The Fear -- Great Essay on CyclingTips

[weisan]

thanks thwart pal for sharing that.

[d_douglas]

My wife is a non Cyclist (other than cruises with kids and myself) and I think she is nervous about the potential for catastrophic injury, but she has that trait as part of her personality.

On a ride on Sat, I happened to witness first hand a person getting doored by a vehicle whose occupants were unloading stuff from their car. He hit the ground and his bike went flying but he seemed ok and the driver of the car seemed very concerned so they surely sorted it out.

While I may be blissfully overconfident in my abilities, witnessing these things first hand is a powerful reminder that while I may be in control of my own actions, I cannot control those of others, and that is what worries my wife.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/10/jra-...sian-the-fear/

I really like James' writing, and this one is particularly good.

Surprisingly, the comments section is worth reading too.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

We always said in USN aviation, after an accident, that you can 'what if' yourself right out of flying..same for riding. I got hit from behind while riding in 2002...Sure I remember it happened but ride defensively and smart, not only how but where you ride. Don't take unnecessary chances..pay yer money, take yer chances.
The 'like' of riding outweighs the risk/thought of getting hit.
Green stamps and red stamps..goods and others..if the stack of red stamps or others gets taller than the other stack, do something else. Don't ride if it scares ya to death, life's too short to be worried sick to just ride a bike. But if the risk is manageable..ride on..

[Gummee]

The screwy thing about all this is people don't stop driving when they have an accident. They get back in the car and deal with it.

I'm not sure I could see an instance that I wouldn't want to get right back on the bike because that's part of who I am. Even when I went from 30-something to 0mph in the space of some lady's tailgate, all I wanted to do was get back on the bike!

...but that's me YMMV

M

[thwart]

Originally Posted by Gummee

The screwy thing about all this is people don't stop driving when they have an accident. They get back in the car and deal with it.

I'm not sure I could see an instance that I wouldn't want to get right back on the bike because that's part of who I am. Even when I went from 30-something to 0mph in the space of some lady's tailgate, all I wanted to do was get back on the bike!

...but that's me YMMV

M

As someone posted above... it's not always just about you.

From the Huang article:

I recently turned 44, and in all likelihood, cycling is what will keep me alive and healthy well into old age. But there’s also a decent chance that it’s what will kill me. Ultimately, I guess I just have to be ok with it. As do you.

The question, however, is whether the people close to us are ok with it, too.

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by thwart

As someone posted above... it's not always just about you.

From the Huang article:

I recently turned 44, and in all likelihood, cycling is what will keep me alive and healthy well into old age. But there’s also a decent chance that it’s what will kill me. Ultimately, I guess I just have to be ok with it. As do you.

The question, however, is whether the people close to us are ok with it, too.

My ex- worried too, but knew that 'that's Gummee!' She didn't try and stop me. I made sure that I had insurance to take care of things

M