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Saturday: ( A flat! A crash! It rained! )
Sunday! ( Learned some history, ran into Jarrod, bought bonnet. )
Monday! ( Fairly uneventful. )
Worst aftermath of that stupid accident: Being close to panic whenever I go downhill. I have always been slow going downhill. I'm a fraidy-cat who hates going fast and fears losing control while on wheels, which is why I suck so bad at roller skating and never tried riding a skateboard. Recently I'd been getting better about it, not riding my brakes as much on downhill sections, especially if I could see the entire downhill section ahead of me. I know parts of why I get scared: my balance has never been very good; when I go downhill quickly, the vibration makes my glasses jiggle, which can make it hard to see. Things like that.
Losing control of my bike on Saturday has put me back to less than square one. Every downhill section, especially if it's steep or I can't see the bottom, has me quaking in fear and riding my brakes so hard I'm almost stopped (thank god I have those kool-stop brake pads, I won't overheat my rims). I cannot seem to get the image out of my head of myself going fast, trying to stop, and losing control and crashing. I even walked down several hills Monday, which was really embarrassing. Every time I found out a long downhill section was coming up, my hands started shaking.
The worst part is knowing that, especially if the road is wet, I'm more likely to lose traction if I brake too hard. And I know that my front brake is usually safer than my back brakes (relying on your back brakes = possibility of skidding).
Someone recommended that the best way to get over my fears was to confront them completely head-on and just go Zoobombing, but I'm not sure that would help.
I think I'm going to deal with it the same way I always have: always try to go a little faster than I'd like to, and ride my brakes a little less than I'd prefer. Just a slow progression of pushing myself a little more each time. What do you guys think?
Sunday! ( Learned some history, ran into Jarrod, bought bonnet. )
Monday! ( Fairly uneventful. )
Worst aftermath of that stupid accident: Being close to panic whenever I go downhill. I have always been slow going downhill. I'm a fraidy-cat who hates going fast and fears losing control while on wheels, which is why I suck so bad at roller skating and never tried riding a skateboard. Recently I'd been getting better about it, not riding my brakes as much on downhill sections, especially if I could see the entire downhill section ahead of me. I know parts of why I get scared: my balance has never been very good; when I go downhill quickly, the vibration makes my glasses jiggle, which can make it hard to see. Things like that.
Losing control of my bike on Saturday has put me back to less than square one. Every downhill section, especially if it's steep or I can't see the bottom, has me quaking in fear and riding my brakes so hard I'm almost stopped (thank god I have those kool-stop brake pads, I won't overheat my rims). I cannot seem to get the image out of my head of myself going fast, trying to stop, and losing control and crashing. I even walked down several hills Monday, which was really embarrassing. Every time I found out a long downhill section was coming up, my hands started shaking.
The worst part is knowing that, especially if the road is wet, I'm more likely to lose traction if I brake too hard. And I know that my front brake is usually safer than my back brakes (relying on your back brakes = possibility of skidding).
Someone recommended that the best way to get over my fears was to confront them completely head-on and just go Zoobombing, but I'm not sure that would help.
I think I'm going to deal with it the same way I always have: always try to go a little faster than I'd like to, and ride my brakes a little less than I'd prefer. Just a slow progression of pushing myself a little more each time. What do you guys think?
