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.

One thought on “Strange Fears

  1. 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!

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