on roads and never had a problem before.

What I have done recently however is change my route again in an attempt to keep off busy roads altogether.

Unfortunately, the less busy roads can seem a lot more unsafe on the dark nights anyway!

How do you get over feeling scared anyway?

I'm not sure you're asking in the right place, RC - Cyclechat's Commuting section has more than its fair share of alpha male cyclists who struggle to understand how people can be scared when cycling on the roads or are daunted by the prospect.

Feeling vulnerable on a bicycle is understandable, but you have to try and remind yourself that in reality cycling is a not much more dangerous than walking and has many associated benefits.

Fear itself is not necessarily a problem as when properly channelled it can result in more cautious behaviour (although if you're petrified, I'd think twice about riding!)

I know you've had a couple of recent incidents, but try to focus on the positives of cycling.

I don't know if you've had cycling training, but it might help bolster your confidence as might reading Cyclecraft. In addition, is there anyone else you could ride with?

 

[magnatom]

I'm not sure you're asking in the right place, RC - Cyclechat's Commuting section has more than its fair share of alpha male cyclists who struggle to understand how people can be scared when cycling on the roads or are daunted by the prospect.

That's right I have a lot of gray hair on my back and I like beating my chest!

Seriously though, I would probably be classed as a risk taker, i.e. have jumped out of planes, would base jump, can understand the thrill of extreme sports etc. However, that does not mean that I can't understand why some people find it daunting etc. I was just stating my position. I've often said in the past that I can understand why some people would prefer to cycle on lanes/paths etc. I just wish:

a) they were well designed and so therefore as safe as users expect them to be
road users would understand that just because there are paths/lanes etc, doesn't mean everyone has to use them

 

[magnatom]

How do you get over feeling scared anyway?

Some people never feel scared on the road. I almost always fit into that group. I think it is just the way I am. Some people would never ever dream of getting on the road and fear everything. You probably sit somewhere in he middle (probably the best place to be) where you have some fear, but control it.

As a society, we need risk takers and we need people who are more cautious. I think we have to just accept who we are and make the most of it.

I should of course point out, when on the road I take as few risks as possible. I have a family to think of these days. So no base jumping

 

[Origamist]

What we need is to disentanlge actual risk from subjective/perceived risk.

 

[hackbike 6]

I did have at one time but probably on a few occasions now.

I should of course point out, when on the road I take as few risks as possible. I have a family to think of these days. So no base jumping.

I have no family to think of me so no problem.

I want to go to work and come home from work with no incidents or injuries.

I was at Whipps Cross recently (to have some teeth pulled) and there was an injured cyclist there,injured from cycling offroad and I thought well if you keep getting injured what is the effing point of doing it?

 

[Bollo]

I'm not sure you're asking in the right place, RC - Cyclechat's Commuting section has more than its fair share of alpha male cyclists

I've just read this in my pinny having just made some short-crust pastry for a pie tonight. I like to think I'm redefining the alpha male.

As to the scared/daunted, I will elaborate. For me, jumping on a bike is akin to walking - its not something I think of primarily in terms of risk for the vast majority of rides that I do. I suppose that, if I were to attempt to ride in central London-village or down the cycle lane/hard shoulder of the A34, I'd be thinking a lot more about risk. I'm not saying this is a good thing and while I'm on the bike I hope I'm paying attention, but its not a conscious assessment, and it doesn't feel like fear.

 

[515mm]

Always get a flutter of nerves as I pull out onto the road for my ride home in the evening - my HRM will show an extra 10bpm and I notice the extra bit of adrenaline which has usually worn off after a couple of miles. Most odd. I don't experience the same sensation on the ride into work. Mrs 515mm thinks it's the thought of coming home to her lovin' arms

 

[boydj]

I guess I must be one of these alpha males, because in the last 3 years of commuting by bike I don't remember ever being scared, daunted or put off. Incidents are likely to leave me annoyed or even angry at times, but mostly I just shrug them off these days.

I always wake up looking forward to the ride in - at least until I see what the weather is like. Strong winds worry me much more than heavy traffic, especially when combined with heavy rain.

 

[jimboalee]

It had been raining a bit earlier that day. The American built bike I have over there has the front brake on the left handlebar, and I was holding the camera in my right hand. There is always a long line of cars at the top of Lombard St waiting to roll down, so there is NO stopping. I had to get the camera switched off and into my rear pocket before I reached the 50% bit at the corner. Holding the bike back on the front brake, clutching the saddle with my crotch and struggling with a rather expensive camera; and trying NOT to look a clutz by having the front wheel slip away was the scariest bit of cycling I have ever experienced.

 

[HJ]

Not really, I find driving more scary, many because I have to drive on a road I wouldn't want to cycle on (A9).

 

[John-XTC]

I had to cycle down the A96, which is a road between Aberdeen & inverness, and 70% of my route wasn't tarmac surface, was rough/stoney surface, bumpy, at night, and countless artics passing by, then I had to cycle down some obscure road which wouldn't look out of place in some horror film, which was popular with drunk boy racers! one little house every 2 miles, with fields to either side, wasn't so much scared, it was more for the first time in 3 years of cycling, I actually thought this could be dangerous, but after one trip, I started to actually enjoy the route!

 

[trustysteed]

I'm quite confident riding in traffic now and don't tend to get too jumpy. It's only when you have a chav twunt come screaming past you deliberately with only inches too spare and then shouting 'Get on the effing cycletrack!' as happened a couple of nites ago that it can get a bit tense.

 

[Maizie]

Sometimes I do. Often I'll wake up a bit early on days that I'm going to cycle in, with a little bit of heart thumping. As cycling is becoming more normal for me to get to work, that's happening less often. Plus work is rather busy at the moment, so that helps me sleep right up to my alarm going off

Having said that, I do have panic disorder and agoraphobia. So sometimes just leaving the house is terrifying (mostly controlled well, but if things take a dive, everything becomes daunting)