how do you overcome anxiety to ride on the road?

dont read all the near miss posts you get on facebook. Riding with others can either make it worse or you feel like you get some protection from a group so worth trying. Ride more, you get used to the closeness of the traffic, but some silly buggers will still make life difficult. If you really cannot get your head into a good place, find somewhere else to ride. Canals, old rail lines etc, and stop making your life miserable. I pick and chose my rides and roads i ride on. Some you cannot avoid, but careful route planning can turn a traffic busy ride into a quiet one.

I think part of it is a mindset that you have as much right to be there as anyone else, so try and ride positively. I've commuted a lot for years and years (in South London and Surrey) and actual incidents are mercifully very rare.

Be courteous, but assertive - make sure people driving cars see you and have to drive round you rather than cowing to the curb to try and be out of the way. The more you do it the more you'll get used to it. Road riding can be excellent, it doesn't have to be a battle...

Avoid the busy roads. I live in Warwickshire and I can ride from my door for 50 miles and not spend more than half a mile on an A-road. I would think that Devizes is similar. I'm always surprised when I'm in the car and I see people cycling on the A-roads with cars close passing at 60 - there really is no reason for those cyclists to be there.

Yetidave's suggestion of things like canals, old rail lines is a really good one.

If you can, stay off main roads as far as possible until you get more used to it. Avoid rush hour. Plan routes that use the roads less travelled. If you have any 'quiet lanes' they'll be good for you, so seek them out. (Might just be a thing local to me though, I don't know).

When I started I found that as I spent more time on the road my definition of what constitutes a busy/worrying road changed quite quickly, and within a few weeks I'd stopped worrying about roads that seemed terrifying before. So stick with it, it will get easier.

Also as bigdaddy said don't be too passive - riding assertively is safer, and actually less worrying too.

One thing I do is 'red flag' roads that I consider unacceptably dangerous and just don't ride them. I tend to stick to quiet back roads where possible, use a cross bike so I can link stuff up with easy bridleways where appropriate and avoid rush hour and school pick-up times in particular.

I also make an effort to be visible without going fluoro crazy and use an Exposure Trace-R rear light during daytime, which seems to keep drivers back, probably because it's annoyingly bright. And avoid times of low, dazzling sun and that weird hour before dusk when cyclists seem to become invisible.

The reality is that there's a certain amount of risk involved in road riding, it's inevitable, but you can take common sense precautions to reduce what you might call 'objective dangers'. If you don't enjoy road riding or you feel the danger outweighs the enjoyment, don't do it or look for something that reduces that feeling, maybe a gravel bike. That's the point I reached with fast motorcycles - I loved riding them, but for me eventually the perceived risk outweighed the pleasure. I'm not sure there's a way round that.

Training?  Help you learn how to see and assess risks, give you sytems for safe riding etc?

I grew up riding into Edinburgh. Everything else feels safe in comparison.

So have a go,. Don't ride the road you don't like. The chances of an accident are low. You are more like to die from being over weight that from cycling.

Theres a bit of a bias towards those who visibly complain.

Search a bit and you'll find people who apparently get near death experiences on every ride they go on. And some of them seem to like it, or rather like that they get to complain. I maintain that they are the exception rather than the rule.

Have you got this sort of thing in your head, and now you don't want to go out because you assume it will almost definitely happen to you every time?

Is this the only aspect of life you have anxiety issues with? Just asking as having needed meds for anxiety myself, I'm wondering if this might be a symptom of a wider problem.

First, get some road craft training - Bikeability or another course often available through councils or local cycle groups. Knowing how to protect yourself via positioning makes a huge difference.

Find a mate you trust to ride with will help. Start on quiet lanes and see how your confidence develops.

And stop reading all the near miss/roads are death traps stories on social media. They aren't. The chances of you being hit are relatively small IF you know about road craft, choose your routes and your times. No driver deliberately starts a journey wanting to hit a cyclist.

I'll admit I have developed a bit of an attitude about not being intimidated by traffic. Better to die a free man than be bullied off the road. So far so good🤞

First of all as others have said ignore the culture wars online as they give a totally distorted view. Most drivers just want to get from A to B without killing anyone and the anti-cycling stuff you see online is a loud minority.

Also, I assume its true but I never checked but it is often quoted in articles (including in reputable publications) that statistically speaking, cyclists live longer which might be worth keeping in mind if you are feeling doubtful but want to ride.

I tend to go out early in the mornings (about 7am) at weekends and the country lanes are pretty quiet then. Plus, even if you're out a long time the traffic just slowly gets busier around you so you don't really notice as much. It's more apparent when I sometimes go in the week after work and have to start a ride in Manchester as I go straight from my couch into rush-hour. Even then, once I'm pedalling it all seems natural.

Going out after midnight solely to avoid traffic strikes me as you're denying yourself one of the great pleasures of road riding- the early morning ride! If you're worried maybe just tell yourself you'll ride for an hour and come back and then see how it goes. You can always slowly build up the duration each week as you get used to it.

Totally agree with @duggan on the early morning road rides!

https://flic.kr/p/2mYpNTN

dawn rides are always ace

Bit of history here for you. I've been a roadie since I was 16 (52 now). Nothing phased me back then, happy to fight the traffic etc etc. Had a few incident's commuting to work, but as a 'kid' you bounce and get up. Roll on last 20 years, commuted again, and ended up with a few cuts and bruises, then a busted shoulder, then broken ribs - this is commuting. Until one morning, 6 years ago and a driver turned right across me. Unfortunately, I badly broke my spine and 4 ribs. Was in hospital a long time, came out wearing a storm trooper outfit and was off work 7 months. I was very lucky not to be needing another type of 'wheels'.

I then switched mainly to riding my MTB. We were lucky locally as lots of tracks, canals and it's not far to some decent Peaks riding. Stuck to these routes. I had 2 really good, but vintage, road bikes not being used.

Roll on FIVE years...

Last year I started riding the road bike again, but at quiet times. You'll never find me going out on the road bike now in rush hour.

I would plan your route first, selecting relatively quiet routes. If you are working, then it will be early or late rides, but if WFH, a time around lunch, or after rush hour is possible.

I now stay away from really busy roads. I also pop some 'day flasher' lights on the bike, just in case.

In the nearly 40 years I've been riding, nearly every incident has been whilst commuting - folk are too busy and in a rush, so careless driving happens. Riding outside these times is fine. I'd say after 7pm is a good time too.

I still MTB a lot, and still select when I'll take the road bikes out. This autumn I started riding to work again (hybrid working now) but I can get to work mainly along two canals, and decent cycle lanes. I won't commute on the roads.

I do get rather shouty (not sweary, usually "Oi") these days when cars start to pull out, but that's unfortunately due to the bad injuries I received. I still get probably one idiot per ride, but reading the road and slowing down a little helps. I've found many drivers don't realise how fast road bikes actually are, so anywhere busy, or with junctions I ease off.

Key is to pick less busy times and plan your route.

Would it be easier if you ride a Mtb on the road for stability, comfort and being able to hop up kerbs etc?

My daylight flashers are Lezyne Zecto Drive 250's - the rear is the 250 MAX, not the 80. They have a daytime mode that pulses at 250 lumen every 4th flash. That said I was splatted in daylight with lights on 🙁

My simple rules of thumb for recreational rides are...
Don't head out or return to surburbia (less than 3 miles north east of home) between 0730-0930; 1630-1800; 1500-1800 on Fridays.

The traffic hostility drops dramatically less than 15mins from home in east Southampton heading out to the South Downs lanes, especially from around Durley and Hortons Heath. I'm a lot more cautious of when I'll head out or return through Hedge End, as it's close to two junctions of the M27.

The main roads from home to work in west Southampton are often horribly hostile for cyclists, but fortunately it's not too bad (although worsening over the last decade) on my way into work early and I take a slightly longer but very quiet route home early afternoon.

I'd like to say something positive but thats really not what I feel.

Sharing the road with vehicles is potentially lethal, you are right to be paranoid about it.
Ride like everyone is out to kill you and position and plan your escape routes as you go.
You can very much control nearly everything in front of you, this is good news.

Traffic approaching from the rear and passing is pretty much out of your control, but a mirror is nice to have anyway.

Country lanes are lovely but do watch (listen) out for white delivery van man and regular commuters on these...they "know" the roads and go too fast round blind bends.

Have a (small) beer and ride it like you stole it. or not.

I have certain routes I avoid or areas. My old commute route was right into the city centre, going either west and or North from where I live.

For my recreational rides (I'm SE Manchester on edge of Peaks) it's always East or South first. Going West just sticks you through lots of suburbia, and north just the same. If I head East and South first, it get's me out into the countryside pretty quickly.

Looking at where you are, I'd plan a route to avoid some of the main A roads which take you near shopping/retail parks and main travel routes. Despite being only 9 miles from Manchester, we've got tonnes of quiet lanes I can take, it's a case of stringing them together.

thanks for all the replies, you all definitely gave us something to think about regarding changing my mindset etc about road riding during the day.

it is quite annoying as i never used to have this issue at all and would ride on any road at any time of day/night etc.

back in the mists of time i did pass my motorcycle test (this was a long time ago though 1992 when i was 17 so always remembered about what i was taught then), but tbh it wouldn't hurt at all to do a refresher in some form.

i haven't seen my doctor since before this covid situation kicked off so i really should make an appointment (i live alone also so am used to being isolated which doesn't help i suppose either).

cycling is one of the few things that i really love but the bloody depression/laziness/excuses stop us from riding.

apologies for going off on a tangent but just wanted to try and explain my mindset (just explained very badly lol).

thanks again for the replies.

In September, me and two mates rode to my caravan in Wales one day, and back the next. Now I've not done that for years, and the Mrs was quite worried with me being back on the road. As it was weekend, and we'd planned the route, we had absolutely no trouble from drivers, an kept off the main roads (mainly as they are boring). we had a cracking ride through loads of picturesque villages in Cheshire, lunch at a cafe by a lake, then out to Chester where we picked up the Millennium Greenway - my that was a good choice - lovely 8 miles, no traffic and it dropped us near Fflint avoiding the industrial areas. From there we took back roads into the hills and dropped back down into Prestatyn. Could have ridden the coast road, but it's mind numbingly boring in a car, never mind the bike.

All rewarded with loads of beer and a curry, and then rode back the next day.

Worth planning

Treat like a game to some extent, I commuted in Edinburgh on a road bike for a few years and loved it, you could outpace traffic quite easily, and just keep eyes on stalks to know what everyone around you is doing or is likely to do, became part of the fun.

I do try to avoid big busy A-roads now, mostly because I hate the feeling of having people queued up behind me, even though I know I have a right to be there and am unlikely to be impacting their journey times by any significant amount of time. That said, one of the newer pleasures I've discovered is just turning in every so often to let people past, you'll typically receive nothing but cheery waves and toots to thank you (and yes, the occasional two-fingers from teenagers in their souped-up Clios...). Is a good reminder that most people on the roads are actually decent folk.

I think it’s also important to remember that you almost never come back from a ride wishing you hadn’t gone - plan to ride at certain times then stick to the plan, that’ll get you out the door, then it gets better from there!

I’d pretty much dismissed riding on the road for this reason. It was only when I did a charity ride around the Cotswolds that I realised quite how many beautiful quiet roads there are nearby. I can go hours without seeing more than a handful of cars.

I spend a lot more time now studying a map and trying routes to see which routes are worth linking up.

Mostly by just doing it?

I learnt to ride by commuting in Cambridge (some years after I passed my driving test). 4 years of Mill Road on a bike with steel rims that didn't stop in the wet, followed by 14 years of daily commuting in London (10 on a fixie). I still ride occasionally in London and mostly enjoy it - its ever changing singletrack! Roady in the Peak a couple of times a week.

There's an element of knowing your rights and your responsibilities. Own your space, signal clearly, be visible (that's not necessarily wearing a whole building site's worth of hiviz), don't jump the lights or ride on the pavement, do know what's going on around you, do be decisive, don't frig around with HGVs.

As above - most drivers aren't actively looking to kill you, so make it easy for them to work with you, and they'll probably repay the compliment. A proportion of drivers are ****s (Lomas Distribution, Cappagh), but so is a similar proportion of everybody, including cyclists.

Most (but not all) of my proper near-misses have had some component where I've made a mistake - usually pushing it too hard - be realistic with yourself and do a de-brief and try and learn from it. To get hit, you have to be there to BE hit. Spot the situation developing early enough and you can be elsewhere.

Lastly - I'd rather be wiped out in a fraction of a second by a badly driven artic now, than die a incontinent, bed-ridden, cancer-riddled husk in 40 years time.

Some excellent advice above.  I think the main thing for me is plan your routes and times. You'll start to get a feel for when is busy and when is quiet, what roads to avoid, where the nice little back roads are.  I went out once after dropping my youngest to school, that was the first and last time I hit Richmond Park at that time on a week day.

I’m 52 now and my downhill days are definitely over in the main. I don’t bounce as well as I used to. These days I mainly link up cycle ways, bridle paths, old 3 ply tarmac and the odd sneaky bit of public footpath. I used to mainly ride a 29er with semi slicks but now I’ve got a gravel bike and it’s better for the type of riding I do. Probably only 10-15% road out of a 40-50 mile loop. When I’m on the road I always have a front light on flash and a rear even in full daylight and I generally have a white helmet (somebody told me white is the most visible colour in Nature to get yourself seen/noticed! This could be complete b@llocks but every little helps!)

Ride from the Sligachan campsite to Portree, on the Isle of Skye. After than no main road anywhere in the UK will be a problem.

Its a big wide road A87, and the journey is less than 10 miles. Most cars will be passing you pretty close at between 80-120mph.

You dont hear them coming, they just blast past into your view and scare the utter shit out of you.

After than anything passing in a city at 25-30mph will feel normal 😀

My tips:
Avoid towns/city, esp at rush hour.
Get lights and hiviz, even in daytime.
Ride confidently.
Fix a mirror to your bars.
Get a camera

Seems like they're giving us names now,  just in case drivers forget that cyclists are actually other humans...

**** that. I rarely ride on road except commuting, when traffic is so queued there's next to no danger. Just been (mostly road) touring and it stresses me big time. No exaggeration but there's too many impatient, right-foot-heavy arseholes. Whatever that stats, it's not for me.

One of those rear-facing radar lights might help with your anxiety. You certainly get a decent warning if any following traffic.

Its a big wide road A87, and the journey is less than 10 miles. Most cars will be passing you pretty close at between 80-120mph.

I wish this was always the case. It's normally campervans and motorhomes dawdling around at 40mph.

I know this posting was made over a year ago, but I've found rear radar a game changer in medium to low traffic roads (it's a bit pointless in high traffic areas as it goes off constantly).

I've got a Magene L508 (also branded as Magicshine I believe) but the market leaders are Garmin Varia. Not cheap but worth it IMO if anyone is overly cautious about traffic approaching from behind...

Find a mate you trust to ride with will help. Start on quiet lanes and see how your confidence develops.

I hate this unless it is genuinely very quiet roads. Riding with others means you need to start compromising on all sorts - road position, route choice, 2-abreast vs single file...

If you're suffering from anxiety, having to "look after" or at least "take into consideration" another person as well won't help matters.

Despite all the vitriol and angst here and elsewhere, it's worth remembering that no driver actually wants to hit you, whatever they might say or how they might behave if they actually hit you it's a lot of bother, time and cost for them (maybe even guilt for some). Hence getting knocked off of a bike is really a relatively rare occurrence.

You can do a bit to reduce the risks by picking times and routes as already mentioned, but the thing to keep in the forefront of your mind when battling the angst and trying to motivate yourself is that nobody is actively trying to hurt you and not riding is, on balance, probably more harmful for you than getting out on the bike...

Everyone who has hit me (bar one who whined about her paintwork) has been pretty panic stricken. Having said that I have been hit just as often driving than cycling. (and also been the hitter).

Along with all the good advice of picking a route, choose a time, and watch the weather, chiming in to the old thread to agree - one thing that really helped me is a Garmin Varia radar.

It's not a green light for safety but it does give a really useful extra layer of awareness.  You can take the lane, know when to pull over, hold your line or not swerve around the pothole as you have some awareness of what's closing in and how fast.  The light pattern changes too which I feel gives me more space.  Stops me jumping when a Telsa or fast motorbike appear from nowhere as well!  Brilliant bit of kit.

Another tip: don't read road.cc

You'd think it was open warfare on the road if you read "near miss of the day". I've just unsubscribed from their daily email (and see my other thread about Instagram). I'm getting increasingly pissed of with seeing cyclists/mountain bikers crash/get injured as some sort of warped daily entertainment...

one thing that really helped me is a Garmin Varia radar.

+1, is really useful.

Share your routes - some roads are much busier than others. Plenty of roads I won't ride and justifiably so.

Even more challenging is overcoming your anxiety when your teenager decides he wants to road ride, solo.  😬

I'm teaching him good roadcraft I hope but there are some thoughtless and selfish (not to mention rabidly incompetent) drivers out there.

Key for him (and me) is staying off main roads. If it's yellow on an OS map it's fair game (with the exception of a few known racetracks), B roads/ orange is minimised/reduced within reason and A roads are short transits only. I follow a not dissimilar approach when out solo.

The yellow roads have their own hazards... loose grit, pot holes etc but they are mainly in his control.

I think of it as the roadie version of picking your way down a tight and loose bit of single-track.  It's probably not a great analogy.

IMHO the key point is to pick your routes and times wisely,I like using strava and komoot to try and pick pleasant alternative roads to ride, your after enjoyment not an ordeal.

I used to love riding around the centre of Bristol early morning weekends,rush hour not so much.

I think there is also a certain amount of getting used to being around traffic, a lorry passing giving you the 1.5 metres isn’t a particularly enjoyable experience, the conundrum is you have to be riding to develop the skill set required to cope with traffic and build your confidence up (whilst unfortunately not getting mushed by cars:-))

Anyway holy thread resurrection Batman, how’s the OP doing theses days, did you get into it?

The funniest riding thing I’ve found is that you can legally ride down my local motorway to the beach and people actually do it,although I have a feeling the smarter ones do it early weekend morning when there’s few cars.

Legally the cars have to move into the other lane and they do seem to do it but riding down a motorway seems a mad thing to me and it’s not a thing I’ll be doing.

As suggested already, avoid rush hour, and get a garmin Varia rear facing radar. I initially thought they were a gimmick, but it’s genuinely a game changer. You can see a car coming and if concerned it’s coming too fast just pull slightly towards the verge.

Obviously you shouldn’t have to and you don’t want to encourage someone to squeeze through a small gap, but occasionally it’s wise to pull slightly in

another thing I do is look into they eyes of a car driver waiting at a junction to pull out. It gives me a lot more confidence that they have actually seen you approaching

and put it in context. The twice I’ve ended up in A&E on a bike were once off road and once on a cycle path.