No confidence riding in traffic

[squeaker]

fit a bar end mirror?

[Claireysmurf]

As someone who has only been back in the saddle for 18 months, I think confidence and bike fitness are linked. I have noticed that as my fitness has improved, I have been able to ride more confidently and assertively. sure, it could just be increased time on a bike but the ability to get out of a potentially dangerous space more quickly shouldn't be under-estimated. The great thing about cycling is that the rider/bike combination so often seems to be greater than the sum of its parts; I am a 15+ stone asthmatic with crunchy knees but so much of the time you wouldn't know it if you saw me on a bike (even though I have grumbled on here about plateauing in ability etc)

[gentlegreen]

Yes, speaking as one with the physique of the average average middle-aged Tongan, the great joy of cycling is that it lets us all push the envelope of our fitness. You simply have to factor the traffic into planning for exertion and recovery and take delight in challenging the misconceptions of 20-somethings carting a tonne of steel around with them and expecting to make good progress in town.
Utilitarian cycling sets us up brilliantly for doing it purely for fun at other times. If you can cycle a few miles to work and back, you can do 40 miles on a Sunday - eventually with a few proper hills..
(sadly it took me over 20 years and 34,000 miles to realise that.)

Keep your chain oiled and always carry a couple of hex keys in your pocket - never underestimate the advantages of a properly adjusted saddle - and after 25 years of struggling I finally got a Brooks - which so far appears to be as good as they said it would be .. though the best solution to saddle-soreness is probably to pedal harder.