Riding a bicycle can become both a hobby and our main means of transportation for urban areas. In many cities it can be safely said that the bicycle has more prominence than the car, either due to lack of resources and infrastructure for larger vehicles, or because of awareness of the importance of polluting as little as possible.
However, not everyone is able to enjoy using this useful tool for getting around. The fear of riding a bicycle is, for some, an obstacle which prevents progress in the task of learning to master it and maintain balance for long enough.
In this article we will review several tips on how to overcome the fear of cycling, step by step and with some examples.
If you want to progress when learning to ride a bicycle, or would simply like lose your fear of the bicycle and ride it again as you did before follow these tips.
1. Set simple and realistic goals
This is very important so as not to get frustrated. The possibility of setting rather modest goals that are relatively easy to achieve makes us more eager to progress, since that way we know that we can get a feeling of victory almost immediately, or in a matter of minutes.
On the other hand, if we only set ourselves the final goal, we will see it as something unattainable, and in the best of cases we will progress more slowly, while in the worst case, we will give up.
So, the idea is to divide our main objective into several sub-objectives, so that in each practice session we can notice that we improve, even if only a little.
2. Use protections
Using a helmet, knee pads and fingerless gloves (to improve grip on the handlebars) not only offers the obvious advantage of reduce our chances of receiving injuries. In addition, it has a powerful psychological effect.
If we feel that we have the “physical” part of the problem covered, so that it is very difficult to get hurt, we will be able to concentrate more on what interests us. That is to say, our attention focus You will not find yourself so divided into different things that worry us, and this is very advantageous when it comes to losing the fear of riding a bicycle.
3. Assume that you will have to fall sometime
It is important to downplay the idea of falling, something that can happen sooner or later. However, the bike is designed in a way that if you don’t go at a high speed and don’t go over rough terrain, it is difficult to get injured.
Following the advice that we will see, the most frequent accidents of this type will have to do with the possibility of feeling some pain when stepping wrong, on the ground to get off, or falling and scratching your forearms a little (which will surely not be important if you wear the appropriate protections).
So, unless you are going very fast or going through unsafe areas, you should keep in mind that most catastrophic thoughts that you may have because of the fear of riding a bike are very unrealistic, a poor description of how reality works.
4. Find someone to accompany us
Having someone nearby to help us is very useful. Not only can it help us in situations where we are about to fall due to a loss of balance; Furthermore, his presence calms us, and he can take care of carrying things that we do not need when practicing and that would hinder our progress.
5. Look for soft soil, but not too soft
For obvious reasons, it is good to choose flat surfaces that are rather soft. However, you should keep in mind that it is better to avoid areas of grass, no matter how short it is, as it can destabilize the bike. due to the irregular parts that hide on its surface and the poor grip on the wheels that it offers, on the other.
Thus, areas of dirt are ideal, as long as it is not made up of sharp stones that are large enough to cause serious scratches.
6. Avoid areas with physical or visual obstacles
When it comes to losing the fear of the bicycle and starting to get used to using it, many people focus on choosing places to practice that do not have obstacles capable of blocking the wheels.
However, visual barriers are also very relevant. If you practice in a place free of the latter, this will allow you to concentrate more happily, and the fear of injury will be mitigated, in addition to reducing the chances of having accidents.
This is one of the most important tips. If we do not do this, we run the risk of entering a state of anxiety by not knowing where to look due to the possible risks of falling, which is significant, because when riding a bicycle the gaze is very important and the head is one of the few parts of the body that we can move from almost their entire range of motion.
