Confessions of a Concussed Cyclist: share the road

November 3, 2021

At counseling we’ve been discussing and breaking down my immense fear of cycling.  Yes, I still ride, but I’m terrified while doing it and some days that fear keeps me off the bike completely. I don’t want to be afraid and it was important to me to get back on the bike as soon as possible to help diminish that fear, but as time goes on, more cyclists get hit, and the more people feel the need to share those stories with me, the worse my fear gets.  This summer was the worst.  I started off fine, but then tourists took over our state, more cars, more drivers, more chances for danger and by the end of August, I was off my bike completely.  “Just ride,” my counselor told me (which immediately brought to mind a favorite quote of mine by cycling legend Eddie Merckx “ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel.  But ride.”)  “Get dressed, bring your bike outside, and if you only ride 5 miles, just ride,” the counselor continues. “Don’t let fear win,” he concludes. 

For people reading this, you may or may not know me.  You may or may not be a cyclist.  You may or may not hate having to share the road with cyclists.  But I just ask you to be kind to those of us just trying to do something we enjoy.  Help us to get back home to our loved ones.  We are all more than “just a cyclist”.  Share the road.  Slow down.  Move over.  Pretend that every cyclist you pass is your husband, your father, your wife, your mother, your son, your daughter. Show me that not every driver is out to get me, that not every driver will hit me.  The fact is, it is the law, you MUST share the road whether you like it or not, but the bottom line is, we are humans, treat us as such and protect us. The dangers are too real: distracted driving, speeding, road rage…we cyclists gamble with those risks every time we saddle up, so please do better.  I am trying so hard to not let fear win, but I need to know that drivers are looking out for me too.   

Winter is just around the bend here, so I will have a few months of working on my anxiety before next spring, in hopes that fear doesn’t keep me off my bike too much in 2022.