I'm scared to cycle?!

[FearBuster]

Okay, here goes nothing...
I joined this forum to break this fear of cycling that I have. I have quite poor balance skills, but I remember as a kid I used to LOVE cycling, I mean, it was so fun to be able to get to places with no car but on a bike and pretty fast too. I didn't cycle too often but loved it when I did.

I was cycling around my local area one day and I went down a down-hill driveway. There were cars parked at the bottom and my bike started careening out of control, going too fast for me to control. I thought I'd crash into the cars at the bottom and seriously started panicking and turned my bike to the side to purposefully throw myself off the bike so I wouldn't crash into the cars. I didn't fall too hard but I really injured my hand. I could see the meat :O anyway, since that day, I never rode again. I was 11 at the time.

I decided to try biking again when I was 14/15 and told myself to get over it. I wasnt seriously scared or anything, I was in a local park with my dad and he helped me to balance myself as I'd apparently forgotten how to ride. Funny, I know!

Anyway, I haven't ridden a bike again since that day in the park because I can never seem to balance properly on it. All the bikes I've tried to sit on feel waay too big - the wheels feel huge and I can never seem to balance on them properly. I have an in-built fear of losing my balance and injuring myself which prevents me from even trying to ride a bike as if I can't even balance properly on it, I will inevitably injure myself

Anyone got any advice? I've tried 24" wheels which still feel way too big and I'm 5"5 going 5"6 but the 24" feels too big.

I'm a woman by the way, and at my height, 24" should be fine. I reckon I could ride a kids bike alright without unbalancing myself but it wouldn't support my weight, right?

 

[Volnix]

Crashing on a bike is a very bad experience, which unfortunately happens some times. I crashed with a bike several times. The "fear of losing your balance" as you describe it, I think it could be easily dealt with if you pedal more aggresively to propel the bike forward, not steer the handlebar too much and not tilt too much on either side. I think you can balance a bike with very little speed if you dont move about too much whilst on it or tilt too much on the side. After a while you get used to it in a way that you do most of the balancing without really thinking about it too much.

There is an interesting book called "bicycling science" which as far as I remember has a lot of info about how bicycles balance. You might want to check it. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

As far as the wheel size on the bike, I find that bikes with bigger wheels seem to be more stable. I tried some mountain bikes and the seem to steer way too easily. I prefer the bigger sized wheels since I feel I can go a bit faster with those too. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif.

As far as braking, is really important that you have a good braking system for stopping the bike. I dislike any braking systems that puts pressure on the rim for slowing the bike as they seem to be unreliable when the rim is wet. They also ruin the rim. Disk brakes seem to solve that problem a bit. I ride a bike with drum brakes. They are not too powerful but I feel like the braking power is easily managed. They are also a bit heavy probably.

Its also important where you ride. Looking at the road whilst cycling might help you avoiding a few potholes and obstacles. Sometimes suspension equiped bikes also seem to provide with a smoother ride over obstacles. Slowing before an obstacle so no extreme shocks end up to you and the bike is also a good idea I think.

Also ofcourse since crashing does happen I would think its a good idea to practice safer cycling by wearing a good helmet, use bright lights on your bike so cars see you, practice some caution about careless drivers and pedestrians, keep your bike in good mechanical condition etc.

 

[boolakeel]

My mother had the same fears once, she eventually became a cycling commuter. You can get over your fear.

Bikes with small wheels are more unstable than with full size, at 5' 6" you're fine for 700c wheels. The faster you go the more stable you are, just look at cyclists following slow moving vehicles or trying to stay on the pedals while waiting for the lights to change...wobble, wobble, foot down! Always look where you want to go, not at a spot just in front of the front wheel. Practice pedalling in sitting and standing and coming to a stop, you'll find you favour one foot for putting on the ground.

Falling is a bit of a pain, mostly scrapes and bruising, I've my own experiences of fractures and dislocations, most cyclists have hit the road at some point, we still get up and do it again! You aren't likely to fall off if you are just casually pottering along.

Get hold of an adult bike and practice up and down a straight stretch of road, getting off if necessary to turn the bike around, repeat, repeat, repeat until you gain confidence.

Good luck

 

[Eichers]

Hi FearBuster, yes as above posts adivise, I would suggest you get a 26" or even a 29" mountain bike with large diameter tyres, comfortable flat pedals, front suspension and wear bike mitts. The large diameter tyres will let go over many obstacles, the comfortable flat pedals will let you wear many types of foot wear, and the disc brakes (especially hydrallic disc brakes) provide excellent braking confidence

 

[kdelong]

The bicycle wheels act as gyroscopes. The larger the diameter of the wheel and the faster it spins, the more stable it is because, like a large gyroscope, it will resist any change in its orientation. Just look back to the late 1800s and early 1900s when one of the most popular bicycles was the penny farthing with a 48 inch front wheel. They literally had to throw themselves into the saddle once they got it rolling, and the really big wheel gave them enough stability to do that without crashing.

I agree with Klabs that you should invest in a pair of cycling gloves. Most every cyclist has crashed at one time or another, and those that say "I have never crashed" are just waiting for their crash to come due. Oh, and get a bike that has brakes on it so that you don't have to crash in order to stop.

 

[tafi]

Yes larger wheeled bikes are actually more stable for an adult (who has a much higher centre of gravity than a child). The biggest influence on riding is technique and the biggest two factors in gaining confidence on the bike seem at first to be rather counter intuitive.

1. When riding focus on the way you want to go, and NOT on the obstacles you need to avoid. People who spend their time staring at potholes invariably ride into them. This is not to say you shouldn't notice obstacles but your peripheral vision is more than enough for this.
2. Your grip on the bars should be firm but relaxed. You do NOT need white knuckles. With a relaxed grip on the bars, it is possible to put fine control into steering. The bicycle has a natural tendency to self steer so you don't need more than subtle inputs. A death grip gives you much less fine control over your movements and how much steering you need to do; and it also acts against the bike's self steering ability. A racer in the Tour de France can comfortably eat his lunch while not touching the bars at 40kph because he understands that he can, in fact, steer the bike just by moving his hips (and there is nothing special about his bike in this respect). The bars then are just a place to put the brake levers!

As a way of gaining initial confidence, building speed and looking ahead may be useful, but anyone can do that and, it does not teach you the value of points 1 and 2 above. Start working at low speed and concentrating on looking where you go and making subtle steering adjustments. Remember that if you do fall off at low speed, the consequences are usually pretty minor. Once low speed handling is sorted, high speed is a breeze.

And lastly, try to recognise that your being fearful will only ever make things worse. There is nothing unusual about your story. Everyone has had childhood mishaps of this sort (me included). What stops me worrying (both in riding and in life in general) is the knowledge that whatever is going to happen up the road will happen, whether I worry about it or not; and that worrying about it is only going to prevent me from exercising the skills I need (or, worse, prevent me from doing something interesting and enjoyable).

 

[Gibsito]

Hi Fearbuster.

You've gotten some good advice already. I'll just add that the only way for you to really overcome your fear is to jump on the bike and ride it. Start out slow, in a safe place such as a bike path where there are no cars to deal with. Take a short ride utilizing some of the advice already given here with regard to riding techniques. Then go home. Later come out and do it again. And again. And again. And again. Gradually increase your distance, practice starting and stopping, riding slow and riding faster. Find an empty parking lot and practice slow turns, which require more balance than faster turns. Take it slow and easy. But the most important thing is to get that time in the saddle.

Eventually you will grow more accustomed to the feeling, and your skills will increase. You'll instinctively reach for the brakes and shifters without looking, because their positions will be ingrained in your memory. At some point, which probably won't be too far down the line, you'll begin wondering what you were so afraid of.

As far as your fall, it sounds like you didn't brake properly, or maybe your brakes didn't work as they were supposed to. Some of the old style cantilever rim brakes were pretty tempermental with regard to adjustment, and if they weren't adjusted just right they didn't work well. The newer linear-pull brakes (still rim brakes), are much, much better. I've ridden thousands of miles up and down hills, in all weather conditions, and never had a problem stopping, even with 50 pounds of gear hanging off my bike. Rain does reduce the efficiency of rim brakes, but if the old cantilevers are adjusted properly they still work well enough, and the linear-pull brakes (called "V Brakes" by Shimano) are immensely more efficient and easier to adjust than the older style cantilevers.

Regarding your injury, what was the end result? Presumably, you recovered fine, physically. I've had a few falls in my life, some that left me with some pretty bad road rash, even was hit by a car once (when I was a kid, looooong ago). Recovered from all of it, and could not imagine living life without having my bike to ride. It's a huge part of my life, and a source of immense pleasure.

 

[FearBuster]

Haha, thank you for the advice. Actually, I sometimes think maybe the injury wasn't so bad because I recovered just fine, NO scars at all, just fear since that day. How do I start the biking off well? My main problem seems to be that as soon as I get on the bike, what I'm trying to do, is trying to balance myself so I seem to move the handlebar waay too much, like, left, right etc to try to balance myself on the bike, I end up looking at the pavement and have the bike veering to one side and I fall as a result

 

[SierraSlim]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]Hi, Fearbuster![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]I understand totally what you're going through. I've overcome several major phobias in the last 2 years, including learning to swim at the age of 59 after being deathly afraid of water since a near-drowning as a child. Overcoming fears isn't always easy -- but it's always worth it when you finally make it through![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]For people with poor balance and fear of falling -- which includes me -- mounting the bike and staying on long enough to get going can be difficult. Electra makes a line of bicycles with what is called flat-foot technology. That means that their bikes are built in such a way that you can sit on the saddle and still have both feet on the ground. This obviously makes starting a breeze! Because you can sit on the saddle, have your left foot on the ground, and put your right foot on the pedal and start moving. Their bikes are also 'cruisers' and 'townies', which means among other things that they're a little heavier than some bikes. Heaviness is a good thing for those with difficulty balancing; it's like the difference between standing a thick book on its end and a thin book, kind of. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]Electra's bikes are also really pretty, come in single-speed, 3-speed, 8-speed, and up, and can usually be bought almost anywhere -- including getting awesome deals on them from Craigslist. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]If you're really having difficulty with the balancing to take off, I highly recommend getting one -- and then doing all the suggestions above on where to practice.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]Don't give up. Work you way through this, and you'll be amazed at how good you feel about yourself afterward. Good luck![/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= #0000ff]Sierra[/COLOR][/SIZE]

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by FearBuster .

How do I start the biking off well? My main problem seems to be that as soon as I get on the bike, what I'm trying to do, is trying to balance myself so I seem to move the handlebar waay too much, like, left, right etc to try to balance myself on the bike, I end up looking at the pavement and have the bike veering to one side and I fall as a result

I think that if you get on the bike whilst it is upright and then start pedalling on a low gear so you can gain some speed quickly without steering the handlebar that would probably get you started. You can also try to concentrate on what it is that you are doing to balance the bike. You might also want to try that on a downhill route so no pedalling will be involved so you can only concentrate on balancing the bike. Once you do that you will probably know whats going on whilst you are on the bike and concentrate on keeping the bike not tilting on the sides too much. I think its probably that you think too much about it and you do more balancing than its actually needed so the bike becomes unstable.
In my city there is a place where you can have cycling lessons. You might want to check if there is something like that where you live so you can have somebody to help you a bit in the start.
This book "bicycling science" says some stuff like these about this topic:

You can probably get a copy of it from an online bookstore. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[Gibsito]

Originally Posted by FearBuster .

My main problem seems to be that as soon as I get on the bike, what I'm trying to do, is trying to balance myself so I seem to move the handlebar waay too much, like, left, right etc to try to balance myself on the bike, I end up looking at the pavement and have the bike veering to one side and I fall as a result

Don't look down at the pavement. Look down the road in the direction you want to go. If you're looking down you lose perspective. Relax. Keep a relaxed grip on the handlebars. If you're grabbing them too tightly you will almost certainly over correct, causing the weaving. Some of that is just normal and will disappear with practice.

 

[LizzieG]

Don't be scared, it feels great


http://watchtvonlinefree.net/

 

[dhk2]

Bikes are stable when they are moving. This means you don't need to do anything to the handlebars to ride in a straight line, just sit there and let it roll. A riderless bike will go down hill just fine, correcting itself for minor leans to stay balanced. Try coasting down a shallow grade, and when you're up to 10 mph, gradually move your hands inward toward the stem. If you lighten your grip, you should be able to feel slight steering motions in the bars as you coast: that's the stability of the bike working all by itself.

This "amazing" stability is what makes bikes (and motorcycles) so much fun to ride. You only need to apply input to the bars (via slight countersteering) when you want to make the bike lean into a turn. Once the bike is leaning over in the turn, if your body position is centering, little or no input is needed on the bars. Even for steep downhill turns, you just set up the lean angle and let the bike track through the corner. Unlike a car, there is no tire-scrubbing and no need to keep tugging on the steering wheel.

 

[FearBuster]

Thanks to everyone for all the great replies. I'll be trying these out after my exams finish!

 

[cyclingtrend]

why? any question? you can find someone to help. the first you can just run bicycle on your garden or some small place.

 

[steven300]

27" is the best size to drive and get a grip on cycling /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif