Yesterday, I did something very scary: I rode my bike. On Saturday, Jesse crushed Alpine Dam, a challenging, very hilly 58-mile ride, and he agreed to join me for what would be a casual shake out ride for him. San Francisco was unbelievably beautiful this weekend, sunny and in the mid-70s, and choosing Paradise Loop as our course was a no-brainer.
I thoroughly mentally prepared myself going into this ride. As I’ve mentioned before, biking scares me – between the cars, irresponsible cyclists, hectic intersections, and potential to crash at any point, I feel like my safety is out of my hands. Most of this fear, I realized, stems from my inability to effectively unclip and come to a stop. While watching Jesse, I realized that he doesn’t unclip one foot to touch the ground: he actually moves forward, off of his seat, unclips one foot while bending the other leg, and puts his foot down. This move is so instinctual to him that he didn’t realize that this was his technique until we boiled down what I was doing wrong. After a bit of practice, I gained confidence control over the bike.
If I could have a re-do on my entry into biking, I would do a few things differently. I bought my first road bike (I had only ever ridden beach cruisers before) while simultaneously trying clip in shoes for the first time. In hindsight, I would have bought the bike and become comfortable with the gears before buying clip in pedals.
We conquered about 35 miles, maybe my longest ride ever. I hope to go out on my bike every weekend I can until Vineman Monte Rio, an Olympic Triathlon with a 25-mile bike ride.
My fear still exists, and I’m not sure it’ll ever be conquered, but I feel like I leveled up from yesterday’s ride. Here are the lessons I learned:
- Go out early. Jesse and I left the house before 8am, arriving at Mike’s Bike’s before anyone else was out on the Marin Bike Path. Riding without cars on the road or bikers on the path made me much calmer than other times we’d gone out riding in the middle of the day.
- Practice your weak spot. I used an empty section of bike path to practice starting and stopping; by the end of the ride, my confidence in this skill increased.
- Follow someone who knows what they’re doing. Riding behind Jesse and mimicking when he’d unclip or drop a gear was helpful for me.
- Focus on form, mileage, and comfort, not speed. I started beating myself a little bit over how slow I felt I was riding, until I realized that the most important thing for me to focus on at this point is comfort and confidence in the saddle, not speed.
Nice post. A beautiful part of the country. And, perfect weather for year round cycling.
Indeed!
Sunny and 70 degrees is all I want right now
I can’t complain. ๐
Wow! Amazing weather! Amazing roof top view too! I’m not a super confident rider either. I couldn’t handle serious car traffic though, that really freaks me out.
It seriously freaks me out too.
That’s the view from your roof!? So gorgeous! I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines weekend and congrats on getting out there to face your fears!
Thank you Salt! We love our apartment. Never moving. ๐
Love that pic of you guys! Biking scares me with the cars and feeling out of control. Clip ins just sound petrifying to me! Great work!
Thank you! It is very scary. Agreed.
Nice job! Biking scares me too, even though I haven’t done it in years. What a sweet picture of you guys (both of them actually!).
Thanks Lily! Biking in LA sounds like a nightmare.
That’s awesome! Clip-ins are terrifying to me! I just got proper tires on my commuter bike so maybe I’ll be feeling braver by the end of the summer.
I’m sure proper tires will help. I don’t think I will ever bike commute in SF; the city’s infrastructure doesn’t really support biking safely.
Last year I talked about doing a tri but I had to admit that bikes scare me! Combine that with the fact that I only rode a handful of times as a kid and it just seems risky. I’m glad to hear that you had a good ride! Great pics!
You could totally do a tri! I’m doing an Olympic in May (25 mile bike ride) as a way to build confidence for a half iron next year. We’ll see.
This is a great post! I rarely ever ride my bike, but when I do I get really scared when I’m in traffic. Especially if I have to make a left turn and get right up in that lane with the cars. No matter what I do, it always feels wrong. Riding on trails doesn’t scare me as much, but I have a generic bike and my pedals don’t clip me in so maybe that’s why – escape is easier ๐ Flying down hills freaks me out too. God help me if there’s a rock in my way or someone darts out in front of me.
Thanks Hanna! I feel the SAME WAY about left turns! When we were coming back from our bike ride, we had to make a left hand turn at a light, and it scared the bejesus out of me. I also despise going fast downhill. I would rather climb a hill then go flying down.
Taylor, I’m glad you’re facing that fear… Out here where we have grass, we go clip-on pedals on mountain bikes and practice in the grass first – this way, if you tip, no chance to get hurt. In that regard, you’d have been better putting the pedals on your beach cruiser for a few days… However, Jesse was right about how to unclip – your observation was excellent, off the saddle first, then unclip. Good luck – and just keep in mind that you ALWAYS have to unclip!
Oh, and ditch the aviators! Jesse needs to hook you up with some cycling shades…! Aviators are awesome for chilling out around town and for pilots (and we fans of Top Gun) but they suck for cycling.
Oh yeah, and the visor on your dome protector – that’s for deflecting branches when you’re cruising through a forest on a mountain bike (my $200 S-3 helmet came with one too but it went into the recycling bin).
You’re totally right about the Aviators. I really need athletic sunglasses. Jesse and I have a friend who also discussed the grass technique; it’s a brilliant idea.
These are really good tips. I am in awe that you were able to conquer your fears and go for a 35-mile ride! That’s awesome.
I am scared of biking. I had a really bad crash when I was a kid and haven’t really liked it since then.
Thank you! I don’t blame you – a bad crash would definitely scare me away from something that’s already intimidating.
I’m very unsure of myself in traffic, although I love the bike paths. I take downhills very slow and safe, but have the aerobic power to pull hills without a problem. Go figure. Thanks for writing on this topic. I was sure I was the only cyclist with traffic phobia.
I think it’s a pretty common problem, from what I’ve gathered.
Riding with cars, traffic, clipping in and out, people/dogs/strollers on paths, I get it. It is not the easiest thing to do!! But definitely the more you do it the more confident you will get!! Riding in the early morning is something I love cause there are few cars and obstacles getting in your way!! I am glad that you have Jesse to help you!!
And if you ever fall because you didn’t clip out…just get back up and keep going. I still fall on occasion and I have to do it as quick as possible because if anyone sees me and asks if I am ok then it is possible I will start crying!! ๐
No crying in triathlon! LOL
Thanks for the encouragement Leslie! It is pretty intimidating, but having someone like Jesse to follow makes it much easier.
This is a great post and I can relate so much! I’m glad you’re getting out there and conquering your fear and happy you have someone to help you out!
Scraped my knee and everything. Overall it was fun and I didn’t let the fall keep me down, but it’s still so scary to me.
I am not experienced at all, but when me and my boyfriend went out to San Francisco we decided to tour the city a bit by bike. Holy scary hills and wind! It was probably a bad idea to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge… yeah, there’s way too many people and I fell off trying to avoid people walking the opposite way who were taking up almost the entire walkway
Crossing the bridge is terrifying. I’ve done it a couple of times and hate it. Tourists with bikes aren’t paying attention and almost kill you! It sucks.
OMG, I am also super weak on the bike. I am really bad at starting and stopping (but once I get going, it’s all good… which is great on race day!). Even though I am super bad and awkward on a bike, I still completed the Tri Santa Cruz last year (Olympic distance)… but since I was so scared, I couldn’t take my hands off the handles and didn’t even drink any fluids during my bike leg o__O
It will definitely go well for you since you are going to be practicing more!
That’s great that you completed a tri! I’ve had the same experience not wanting to take my hands off of the handlebars! Weirdly enough, the only time I felt comfortable taking my hands off was during Wildflower (maybe because it was a closed course?).
Pingback: Grateful for the Push. | It Started With Coeur d'Alene