Don’t be afraid to ride your mountain bike.
Learning to respect and control the power of fear is especially important when it comes to riding a bike, as it can affect our thoughts, feelings, and actions both on and off the bike.
In the summer of 1977, while camping in Mendocino, California, I have a vivid memory of fear mixed with courage. I was only two years old, sitting on top of my bright, yellow, rusted-out metal Tonka truck, eager to race down the hill like my older siblings. As I started rolling down, I lost traction with the ground and crashed, scratching my face, hands, and body. This experience on the mountain created a permanent memory of fear in my brain. I remember the excitement of my siblings racing up and down the hill on their bikes, oblivious to my attempt to race down the hill on a yellow, metal toy truck. Luckily, my parents got me a BMX bike a few years later and I was able to finally conquer that big hill.
We are on a lifelong adventure as mountain bikers to pursue our desire for adventure and exploration by overcoming our fears. We must confront our fears head-on, as they have the potential to stop us in our tracks and hold back our progress and fun on and off our bikes. Learning to respect and control the power of fear is especially important when it comes to riding a bike, as it can affect our thoughts, feelings, and actions both on and off the bike. Overcoming fear while cycling can also help us overcome fear in other aspects of our lives.
Nothing can begin if you’re too afraid to start.
If we let our fear control our thoughts, feelings, and actions, we won’t allow ourselves to explore to new things, people, and experiences. Attempts at new and scary things in your life will turn into confidence by taking control of your fears.
Impacts of Fear
If you’re feeling fearful, it can impact your performance in mountain biking, which is known for being an aggressive and adventurous sport. The word “fear” has its origins in Old English, meaning “calamity, danger,” and “frighten,” as well as “revere,” with Germanic roots related to Dutch and German words for “danger.” It’s important to learn how to manage fear and control our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Overreacting or underreacting can lead to escalated situations and increase the risk of crashing. By focusing on bike positioning and control, riders can improve their ability to move smoothly and safely.
The universal trigger for fear is the threat of harm, whether real or imagined, which can affect our physical, emotional, or psychological well-being. While there are common fear triggers such as darkness, heights, social interaction, certain animals, death, and dying, individuals can develop fear towards almost anything.
One of the biggest challenges for new riders is learning to confront their fears head-on.
The primary function of fear is to avoid or reduce harm, which can lead to immediate actions such as fight, flight, or freezing. Fear can serve an important role in keeping us safe, but it can also make us feel trapped and prevent us from taking desired actions. Some individuals find pleasure in feeling fear and actively seek it out, such as by watching horror films.
When you’re riding, being aware of how you are feeling will help you control and manage it more effectively. Pay attention and make mental notes, or keep an actual MTB journal feeling cold, experiencing shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, or muscle tightening in the arms and legs. The posture of fear can either be mobilizing or immobilizing, leading to freezing or moving away.
Control Your Fear
Imagine the sense of happiness, pride, and confidence you will experience when you learn to manage your fear while riding your mountain bike. Picture yourself navigating a steep technical descent with increased speed and smoothness, or conquering a rocky, challenging climb with a calm and powerful demeanor as you ascend to 2500 feet and take in the breathtaking view from the top. By acknowledging and addressing your fear, you can become skilled at controlling and handling it, even in the most intimidating situations, allowing you to attempt and succeed at activities on your bike that once seemed daunting.
Get the Gear You Need
The opposite end of feeling afraid is feeling safe. You’re going to feel more safer if your body is protected. Honestly, I did not protect myself with the right gear during the first two decades of my mountain bike experience. Getting the right gear means getting all the things you need to get you to where you want to go and who you want to be. This includes all the physical tools, equipment, and technology needed to manage your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Having the right gear helps you overcome obstacles that you would only overcome with it. The more you advance, the more advanced equipment you will need to perform faster in more challenging conditions without hurting yourself or others falling, or failing.
Gear includes anything that you wear, ride, or attach to you and your bike. I also include food as gear for the sake of not having too many principles to remember and follow. Bike, helmet, shams, riding shorts or pants, shoes, gloves, glasses, bike computer, water bottle, hydration bag, trail snacks, and beyond.
If you get the gear you need you will feel less fearful and more confident on your bike by having the peace of mind and be able to learn how to maintain it well before each ride. Every month, my team leads groups of other women riders of all ages and stages including lessons on basic bike maintenance, including checking brakes, gears, chains and chain lube, and tire pressure. Yes, it may feel like brushing your teeth, but it’s important to maintain your gear, especially your bike before every ride. And, I promise you will feel more comfortable, confident, and ready to take on new challenges.
Play to Your Strength
Now that you’ve learned to recognize and control your levels of fear, and reduce it with your shiny, or sometimes grimy gear you need to keep you safe, now it’s time to take it up a notch and test your strengths. Focus on and master your strengths not, your weaknesses. Before that can happen, you must come to terms with what those are, and then continuously learn and play off all your new strengths as you continue to grow as a rider. Why build up the weaknesses, meaning if you don’t love rocky, techy, steep stuff, and you’re not able to conquer your fear safely around it, then why build on your weaknesses.
Life is short. We can’t ride forever. We have to use our precious time and energy wisely. Resources are finite. Identify and exercise your strengths and they will continue to improve instead of wasting time and energy losing at the things we are just not very good at, or don’t really love.
Fear is Fuel
When we start to control and minimize our fears, get (and maintain) the gear we need, and use our strengths, we will grow stronger and take ourselves and others further than we ever imagined. These are just the first few of many principles that make an ecosystem that will help support, encourage and strengthen you as a rider as you continue to reach new levels and elevations on your mountain bike journey.
If you learn to control and respect your fear, you can use it as fuel or power to pedal through difficult and challenging situations on and off your bike. We can’t beat ourselves up if we crash fail or fall off our bikes we just have to have the right attitude and get back up again and learn from our mistakes and for others to do it better the next time. If you like me, you’re totally in love with a sport and you never wanna quit. It’s such a part of, our psychos mountain bikers that we cannot do it.
Reflecting on my first crash with my Tonka truck, I have no regrets because it inspired me to try thrilling but scary things and gain from the rich lessons mountain biking teaches us that we can use both on, and off our bikes. Sometimes, taking risks is worth the scary feelings, bruises, and scars, as they teach us valuable lessons that make us stronger and happier on the other side of fear. If you’re like me, there’s so much fear to conquer, strengths to build on, and a world of trails to explore. Enjoy the ride!
Editor’s note: Liz Donahey is Northern California mountain biker focused on empowering personal and business growth through the transformative principles of mountain biking. She is also a member of Hella Mello Racing, the North Bay’s leading women’s cycling team. Liz is a professional coach and speaker who provides personal and business coaching, speaking engagements and collaboration opportunities. Liz inspires and engages her followers through her authentic and relatable content, focusing on travel, lifestyle, and personal growth.
