Three people I know have been killed this year. All drunk drivers with one hit-run (caught). I just can’t bring myself to ride on the road. I use to love it and still do but fear stops
I switched to mainly gravel roads but fear still there.
Sad its come to this. May retire from triathlons and return to my mountain biking roots.
I ride a trainer during the week and only outside on weekends. Partly because it’s just easier and I get a better workout (and I’ve actually grown to like trainer time… weird).
I do not know if actual incidents are up or we are just more aware of them on social media. Not only local but nationwide. I don’t know what the odds are. Maybe a bit or somewhat worse than getting bitten by a shark on OW swims out here?
But I will admit that when I leave the house on Saturday morning and kiss the wife goodbye I do sometimes wonder if that is really goodbye. I have a much higher risk of getting killed/injured driving 40 miles to work 5 days a week, but I don’t think about that on Monday or Tuesday…
I will keep riding outside (and driving to work, and swimming in shark infested oceans 
) For now at least.
Sad news.
However …
I switched to mainly gravel roads but fear still there.
Not sure if you got them, but I do gravel bike trails, so no fear.
Sad its come to this. May retire from triathlons and return to my mountain biking roots.
Don’t give up, there is always X-terra …
I ride a trainer during the week and only outside on weekends. Partly because it’s just easier and I get a better workout (and I’ve actually grown to like trainer time… weird).
+1.
I’m pretty addicted to books-on-tape which kinda inclines me towards a stationary trainer. It’s set up next to an AC unit so no overheating during the warmer months. I like the precise control of the workout too. Training is my only “me” time. Otherwise I’m surrounded by coworkers and family. I’ll go out with the local roadies occasionally, especially if I need a long ride, but otherwise it’ll be just me and a book-on-tape on the trainer.
I ride on rails to trails now. Early morning Saturday or Sunday for the long weekly ride. And speed intervals mid day mid week ideally during bad weather when there’s no one on the trail, or suck it up and do the speedwork on the trainer. It only takes an hour anyway.
I used to ride roads, beautiful country roads with bike lanes or shoulders, nice scenery, few or no stop lights. Two years ago got passed too close by a truck towing a boat trailer with wheels in the bike line. I moved all the way to the right, hit a guard rail, crashed. 5 broken bones. Switched to trails ever since.
Who knows. That crash might have saved my life later on. Night in ER and 2 months in pain was not cool. But like the old Chinese proverb says, who’s to know what’s good and what’s bad.
I do all my weekly rides inside, Only ride outside very early on Sunday mornings before most people are awake.
Three people I know have been killed this year. All drunk drivers with one hit-run (caught). I just can’t bring myself to ride on the road. I use to love it and still do but fear stops
I switched to mainly gravel roads but fear still there.
Sad its come to this. May retire from triathlons and return to my mountain biking roots.
Yep, I continue to do 99.9% of my bike rides on the trainer. I just find lots of excuses for not getting out on Sunday mornings. The big one is it is SO much easier to just get on the trainer at 5 am, watch a movie, be done at 6:30, and totally safe.
If Andy Potts can be as successful as he has been riding on a trainer most of the time, anyone can be successful.
I do all my weekly rides inside, Only ride outside very early on Sunday mornings before most people are awake.
Isn’t that also when most drunk drivers are out trying to get home? I feel better about riding early on a weekday
Sorry to hear that, but the really sad part is that you’ve given into fear. It’s like not going to Times Square, or any big busy popular place, because of terrorism.
I take the reasonable precautions, follow the rules, carry identification, make sure the Go-Pro is recording, and then get out there on the road and ride. If I’m hit, there is pretty much no chance it was my fault, and my widow will have the video. It won’t make much difference in the end, but at least I continued to live my life in the way that made me happy. A trainer in my family room watching TR and listening to Sirius XM is bad enough in the winter. I’m not going to waste the rest of my life in that hell hole because there is a small chance some dumbass will cross paths with me.
Sorry to hear that, but the really sad part is that you’ve given into fear. It’s like not going to Times Square, or any big busy popular place, because of terrorism.
I take the reasonable precautions, follow the rules, carry identification, make sure the Go-Pro is recording, and then get out there on the road and ride. If I’m hit, there is pretty much no chance it was my fault, and my widow will have the video. It won’t make much difference in the end, but at least I continued to live my life in the way that made me happy. A trainer in my family room watching TR and listening to Sirius XM is bad enough in the winter. I’m not going to waste the rest of my life in that hell hole because there is a small chance some dumbass will cross paths with me.
Thanks great that makes you happy. But what is wrong with some of us who are happy riding our trainers and watching movies? IT is SO much easier.
Personally, I cannot stand riding outside. For ME, it is boring, and just takes too much time away from more important things in my life, like my family.
Sorry for the loss of your friends.
I wouldn’t say that riding on the roads where I live is super safe, but is “acceptable” in my opinion. If I got to the point where I feared going out on the road, I’d probably turn to casual MTB and trail riding, but we just don’t have much trails here. Then I’d get back into golf or pickup game basketball at the YMCA.
I have no desire to ride a trainer…I rather do chores.
Thanks great that makes you happy. But what is wrong with some of us who are happy riding our trainers and watching movies? IT is SO much easier.
Personally, I cannot stand riding outside. For ME, it is boring, and just takes too much time away from more important things in my life, like my family.
Non-Sequitur.
The OP stated he was giving up on riding outside , not that he enjoyed riding inside. If you like riding inside (never actually met anyone like that, but…) then great. The OP implied that he liked to ride outside.
Thanks great that makes you happy. But what is wrong with some of us who are happy riding our trainers and watching movies? IT is SO much easier.
Personally, I cannot stand riding outside. For ME, it is boring, and just takes too much time away from more important things in my life, like my family.
Non-Sequitur.
The OP stated he was giving up on riding outside , not that he enjoyed riding inside. If you like riding inside (never actually met anyone like that, but…) then great. The OP implied that he liked to ride outside.
As usual, I do thing differently. Guess you know a person who enjoys riding their indoor bike trainer rather than ride outside. Does not really matter the reasons, IMO, or the OP’s.
My sincere condolences for the loss of your friends. I certainly understand how that would make you question your desire to ride on the roads. What were the details of each of these incidents other than the fact that the drivers were drunk? That would be helpful to know since we all assume that some roads (such as gravel roads) appear to be safer than others.
Three people I know have been killed this year. All drunk drivers with one hit-run (caught). I just can’t bring myself to ride on the road. I use to love it and still do but fear stops
I switched to mainly gravel roads but fear still there.
Sad its come to this. May retire from triathlons and return to my mountain biking roots.
I’m sorry to hear that. It’s very understandable position given that you’ve known three people hit and killed in the last year.
Where I live in FL there’s zero chance I would ever ride on the roads. Old people, drunk people, high people, people texting and driving… it’s not worth it. This is a hobby at the end of the day.
I train indoors Monday through Friday and go to a bike trail that’s totally closed to traffic on the weekends.
I was just out in CO and UT for two weeks and brought my bike with me thinking I’d ride out on the road. If I had to do it again I’d bring a gravel bike or mountain bike with me and go off road.
My sincere condolences for the loss of your friends. I certainly understand how that would make you question your desire to ride on the roads. What were the details of each of these incidents other than the fact that the drivers were drunk? That would be helpful to know since we all assume that some roads (such as gravel roads) appear to be safer than others.
First drunk driver had a suspended license for drunk driving. 8pm accident. Pavement, no bike lane, but a 3.5 foot paved shoulder…very nice shoulder to ride. Driver went that far off road and hit him. 43 years old.
Second drunk driver was the daughter of another drunk driver that killed somebody in a car accident. So she took after her dad. She has prior drinking and driving citations dating back to 2007. Cyclists was 40, hit and run. 7pm accident. Paved road.
Third was just drunk (technically they haven’t ruled this, but open container in car and appeared drunk by police). Cyclists was 52 years old. Paved road. 8pm accident.
I think I will sell my road bike and invest in a more gravel road bike. About 40 mins from my house is a wicked gravel road route that has awesome climbing (for MI). It also had an 11 mile mountain bike trail. So I could park at trail, ride the trail then ride the 26 mile gravel road route. Around me there are a ton of gravel roads but they are all flat as a pancake. I live in farm country.
The roads by me are farm roads so high speed, although not many pass. I’ve been run off the road a couple of times by jonny farmer and I get the bird at least once per ride. Bike paths are minimal around me.
I so badly want to do an Ironman. I was trained for IMLOU in 2015 but doctor didn’t pass my physical. I kept getting ice pick head aches during high intensity and blacked out once during open water swim. They found NOTHING wrong with me and never had issue since. I had insured my registration so I got the majority back from WTC. I still want to check this off the list. I just cant stomach the idea of doing a century ride on my triathlon bike. I don’t think there is any substitute training I could do. I need to be comfortable riding 100 miles on the tri bike.
I can ride indoors…hour max. After that…big nope.
The roads by me are farm roads so high speed, although not many pass. I’ve been run off the road a couple of times by jonny farmer and I get the bird at least once per ride. Bike paths are minimal around me.
I really have a hard time understanding posts like these. I live in essentially the same area as you and in 20 years of riding I’ve never been run off the road on one of these farm roads. I also can’t remember the last time I was flipped off, probably a couple of years ago.
I didn’t know Mike, but certainly knew who he was and have raced against him many times. What happens sucks, but I will continue to do my best to assess risks rationally.
The good news is that we have some awesome gravel races in Mi. Have you seen the Coast to Coast race they are putting together for next year? It will go from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan, maybe a little over 200 miles.
One hour on the trainer 3x a week is great bike workout, paired with one long weekly ride. Do 2x20 minutes at FTP, or intervals one minute above FTP one minute recovery.
If your goal is to finish an IM and have no KQ aspirations, just do it on a road bike if you don’t think you can be in aerobars for 112 miles.
Sorry to hear that, but the really sad part is that you’ve given into fear. It’s like not going to Times Square, or any big busy popular place, because of terrorism.
I take the reasonable precautions, follow the rules, carry identification, make sure the Go-Pro is recording, and then get out there on the road and ride. If I’m hit, there is pretty much no chance it was my fault, and my widow will have the video. It won’t make much difference in the end, but at least I continued to live my life in the way that made me happy. A trainer in my family room watching TR and listening to Sirius XM is bad enough in the winter. I’m not going to waste the rest of my life in that hell hole because there is a small chance some dumbass will cross paths with me.
That would be an apt comparison with another rare but catastrophic event like plane crashes. Fear of terrorism more closely resembles fear of flying. All emotions, no logic.
Roads OTOH, not just cycling but driving too, is literally the most dangerous thing most of us do. People die every few days on the roads that you ride or drive. People get in wrecks and go to the hospitals multiple times a day every day on your city’s roads.
DoT is just very good at clearing the wrecks and paramedics quick at transporting victims to the hospital, so it is rare to see an aftermath of an accident. But they keep happening regularly.