Confidence : How to rebuild it after a near complete loss ??

[edocaster]

Nothing wrong with seven miles.

[alicat]

Good luck on the ride. I'll be thinking of you and hoping you keep to nearer seven miles than 70.

[Daisychain]

edocaster and alicat, I managed to do a little more than 7 miles yesterday which is a bonus, but I also felt myself cheating by looking for off road routes!! I'm getting rather annoyed with myself as I should be rotating those cranks somewhere in the beautiful countryside with my club members, passing fields full of cows and sheep and the odd tractor slowly following us from us behind and appearing to intimidate us - or the tractor could be up front annoying us with its slowness. Instead I'm plodding around a local built up suburb feeling sorry for myself! My new affirmation, to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back"

[Phil Fouracre]

Good

[alicat]

Glad you got out. Remember discretion is the better part than valour.

[Zanda]

I think after a few hundred more miles in the saddle, the crash will seem less recent and will replaced in your memory by other, positive, cycling experiences. You might choose to get those miles at times when the roads are quiet, such as weekends or at night. Riding with friends can provide a confidence boost, as can training with a bikeability instructor.

After you've ridden those extra miles, you'll know that you can ride your bike wherever you like, as far as you like. You will still remember the crash and you'll take action to avoid something similar happening. That will be something you'll decide to do; you'll be in charge of yourself and your fear. You'll still feel some fear some days, but it won't control you.

After a few hundred more, the positive cycling experiences will far outweigh the traumatic one, and your crash and your recovery will just be something that happened a long time ago. You'll ride confidently, you'll look forward to your journeys, just like before, and you'll barely give this another thought.