Today, riding home through thick fog after dropping Benji at school, I realized that I’m afraid of strange things. Normally when you talk to people about biking fears, they fear:
- Cars
- Trucks
- Buses
- Other motorized vehicles
Any other concerns get subsumed in the fear of cars. But I’ve ridden so much, I know how to handle riding around cars, especially in my area. It’s not that I don’t respect the danger posed by vehicles; I’m just confident in my own ability to (a) Proactively choose safe places for myself on the road; and (b) React quickly and correctly if a vehicle pose a threat. My fears go more like this:
- Fog
- Black ice
- Cracks in the road parallel to my direction of travel
- Squirrels
- Loose dogs, especially in a pack
- Distracted drivers, teenage drivers, elderly drivers
Theme? I fear pretty much anything unpredictable or unusual. Predictability is my best friend and my best safety.
Your fears seem well-founded to me. I have a scar to affirm your fear of cracks in the road parallel to the direction of travel!