- Confidence building is big industry.
There's like a gazillion self-help books on the subject,
many of which probably don't quite live up to their promise.
- Fortunately, while there is no doubt a psychological
aspect to cycling, it is a little bit simpler to build
your confidence out on the bike.
So, if you're currently a little bit nervous in the saddle,
perhaps after a recent accident on the bike,
we think the following tips will be just what you need.
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- The first point is, if you are lacking
in confidence a bit, it shouldn't be something
that you then end up beating yourself up about.
It's kind of inevitable that you might have a few anxieties
about cycling, particularly if you've had a crash.
I mean that can be really quite traumatic.
And so, the important thing is to actually give yourself
time, go easy on yourself, because you will end up
feeling better.
- With that in mind, just start off very slowly,
so if you've been completely off your bike,
head out on a nice gentle ride,
on a road of which you're familiar,
and upon which you are very comfortable.
- It's a good idea to try to understand exactly where
your fear has come from, what specifically
it is you are worried about.
So, for example, it might be that you've slid out
on a wet corner, maybe you crashed on a group ride
because of somebody else, or maybe a car pulled out
in front of you.
- Yeah, knowing the cause can then allow you to be
specific in how you address the underlying issue.
So, it may be you can learn from a mistake,
if it was indeed a mistake that caused you to
crash in the first place.
Now personally, I always find it really helpful to
actually be able to understand why something has happened.
That way I can kind of grapple with the issue.
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- Where possible you want to practise the relevant
skills specifically.
So, if you did wipe out on a corner,
you shouldn't be avoiding corners,
but rather practising them over and over again.
Now, I have had two pretty major crashes in
my cycling life so far, the first of which was when
I rather absentmindedly tried to bunny hop a tram track,
totally messed it up, and then ended going into
oncoming traffic.
And to this day, I confess, I have a healthy fear of
tram tracks, but that's because they don't really
feature in my day-to-day life very much.
So, I've never bothered to practise or
regain my confidence.
- Practise really would help you, the idea being
gradually building up either in terms of the speed
that you tackle something or the difficulty of
whatever it is that you're doing.
Then you can gradually and gently nudge the boundaries
a little bit more until eventually you'll be back
where you want to be.
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- You can also potentially overcome a lack of confidence
by taking some practical steps that could address any
potential cause of your anxiety.
So, my second major crash was a bit of a weird one
in the woods on my cycle cross bike,
bizarrely ten years to the day after the previous one.
And now my anxiety that stems from that,
comes from riding alone in the woods,
which I've channelled into a healthy respect.
So now, every time I ride off-road,
I have my live track shared on my GPS,
I have my location shared on my mobile phone,
and I always tell someone where I'm going.
And that way, I don't worry about it anymore.
- "Fake It 'Til You Make It" is a well-worn
self-help phrase, but while there's no actual
scientific evidence to suggest that holding a
power-pose, or forcing a smile can actually build
your self-confidence, or lift your mood,
it could be that it's something
that's worth trying on your bike,
'cuz there's plenty of anecdotal evidence,
and actually specific cases as well, like riding in traffic,
confidence can definitely breed confidence.
- There's also some research out there
that's showing that motorist tend to give cyclists
more room, if they're riding a little bit further
from the edge of the road rather than
hugging the side of it,
which is the opposite of what you'll tend to do when
you're lacking confidence.
- And if it's a skills-based accident that you're
recovering from, it may be worth actually proceeding
a little bit with caution in this particular instance,
because actually getting straight back on in a
confident manner, if you've just fallen off on a
wet corner, may lead you to do exactly
the same thing again.
- And thinking about it now, perhaps I would have
crashed less, had I not been so confident,
because too much confidence is also a bad thing.
If I'd been a bit more nervous after each crash,
and had a bit more respect for my own limits,
I probably would have stayed upright a bit more.
- Maybe, but it is a fine line, isn't it,
because in a professional race situation,
you may also have got dropped, so you kinda didn't
have all that much of a choice.
But certainly, as it goes back to our first point
in the video, actually not beating yourself up
about it, is definitely the best way to start, isn't it?
- Yeah, I think a healthy respect for your own limits
is a good thing.
Gradually building back up is also a great thing.
Hopefully we've helped you to do that in this video.
I would love to hear what you're most worried about
on your bike, so if you are lacking confidence in
something specific, let us know in the comment section
down below.
I'm sure that there are other viewers out there
who've been in the same situation who will be able
to offer you their advice, too.
- Yeah, and if you wanna watch another video right now,
again in a bit of a psychological way,
why no check out "How To Think Yourself Faster".
Some handy tips there on how you can persuade your mind
to unlock some hidden talent.