DreamRider85

Well I have a mountain bike and road bike. For the longest time, I was riding my mountain bike on long, paved trails. Then I got a road bike and started riding them on the paved trails. I also recently just started riding my mountain bike on mountain like trails. And that's a whole new ballgame in of itself and am really starting to like mountain biking as well.

But I do have a little bit of a phobia riding in traffic, next to cars. I haven't done it very much other than around the block and maybe a little bit on bike lanes. But other than that, I've just felt a little apprehensive, so basically I've just been a trail rider with both my mountain and road bike.

But I feel like I'm not really being a true cyclist by not doing the roads. When I watch The Tour De France, that looks appealing in a sense and at times I just wish roads were free of cars. So I feel like I'm limiting myself by not doing the roads and I just don't feel like I'm being the full cyclist that others are.

I've seen some youtube videos, and have read stories of some crazy things happening on the road. You can't stop a drunk driver or a selfish truck driver, no matter how safe you are. Some people don't care if they hit you, they just wanna go fast. I feel like if you're driving a car and get hit, at least you have protection. But what happens when you get hit on a bike? I just can't even imagine.

Am I too paranoid? Or is my phobia justified? Should I ride only on the quietest roads? Or is trail riding good enough? I mean since there are a lot of trails both paved and mountains, would I be an idiot trying to ride with traffic?