Getting back on - after accident

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Jody

Stubborn git
Nervousness - but not of my own ability. But that not matter what I do , how careful I am - some numpty could stick me in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

Anxiety will be a harder one to overcome. I agree with Vickster that there is nothing you can do other than be careful and then accept that sometimes sh*t happens. Same as being worried about flying, driving, walking down a flight of steps, sky diving etc They all have associated risk but you are focussing in on the 1 person it happened to rather than the 99,999 that were ok.

Good luck with getting back to where you want to be
 
Nervousness - but not of my own ability. But that not matter what I do , how careful I am - some numpty could stick me in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

and so could an accident at home, .. trust me I know,... easy to say I know but theres no point in worring about that which you can not control , it just means your worrying and STILL cant control it , hope you see what I mean , good luck getting back out there
 
Had a minor skirmish earlier in the week. A car clipped my back wheel - no damage to me or bike. But have gone through a range emotions - from taking up golf - buying a turbo - buying a bike camera....

I was only 10 minutes from home - but I was very nervous those last 10 minutes and haven't been on the bike since. Can't make the club run this week - so thinking about going out on my own saturday morning.

I've always been a pretty nervous cyclist - so don't know how I will feel tomorrow -

Any pointers/advice welcome
#5 or take up Golf / geocaching.
 
I’ve been sent over the roof of a car on more than one occasion, by a left hook. The first time it happens, it *shakes* you up a bit ( edited for forumness) the first time, but unfortunately you have to get used to that sort of thing, at least in this country. Don’t let it get in your head too much. If you got away with it, just try and forget about it.
 

Welsh wheels

Lycra king
Location
South Wales
Had a minor skirmish earlier in the week. A car clipped my back wheel - no damage to me or bike. But have gone through a range emotions - from taking up golf - buying a turbo - buying a bike camera....

I was only 10 minutes from home - but I was very nervous those last 10 minutes and haven't been on the bike since. Can't make the club run this week - so thinking about going out on my own saturday morning.

I've always been a pretty nervous cyclist - so don't know how I will feel tomorrow -

Any pointers/advice welcome
I think you have to remember all the times that you've cycled incident free. However, I am going to be controversial and say that if you really aren't happy riding any more, there's no shame in giving up cycling. It's not the be all and end all of life. Cycling is mostly done for fun and what's the point if you're worried about it? Stopping should only be a last resort though I grant you...
 

hoopdriver

Guru
Location
East Sussex
These sorts of lightning bolts striking nearby are always unsettling. Give it a couple of days then perhaps go out in the quiet on Sunday morning. A few peaceful miles in the saddle will go a long ways towards a cure, Perhaps even cycle just on Sunday mornings, early, for the next couple of weeks, take pressure off, let time work its healing magic and relax back into cycling again.
 

bpsmith

Veteran
Had an incident recently, resulting in only 1 ride in a month. On that one ride, I deliberately did the 2 roads where the incidents happened. Got stuck in traffic alongside the actual car that hit me, parked half on the pavement beside me.

It’s still the best thing that I could have done on the first ride back tbh.

It’s the fear of the unknown quantity that’s the hardest. This applies to life in every aspect, so try hard to get back out there @kingrollo. You will love it again, I promise!
 
not been back on a bike for a month since going over the bonnet and having my bike ruined. I like the sentiment of most of the posts on here. However, I think the law of averages means that it will happen again if you take that same junction every day or most days year after year. however well you cycle you cannot control other drivers. Also you cannot be sure that the outcome of a collision will be the same. I went to see my doctor to get a sick note for work and she had a chat with me about cycling saying how she would love to cycle to work too but in this country we don't have the infrastructure and it's too dangerous.....the message was quite clear...its not worth the risk. I suppose it depends a bit where you live and what routes you take too.

Think I will probably get back into it however that incident does feel like a warning. going to mitigate the risk by doing the following: start wearing a helmet (please don't start a debate on that), going to have my lights on flashing mode even in broad daylight, only going to wear more orange or yellow hi viz for maximum visibility, alter my route to make it more off road though slightly longer/slower/stop start, join ctc or British cycling to have the insurance, get a camera but would prefer inconspicuous one....is their such a thing?

Might also stop for the winter though I used to love the rides in the dark I can see it increases risk. I think that's as much as I can do reasonably to reduce risk. Though the slightly longer route puts me longer on a canal towpath which has it's own issues.

I don't really accept that the risk of getting struck by lightning are in the same ballpark as getting knocked off again. I do think that you should take the steps to reduce the risk and then you bave to decide either way.
 

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
I came off on leaf mulsh a couple weeks ago riding down a hill on my commute, injuring my shoulder and taking some stripes of skin off my hip.It took me a good week to ride down that road again, and I'm still tiptoeing down slowly, but it has helped to face my fear of crashing. It's getting better.

I hope your mind lets you get back to riding as before. Being knocked off is rubbish, but IMHO the fun of riding is much greater than the downsides.

On a practical note, can you get any company for a ride? Having a friend there might help you from getting fixated on what bad things might happen.
 
Last edited:
I had a close one earlier. An Audi driver decided to turn right from the left hand lane of a 2 lane roundabout, without indicating. Then came over all surprised when I couldn’t stop on a sixpence, in the wet, from speed. His indicators might not work, but his horn did.
 
Top Bottom