Let me be precise... I'm not afraid of the bike itself. I'm afraid of falling OFF of the bike. I'm afraid of injury. I'm afraid of a horrible wreck where I fly off my bike and break a bone, crack my head open, smash my face up, or end up with road rash on half my body. Why do I worry about this? Because I'm anxiety prone... and becaue of the tires and pedals.
Unlike the nice, big tires I have on my mountain bike, triathletes use road bikes that have tiny little racing tires on them.
The mountain bike tire is big, thick, and has those little grippy nubs all over it. It grabs the road and can ride over rocks, sticks and debris without any problem. The road bike tire, on the other hand, is smooth and super skinny! A pebble, a puddle, a dog, a squirrel, it seems like anything is a threat to a racing tire.
Next are the pedals. Until a few years ago, I didn't know that cyclists clip their shoes into their pedals, locking them in place. This allows them to not only push down on the pedal but pull up on the other half of each revolution. Clip-in pedals, however, require lots of practice. You have to twist your foot to unlock your foot from the pedal and any cyclist will tell you, when you're learning, you're going to take a few spills. If you can't clip out fast enough, you'll just fall over. Sounds lovely.
This is my first triathlon. My goals are VERY simple:
1. Don't die.
2. Finish the race.
I feel like the bike directly attacks my first goal.
So, for now, I'm ignoring the bike completely! I'm going to keep swimming 2-3 few mornings per week (6 am!) and add in walking/jogging as well.
In the fall, I'll add in the stationary bikes at the gym - the ones securely bolted to the floor.
Did you get over a fear of the bike? If so... tell me how in the comments!
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