3 ms·
Well, same as any other fear, you have 1) face it and 2) do that bit by bit. Ride one block on the street. Did you survive? Cool; your fear is now ever so sligh
by peller 9y ago
Well, same as any other fear, you have 1) face it and 2) do that bit by bit. Ride one block on the street. Did you survive? Cool; your fear is now ever so slightly diminished. The next day, two blocks. And so on.
It does help if you are confident in your ability to ride in a straight line and to brake on a dime (aka using mostly the front brake). And, same as passing a truck on the highway in a car, it's generally not a good idea to hang out in a car's blind spot. As for cars that are scared to pass you, yea, that's really obnoxious. But as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the vast majority of bike-car accidents don't happen on the straight-aways; they mostly happen in intersections.
- projektir 9y agoThe other fears are mostly irrational, though. This one doesn't appear to be: it seems to be a cultural thing that US bikers are OK with riding next to cars, while to me it just seems... not prudent. How does that protect me from a car just ramming into me from behind? There just doesn't seem to be anything I can do about that. I'm always relying on the hope that the driver behind me is paying attention and I'm not big on hope. Riding on the street to me is usually very rattling because of how many cars repeatedly pass me, it doesn't really reduce my fear.