It’s been six months since I was found semi-conscious lying in the road with a subsequent 3 day stay in hospital. Despite having a shoulder separation and large haematoma, after a month I started riding but only on a mountain bike.

Whilst pleased to be riding, I am terrified of getting back on my lovely road bike. I obviously have some issues due to my body needing surgery but am terrified of descending at speed.

Surgery is scheduled for this week but am worried that I can’t see myself getting on my new road bike ever again. 🙁

How can I sort out my head?

It’s a tired cliche, but go and see Tony Jedi, he coaches road riders too. He is an awesome headshrinker and will get in there and find how to reset you..

Is there any where you could just get out and maybe session a quiet stretch of road descent? Even if you have to drive there with your bike.

Just to get you confidence back on the road you could build up from there, maybe go with a friend?

Edit: Glad you’re back riding and I hope the op goes well.

I can’t help wonder what would happen if I lost it at speed, but I also can’t help nailing down every descent as fast as I can. Got to make up my averages somewhere.

Did you crash because something failed or you got it wrong?

I’m currently laid up with a broken femur after a road bike accident on the commute home, I spent a week in hospital.

I’m looking forward to getting back on the mountain bike, but am not sure how confident I’m going to be when the time comes to get back on the road bike. Or even how long it’s going to take to get back to doing the commute.

Not much help, but at least it’s someone in the same boat!

Thanks for the replies. 🙂

toys – I got in contact with Tony some time ago cos I know he can help. Seem to have some kind of mental block concerning the road.

I frequently look at the road bike and then look away quickly! I have no memory of the accident but the nice man who found me reckoned I hit some gravel. Rider error, quite simply. 😳

This may not help but i had accident in 1990 while in a MTB race going up a road climb looked down looked up got someones helmet in my face should of been closed roads.Broke nose,jaws/ teeth etc.Week in Newport hospital.Point i am making is soon as i got back to riding again went over the bars in a race realised i was not mashed up again.In other words everycrash you have wont be as bad.Ever since that never had problem.
As said above try a quiet road.If someone has taken you out then try not to blame yourself as its nothing to do with you.You just need to rip down a road one day thinking of something nice find you are fine at the bottom and hopefully that will help.Try those Paul Mckcnna books.

WTFU ?

I wrote that while your reply came up.We all make mistakes.I did looking down then up wrong side of road blind corner.
Worse thing was i was leading the race last lap and a £50 1st prize.Then the mess afterwards.
You can beat it.Might sound silly but for a few rides but some body armour on might help.

Don’t rush it, just go out for short, easy rides and build your confidence back up slowly. The more riding you do, the easier it will get.

I had a massive crash on the road (head-on with a car, lucky to still be walking and talking) about 6 years ago and I’m still not keen on descending roads at full speed. I don’t think this is entirely a bad thing!

You’ve got to get back on the horse.
The longer you leave it, the harder it’s gonna be.

If you do find you can’t shift the block, there are a few hypno therapy techniques out there which are good at shifting these things eg: http://www.traumaregister.co.uk/Skills/Rewind.htm

you say your riding your mtb but are you riding that on the road? you could build confidence on the mtb on road and then progress to doing the same route on the road bike, just take it steady and build on it. easy for me to say, good luck

I think the suggestion of riding somewhere different, away from home, is a good one. 🙂 I’m lucky to have some great road riding straight from the door but it involves the road where said accident happened. 🙁

Really was hoping that by now I would have been pootling on the road bike but … I have a few days before the op … could this be the impetus I need?

Thanks again for helpful replies and no thanks for the suggestion of WTFU!

CG, how about trying the road bike on a quiet, car free cycle path before building up to riding on proper roads again?

+1 for jedi

CG take the bike in the car to Windsor Great Park and then ride round the roads in the park. You can get a few miles under your belt and cars are very few and far between.

Might be the ticket to ease you back into the black stuff.

CG . Hi
Hoew about get the op done . Convalesce for a month , then join a road bike club ? They might have a ladies section that will pootle around gently .
Might inspire confidence and let you ride in a safer place til you get back in the groove

Richmond park? Fair amount of traffic but decent sighted descents and reasonable road surface

If you’re sure nobody hit you or forced you off, I’d say that’s easier to deal with

I’d start by going and ride that same route with a couple of friends. Nice & slow. Take a picnic if it’s in a nice place. It needn’t be “a bike ride” just a trip out

scardeypants is clever clogs.

Nice and slow worked for me after a couple of stupid bone breaks and getting the feary stuff. Just break yourself in slowly. Life is long and and there is no rush. It will kinda just work out if you want it to.

Don’t force progression, listen to your feelings but also trust that you were competent before this and everyone has offs at some point or another.

If it means riding around slowly for a while, that is an achievement relative to not riding at all. Set manageable goals and praise yourself for reaching them.

Popping out on the road bike for 5 minutes is a start if it’s really severe. Round the block and back, that’s all and commend yourself for having done this. Then when you feel ready, do another block/few minutes etc etc. Graduated recovery will be better for your mind and body, eventually you’ll be riding for durations/distances that you used to but it’s going to need a little time. Obviously adapt the target times to suit your comfort. I’d also say avoid the location in the beginning of your re-adapting.

Good luck with the op, ultimately you need to be the definer of your goals. The fact that your riding your mtb is a pretty good sign!

First time I’ve heard of your crash CG, but from your posts on here over the last few years I believe you are a person of intelligence and character. I’m sure you will overcome this.

Unless you’re a pro-rider it doesn’t matter how long you take to get back into it, so take it easy and take it as slow as you like. Maybe use the bike to go to the pub or whatever, something that gets you back on it but isn’t “going for a ride”?

WTFU!

I know this is a bit left field but I would suggest taking the road bike down a non vehicle gravelly route-slowly to start off with and just get used to the wheels moving around under you, then progress to slightly faster speeds-note slightly faster not full tilt as I would never recommend it for reasons that you and other pro riders have hit the deck!
You will have learnt from the mistake you made and we have all done it and it will make you more cautious from now on (mine is on white lines having had more than one lay down caused by wet white lines on a road bike).
Your MTB skills with loose wheel grip will help your road bike skills and with time you will get back on he road bike on busy roads.
Finally unless your profession is the sport that you were injured doing it will always take you longer after a bad injury to fully commit back into the sport be it Rugby, football or MTB’ing ( I still shirk skinny northshore after breaking multiple ribs)

how about getting a yard brush and sweeping the section of road where the gravel is

I know it’s a bit daft – but part of it is having confidence in your kit as well. I find checking bike after each ride and before i go back out helps. If it’s a downhill issue inest in some better brakes and good all round tyres. Hopefully this might help bring your confidence back up.

It will be fine – just takes time, and maybe seeing Jedi isn’t a bad idea.

Hey cinnamon_girl

Sorry to hear about the crash and lack-of-mojo. I don’t know anything about road riding, but I do know about loosing confidence through a crash/injury.

It will come back, because you want it too (you wouldn’t have posted here if you didn’t want it to!). The suggestion of riding with a ladies group is a great one. As is the one about crashing. I had a nasty off this year, which was worse than my first break+op….but it didn’t really phase me as I had already been through the broken-fixed-regain confidence cycle. The first time I had a break+op it scarred me mentally for probably 18 months. This time I was hitting the big stuff within a few weekends of being out of cast.

Good luck (and ignore the WTFU comments!)

I had a bad crash about 1 year ago on the road bike. I am still not completely sure what happened but from what I gather the bike slid out on a corner and I hit the Tarmac face first. I won’t go into details about the injuries but it was mainly all facial and dental. I have never been in so much pain and for such a long period of time. It has affected me massively on the road bike. I used to love road cycling but since my accident I have ridden my road bike about 10 times.

The advice that I can give you would be to do your best to get back out on it and as soon as you can. Only do what you feel comfortable doing and take pleasure in the small improvements that you make. It will take time for you to get back to where you were but if you are patient you will get there. Also I find it is good to give yourself something to look forward to. Even if it’s just a favourite coffee stop, it will help take your mind of things and reduce any anxious feelings.

It is also always good to talk about your feelings with someone, spreads the load and usually helps you to see things from a different perspective.

Hope this helps you a bit ,

Best wishes

Jon

crashing can really suck ey?.. Dust yourself down cg, don’t give up 🙂

Hope you’re op goes well c_g – at least when that’s over it’ll be one less thing to worry about!

Once you’re healed enough to get out on the bike grab a friend and take it slowly, sure it won’t take long to build up your confidence again! Don’t try and do too much too soon if you’re not comfortable with it – bikes are supposed to be fun 🙂

Maybe avoid the crash site for a little while, but make sure you do go back there, and ride past it – once you’ve proved to yourself that you can (which you definitely will!) I’m sure you’ll be fine!

Bust my tib and fib 2.5 years ago biking – it took 6 months for the basic skills to come back, and 2 years to forget I ever did it. I am back to how I was now, and am probably riding harder than before. Still can’t resist those flat out descents though.
Start gently and work up, ride with friends, enjoy the biking, then slowly it will return. Avoid gravel on the road bike, and white lines in the wet, and manhole covers, and potholes, but there are some enjoyable bits in between that lot.

Hey CG, sorry to hear you’re not sorted yet. Good luck with the op though, hopefully once you know you’re healing properly your confidence will start to return. Failing that, have a pint then go for a ride!

Yowch! I had no idea you’d had an accident, sorry to hear the news. 🙁 I haven’t got much to add to everyone else’s advice, except…….There’s only so much free time to ride a bike, and that time is best spent on the trails. 😀 Hope you sort something soon.

you don’t need to go fast downhill.. going up is when it matters.

Until you’ve actually tried riding you won’t realise that the problem is entirely in your head. As soon as you get back on the bike all the joy of riding will flood back over you and you’ll forget your fears, though you will always be a little more cautious.

I had a. Big off once couldn’t cycle for toffee a couple of nice round the block cycle did the trick bulid up you confidence, or perhaps just try sitting on the bike in the house etc 🙂

CG.

I’m sorry to learn of your accident and subsequent injuries.
Sounds pretty bad.

All I can offer is my own experience.

I had a bad crash on the 1st October last year.
Shredded face from trying to plough the verve with my head, I think.
Very badly bruised neck and shoulders.
Broke both bones in a wrist.

However, I was on the bike less than 10 days later, while still wearing the cast.
I did’t think too much about it and rode very slowly.

I have no recollection of the accident from the point where the bars started to go, until I was lying in the road, on my back, thinking WTF !.

What seems to have worked for me.
Was getting back on the bike, but riding super carefully.
If you can understand what went wrong in your accident, that may help.

I hope you do get back on your bike.
Make sure its set up correctly, tyre pressures, brakes, etc.
And just take it slowly.
Maybe go Solo first of all, so as not to be distracted with chatting while riding.

I hope your surgery goes well.

I broke my hip 10 years ago falling off my mtb.

I got back on the bike after about 4 months when I’d healed enough but, tbh, it’s really only in the last year that I’ve had enough confidence to do any sort of ‘technical’ riding.

I still enjoyed riding xc and wasn’t embarassed about mincing my way along at the back of a group but it was a mental thing that was stopping me.

As above, don’t try and push yourself, accept that your mind is going to try and protect your body from a repeat of the same accident (albeit subconciously to a large part) but do try and get out on the road bike in an environment where you feel safe.

Maybe go somehwere really flat if you crashed on a descent and just get some miles in.

In the end though, if you don’t enjoy riding a road bike anymore (for whatever reason – people stop ridign road/mtb’s all the time you only hvae to look on here for evidence of that) then maybe just accept it and continue to enjoy riding your mtb?