MikeyMK

If you ride on the roads, and you're not fearful of being hit by a motor vehicle, then you're ignorant. Fact is that it's a fkn stupid thing to do, there's a huge risk of you getting hit, in fact it's only a matter of time.

gregf83 

No cars but watch our for the bears! Just eating breakfast and watching the news and one of the main stories is a cyclist lying in a hospital bed with a mangled leg. He was riding on a gravel road when he was knocked over by a grizzly. Tried playing dead but the Grizzly kept chewing on him. So he did what any good boy scout would do. Pulled out his pocket knife, stabbed the grizzly, got back on his bike and rode 7km to a logging camp.

B.C. man recounts fighting grizzly off with pocketknife

gregf83 

Guess your definition of 'huge' is different than mine.

velojym

Some of these folks pedaling along without a care in the world, earbuds firmly planted... (*sigh*... I don't mean the earbuds are a "cause", just a common example of a distraction) don't seem to be worried about getting splattered, but are probably more likely to add to the statistics than someone who can channel their natural fear into alertness and good judgement.

Wednesday evening I was whooshing down a slight downhill and had a fairly sudden loss of pressure in my front tire. Handling gets a bit squirrely when that happens.

There was some fear, and the thought of what it's like when that happens on a long/steep/fast downhill. I'm still on the large side of the Clyde range, and can only imagine what sort of damage I could do if/when I come down in an unfriendly meeting with the asphalt. It was much easier to take a fall when I was younger and fitter.
Not letting that keep me off the bike, though. I will, however, keep a closer eye on tire maintenance. That won't prevent a random puncture on the road, but every little bit helps.

Happy Feet

Come hang in the old folks home for a bit and observe dying from Alzheimer's or Parkinson's on a daily basis. That'll cure ya.

Jim from Boston

I recently posted about a similar scenario I occasionally (rarely) encounter where a rear view mirror is invaluable:

KraneXL

Sarcasm aside, my point is its an irrational fear. Getting into your car and being hurled down the road at 60+ mile per hour loaded with gallons of explosive fuel carries significantly more potential dangers and with a greater likelihood to result in an incident and yet most of us do so everyday without giving it a second thought.

If you're that afraid of cycling then give up your bike, stay home, lock all your doors and windows and crawl under your bed where its safe. There is potential danger in everything we do. That doesn't mean its dangerous.

mstateglfr 

Woah there- pump the brakes...or feather them i guess since this is a cycling forum.
Wearing ear buds doesnt mean one isnt worried about getting splattered and it doesnt mean one is riding along without a care in the world. Riding creates wind noise, which is about 85 decibels at 15mph, so you cant hear anything under 85 decibels when riding at a decent but hardly fast pace. Ear buds reduce wind noise and so playing music at a smart volume allows you to both hear the music AND still hear outside noises. Furthermore, I use sight WAY more than sound as a means to stay safe while riding since, you know, that wind noise thing inhibits hearing to a degree. Looking up ahead, looking left and right, glancing behind- this makes me as aware with ear buds as i feel when i dont wear them. Since they reduce wind noise, i can have conversations while riding and music is playing. Magical, I know.



Maybe this will allow the thread to pivot and add another 6 pages.

rumrunn6

Haha thanks that was a good one!

indyfabz

Especially if someone brings up helmetless people wearing ear buds.

Kapusta

I’ve got one leg 2” shorter than the other from getting hit by a car on a bike.

So if you are looking for someone to say there is not real risk there, I’m not the one.

I know more people who have been seriously hurt road biking than I do from being in a car accidents, even though I know way more people who drive than road ride and even most road riders probably spend more time in the car.

I actually find mountain biking to be a lot less risky than road riding.

SeanBikes

This GIF offers no evidence of cars ever being ON the gravel...

AlmostTrick

When I decided to cycle commute to work on busier higher speed roads than I was used too, I shared your fears. That was over 13 years and 40,000+ miles ago. What worked for me was training. I highly recommend Robert Hurst's "Art of Cycling" book, and the "Bicycling Street Smarts" training guides online. There are others. (like this board) Oh, and I got a mirror and learned how to use it. A couple years in I also took the LAB road course just for fun.

I was still scared at first, but as time went on I noticed that incidents were few and far between. Drivers were not swerving, skidding, or nearly clipping me. I saw first hand that riding in traffic was not as dangerous as most people (myself included) assume it to be... especially if I did it right.

It's important that one is using proper, proven techniques, instead of just going on their instincts, which may easily cause them to end up taking on more risk.

Don't leave your safety to the motorists, or to the statistics. Take full responsibility for it yourself, because you can do a better job of it.

wipekitty

Well...I've been hit a few times, twice with injuries. I was a relative novice the first time, and a more experienced cyclist likely could have predicted and avoided the collision. The second time (exactly one month ago) was a genuine accident. Because I knew what to do, I dodged the worst case scenario and was able to get back on an upright bike after a few days and a road bike after about two weeks.

To be perfectly honest, I see more (and worse) injuries on road bikes that are not car-related at all. I've known (and witnessed) several riders with season-ending injuries resulting from dodgy pacelines...broken collarbones, broken wrists and elbows, and other things that require surgery. Bad pavement, poor descending techniques, and random gravel can also cause some serious injuries. Don't even get me started on my MTB friends...they wear giant bandages with pride.

I've just accepted that cycling on the road - whether solo or in a group, for transportation or sport - is an activity that comes with certain risks. To me, the risk is worth the reward: I can get the rush of epic speed on a tiny human-powered machine, see some awesome places I'd never go otherwise, and save a bunch of money on transportation and gym memberships. It's a calculated risk, but learning about how crashes happen and improving one's knowledge and skills increase your odds of survival.

Brocephus

First, you seem to have confused me with the OP. I didn't write the opening post, so I'm not "that afraid of cycling".
I was merely illustrating in a subsequent post the fact that there is a limit to what good our "being careful" can do, given that the real threats are dozens of 2000 lb pieces of metal flying inches away from us at 40-60 miles per hour, that are operated largely by clueless, oblivious people that probably shouldn't have a driver's license in the first place, and most significantly, that are coming at us from our our blind side !!!!!
We're usually doing 15-50 mph our own damn selves, and our only protection is a puny styrofoam helmet, and a 1/2 mm of spandex !! Plus, our feet are locked into the pedals of these mobile folding-lawn-chairs we love so much !!
I'd say this is the very definition of a "dangerous" activity. In fact, we all routinely acknowledge that fact by wearing a protective helmet and neon clothes, something that didn't come into widespread practice until recent years, and after widespread injuries. In fact, people that don't ride with helmets are routinely called everything from idiots to "organ donors". Hmm, why might that be ??
What percentage here personally know people that have been seriously hurt, or even killed on a bike? I personally know several, as do most cyclists I know.
Obviously, road cycling isn't on par with being on the varsity bomb squad in Baghdad, but like it or not, road cycling IS a dangerous activity, and the fact that other things are also dangerous doesn't alter this fact.

eja_ bottecchia

Prior to launch...

RiceAWay

In the last couple of years I had some really weird single bike accidents that dumped me out in the middle of pretty busy roads and drivers always stopped and helped me up. In one case an expensive tire broke a cord and blew off the rim throwing me to the "slow" lane of the main street in Oakland, CA, not exactly the world's friendliest town. I had three cars stop and people helping me up instantly. In another case magically a green pine cone appeared under my wheel a quarter mile from the nearest pine tree. I assume that it had been kicked down the road by passing traffic and a car then clipped it so that it shot under my front wheel since it sure as hell wasn't anywhere in front of me. Again two cars stopped to make sure I was OK.

Though they appear to be passing rapidly and not caring whether you're dead or alive, cars are going places too and as long as you're minding your business they're minding theirs.

There were something like 700 bicycle fatalities last year. There were over 40,000 car fatalities. As a cyclist you can pick your roads and learn the safest way to ride. I have ridden on the most dangerous streets in the San Francisco bay area without ever feeling threatened more than I would if I were driving. And I'm a lot smaller target.

The problem isn't that as a new/returning cyclist you shouldn't feel endangered, it is that new drivers do not.

Bandera

I don't like being on a boat anymore having paddled canoes, been on sailboats on the Great Lakes and been off-shore fishing the Gulf Stream.
So I don't get on boats anymore. No big deal: Done.

If that's how you feel about riding on the open public roads: Don't.
Also no big deal.

You might want to try Zwift for fitness using a pedal-machine indoors, or not.
Also no big deal.

-Bandera

Dingman 

I understand what you're saying - but rather than put my bike and gear in the car, and drive to the trail, and then get gear\bike out... vs... riding from the house, on the 5 miles of city to the trail. You see what I mean, from the house is sooo preferable.
And some trails have a few section of shared road - don't think we like that, we don't - but can't always be avoided.
I just want to ride a little way safely, that's all. We try as hard as we can to be safe and STILL (nearly) get killed.

mrt2you

watch out for deer also.
not on the road or gravel but on paved bike trails on the outer edges of the city where it goes thru swampy area. i have had a deer jump out in front on me on 3 occasions. the first time it happened i was riding at 25+mph a deer jumped out in front of me. i think i missed him by 2". needless to say i ride with caution in that area now.

79pmooney

Time for the note I carry in my wallet every bike ride:


Emergency Responders

If I should die as a result of this bicycle accident, however traumatic it may have been, I want you to know that I died doing what I love and that I died at peace. I have lived a good life. I would like to have lived longer, but I also knew for years that with the miles I ride every year, the odds were that my life would end on a ride. Those rides have been my love and spiritual focus for many years. This happened to be the ride I did not come home from. It is not a tragedy.

Please copy this and pass it on to all involved.

Thank you,

Ben

bobwysiwyg

Chuckled at this one. Around here it's U of M home games up the street from us. All the same reasons compounded by lots of out of towners.. lost. I always wait for kick-off and make sure I'm back by the end of the game.. unless they are losing badly then you might want to move up the return time.

Bandera

Assessing risk and mitigating it by choosing the time of day/night to ride, the route selected and on and on and on to get out on the bike because you enjoy riding it is SOP around here.
As far as I can tell not being killed will end sometime, might as well be present and get what you can enjoy out of the moments until your number comes up.
For me, those moments will be boat-free.

As always, suit yourself.

-Bandera

livedarklions

I have been hit by a car once and it hurt, but just your basic cuts and bruises.

I don't fear cars unless they are driven by clowns or zombies. Clowns and zombies are scary.

CAT7RDR

We are all going to die sometime.

I just hope I can complete those epic bucket list rides before I leave this world.

I pray before every ride for safe travels.

Seems to calm the anxiety and fears of disasters.

My focus is then turned to riding with safety being the arbiter of how I ride.