| Re: Bloodied but Unbowed - My first bike ride!
Tom Keats wrote:
> Confidence is an interesting thing. It's like cholesterol --
> we need some. But not too much, and not the wrong kind.
>
> I've heard it opined that new drivers get into collisions,
> not so much when they're first trepidatiously trying [to
> remember] to do all the right things, but when they've gotten
> a few incident-free miles in. That's when Confidence rears its
> ugly head to bite 'em in the ... well, you know what I mean.
>
> Drivers who got pasted while trying to beat trains at level
> crossings had Confidence. Fat lot o' good it did 'em.
>
> I guess confidence needs to be tempered with something.
> Not fear, though. I honestly don't know what to call it.
> Words like "discretion", "awareness", "intelligence" etc
> spring to mind, but they don't really cover it.
>
> Just remember there's no shame in bailing rather than
> sticking one's neck out, and you'll be okay. For example,
> when riding on narrow residential streets that are so
> choked with parked cars on either side that there's not
> enough room for two oncoming vehicles to pass each other
> comfortably, I have no qualms about pulling over between
> parked cars, enough to let an oncoming car get by. And
> I frequently get an appreciative thank-you wave from the
> driver when I do so. Unless another rider coming up from
> behind me spoils it by unrelentingly and "Confidently"
> squeezing between the moving car and the parked cars.
>
> But I don't want to scare you. Cycling can be really
> quite safe. It's just that we've got the onus to make,
> or at least contribute to our own safety.
>
> A certain amount of confidence is good. But there's more.
> I wish I could articulate about it.
>
>
> cheers,
> Tom
>
Fear is a good thing. It keeps us alive.
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