how confident are you?

[Hip Priest]

I'm confident in traffic and whatnot, and ride assertively. However, like others on here, I'm a nervous descender, yet to break 30mph.

 

[growingvegetables]

I reckon I'm confident - and a lot of that is knowing my own limitations.

Afraid - aye, sometimes. Some you can't do anything about - the occasional ****wit who doesn't know how to drive appropriately. Some you can - and you learn from them.




Long steep hill down into Hebden Bridge. (I like hills and speed - I've done over 50mph. But I know my own fear levels, and not to get into situations I can't recover from.) Filthy rain storm just finished. Loose grit and sand and mud all over the road.

And a quarter of the way down, the front brake blocks wore down to the rivets. 20, 25mph, --- and the brakes don't work for a bend. 30mph - I'm still not slowing.

35mph - and I'm hauling on those brake handles so hard I can see extraordinarily delicate and beautiful twinkly filigree curls of metal, slipping off into the slipstream ................. my rim being gouged. Well - I did get the bike to stop eventually. Walked the rest of the hill, and train home.

I've no idea what cheapo-cheapo blocks I had - but I've never bought cheapies again. And just because there's still some of that ridge pattern showing doesn't mean the blocks are still usable or safe - I now replace blocks when there's plenty of life in them still.

 

[lukesdad]

funny old thing descending, other skills can be improved dramatically with practice but descending wiil be limited by the mind long before most riders ability.

 

[colly]

Pretty confident when cycling. Not worried by traffic because I like others try to be assertive without being a danger to myself.

Downhill I take steady especially if I don't know the road. Perhaps if I had a bike that felt more 'sure footed' I would be more confident.

I have ridden with some other from here who go downhill like the wind and I'll never be keeping up with them no matter what bike I get.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

funny old thing descending, other skills can be improved dramatically with practice but descending wiil be limited by the mind long before most riders ability.

I think you are right. My bottle went when MTB'ing before I was anywhere near the bikes limits.

 

[ColinJ]

I never go over 27mph even on the steepest, clearest, straightest descent.

Eh - I've ridden faster than that uphill!

(A fairly long 30 mph draggy uphill sprint for a road sign on a Costa Blanca training camp. I got overtaken by the younger rider I was trying to beat, sat up and almost collided with his girlfriend who was gaining on both of us! )

 

[Salad Dodger]

I don't tend to ride much in traffic but it doesn't bother me at all if I do have to. I used to be a motorcyclist and didn't take risks going for gaps in traffic, which is why I didn't have any traffic accidents, so I adopt the same policy now on a pushbike.

Most of my riding is on cyclepaths, bridleways and farm tracks and, whilst I don't thrash along at ridiculous speeds (because I am too old and unfit!) I would say that it is my physical fitness that limits my speed, not lack of confidence.

On the rare occasions when I do ride a fast stretch of tarmac, it's usually after the event that I sudenly find myself thinking "you have just done 40 miles an hour down that hill - what if a car had pulled out of the side turning....or if a cat or a dog had run out in front of you...." not whilst I am actually tanking down the hill. Whilst I am zooming down the hill it always seems like a good idea at the time....

In fact, writing this has made actually me re-appraise my attitude, and made me think that I have been lucky up to now (2 years or so since I took up cycling again) and that in future I should drop the gung-ho attitude and be a bit more careful... I am getting older and things won't mend so quickly or so well if I do have a prang.

 

[ColinJ]

On the rare occasions when I do ride a fast stretch of tarmac, it's usually after the event that I sudenly find myself thinking "you have just done 40 miles an hour down that hill - what if a car had pulled out of the side turning....or if a cat or a dog had run out in front of you...." not whilst I am actually tanking down the hill. Whilst I am zooming down the hill it always seems like a good idea at the time....

Funnily enough, I was doing about 40 mph down a narrow, damp, gravel-strewn descent on my forum ride today and I suddenly started thing "What if a badger runs out in front of me?" The thing is - I've never seen a badger 'in the flesh' but once I started thinking about the possibility of one running out under my front wheel, it made me feel pretty nervous!

 

[summerdays]

I think everybody cycling on the highway should be confident in their abilities. If they are nt they shouldn t really be there in the first place.

How do you get to that point then?

My confidence varies ... sometimes I think I get a little over-confident, and a small incident ... nothing major just unexpected as I hadn't read the situation correctly can bring me back to a more normal level.

A couple of incidents which have involved close encounters with cars or lorries have usually shock my confidence for a few weeks and in some cases make me alter my route or behaviour when I'm at the place were the incident occurred.

After any of these instances whether caused by me or not, I've always analysed what I was doing and whether I could have done anything differently.

As for going down hills I'm more confident than some of my friends (but still fairly wimpish - 30 mph is my normal comfort barrier) but prefer the hill I know to one I don't.

However if you start thinking about the worst outcome as you travel along the road then I think your nervousness can create more problems for you as you start to edge closer to the gutter and act more timidly.

 

[Hip Priest]

Funnily enough, I was doing about 40 mph down a narrow, damp, gravel-strewn descent on my forum ride today and I suddenly started thing "What if a badger runs out in front of me?" The thing is - I've never seen a badger 'in the flesh' but once I started thinking about the possibility of one running out under my front wheel, it made me feel pretty nervous!

I had a cat run in front of me last night. I was sat up, drinking from my bottle and looked down to set a brown and white cat sat in front of my front wheel. It darted out the way, which is good, 'cause I'd have probably been off.

 

[lukesdad]

How do you get to that point then?

My confidence varies ... sometimes I think I get a little over-confident, and a small incident ... nothing major just unexpected as I hadn't read the situation correctly can bring me back to a more normal level.

A couple of incidents which have involved close encounters with cars or lorries have usually shock my confidence for a few weeks and in some cases make me alter my route or behaviour when I'm at the place were the incident occurred.

After any of these instances whether caused by me or not, I've always analysed what I was doing and whether I could have done anything differently.

As for going down hills I'm more confident than some of my friends (but still fairly wimpish - 30 mph is my normal comfort barrier) but prefer the hill I know to one I don't.

However if you start thinking about the worst outcome as you travel along the road then I think your nervousness can create more problems for you as you start to edge closer to the gutter and act more timidly.

Well, exactly. I think you ve started to answer your own question, as its only you that can. Its your confidence and yours and others safety on the highway that is paramount.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Im useless at decending hills on the bike. I always drop off to the back of the bunch and keep my distance. It then takes me 5 - 10 minutes to try and catch back up of what don't always happen as it usually means another climb and yet another long steep decent.


Ive seen a bunch of old ladies on a audax pass me on decents before now

 

[buggi]

Cycling pot holed roads in the dark has my confidence low enough to take any enjoyment out of my cycling so I ditch the 6 am commute to the stn in the winter.

nothing a good light wouldn't fix

 

[HLaB]

I think I'm confident in traffic but never assume I am if that makes sense (I never let my self relax) and I'm fairly confident about speed/ handling on the straight but add a downhill bend I can become incredibly nervous, perhaps its from going round a bend once to find a van coming at me cutting the corner slightly, more recent events haven't helped either

 

[twobiker]

I have tried going downhill fast got to 44mph and thought "sod that, what if" etc, then later a dog jumped out and took out the front wheel at 10mph, broken Radius and gravel rashed left side, just back on a bike now, and ride so much slower downhill.