sudden fear of riding

[rufusmcd]

today for some weird reason i developed a sudden fear of riding. it started when i went to work and it was colder than i thought and it severely effected my riding. but i though everything would be ok on the ride home since i knew it would be warmer on the way home which it was. but i was still freaking out on the way home. i have rode off and on for the last 30 years. 3 years ago i was involved in an accident, it crushed my knee and i didnt walk for a year, 5 operations, it wasnt pretty. but with the rise of gas prices i bought a rebel, i had no major problems riding, i rode slower than usual but thats understandable.
ive even got too cold and started shaking on the way to work before but i have been fine on the way home. now all of a sudden this happens, has anyone had a similiar experience?

[John]

I've been riding since 2002....sometime in 2004 I was on an Interstate and the FEAR hit me.....what was I doing on a Motorcycle at night doing 70 MPH....the next day I was fine and have been since....I'm sure others have had that TWILIGHT ZONE experience!!

[wvmod]

i went through this same thing after about a month of riding.. a dog ran in front of me an i layed my bike down.........not hard but enough that i was nervous everytime i got on it...i seen on our local news a piece on a motorcycle saftey class done by

http://www.msf-usa.org/

they have courses i believe in most states after i took the three day begginers course i gained alot of knowledge and all my fears dissapeared. i now have more confidince than ever before on my bike and i ride to and from work and come home around 4a.m. and the hands on training the class gives you helps you stay more calm in the event you see a deer standing near the road or other things that appear in the night. you will learn how to manuver your bike more quikly and safley and most important comfortably.

in west virginia this class cost me $100 for in state and $190 for out of state. i would recomend looking at there web sight and seeing if there is a class near you. it is money well spent you will enjoy your bike even more than ever.

[NC_Rebel_Girl]

Great Suggestion WVMOD.

I took the MSF class with a number of people who had been in accidents and they wanted to get "back in the saddle". The course is great for helping with "situational" riding.

I'm not sure where you're located "rufusmcd", but in NC, most, if not all, of the 58 Community Colleges allow the MSF to be taught on their campus.

I don't ride on the Interstate, or highways where the Speed Limit is greater than 55MPH (Luckily, I'm able to ride back roads to work, 50 miles round-trip). I enjoy the winding 2 lanes through the fields and woods.

If you can, maybe you should just take a Sunday morning ride in the country and try to relax on the bike.

Good Luck.

[Guba]

Last May I felt pretty good riding to work, and I prefer the slower speeds(45 MPH), but I was on a road that had a 50 MPH speed limit with a car behind me. No problem, just do the speed limit and everything's fine. Less than a mile from work I was approaching a section of road that had woods growing to the edge of the road and there were houses just inside this visual boundary. It all happened so fast, look down at the speedometer, check the rear view mirror and look up to see a deer jump out in front of me from the left with another at the edge of the road. I figured that I would swerve behind it, but the deer saw me and decided he'd better stop. Now I'm heading right for him so I decide to swerve right instead. Not exactly easy to swerve at those speeds. I ran over his front legs while his head butted me right in the calf. He nearly knocked me off the bike, I was thrown from the left side of the road to the right side edge, but managed to bring the bike to a stop. Then the pain set in and it was hard not to show it! The car behind me asked if I needed to go to the hospital and I didn't really know. So I finally stood up and decided that my leg wasn't broken and that I was okay. I limped around at work for twelve hours and fixed my bent gear shifter (I got to work in first gear only) and went home. My knee swelled up as big as my thigh the next day, time for the doc. When I was well enough to ride again I noticed that my enthusiasm was gone. I'll admit that it was even scared. I forced myself to climb back in the saddle and now love riding again:). However, I'm now very Leary of any wooded areas that I approach and don't give a damn about what my speed is or who's behind me! Damage to the bike was mild. Beside the bent gear shifter, the left side battery cover got cracks in a couple of places and my left side saddle bag had one of the latches ripped off and was sliced from the front of the bag to the back. I consider myself VERY lucky(but only on that day and not on a day that I play the lottery:() and I chalk this one up as a slap in the face learning experience! The deer, unfortunately, had his head bounce off of me so hard that the left side of his head got a concussion from slamming into the pavement. Not a sight that I prefered to watch:(.