Fear of Cycling

My first adult bike I bought second hand from a lady in Salisbury. At that time, I lived in an old house and I lived under the eaves in the attic. I paid $150.00 rent per month. it was small but very functional. I had a small bedroom that had window down near the floor, the bathroom had a small tube that was under the eaves. To shower I had to position my head away from the roof eves and bend my knees. It was like playing the old game called twister. the kitchen had an old deep sink, old stove/and gas heater.bit had a full size window with a view of my neighbor's pool. I had room for a small table. The living room had a full set of windows and also a small area  with a tight space and small window. In the summers, I would get home from work, put in my back king clothes and ride around town until dusk when the apartment started to cool off.it was not an inconvenience, it just was one way of dealing with a hot  apartment that was wicked cheap.

After a wonderful brunch at a friends cottage, I got onto my bike and tried to ride to plum island. At Hanover Street crossing, my shoelace got tangled into my spokes. I was In front of a truck, and panicked used my brakes and flipped my bike under the back wheels of the truck. The driver was inching up to the intersection and his tires started to put pressure on my bike and my body. I screamed and he stopped. He moved his truck off me and pulled me and the bike (now a mess) out for under his truck. Police came and used a knife to check my knees, and destroy my new designer jeans. An ambulance came and I got x rays at the hospital and was badly bruised but did not break any bones. 

Years later, I bought my current bike used from a friend. I used that bike for many years until before my knee replacements. But I had two falls from that bike. My second fall is the scary one. I was stopped and standing with my bike between my legs when my knees failed me and I fell over my leg with my body under the bike. 

After my two knee replacements, I rode my bike only twice. I was scared and walked and rode the bike on the rail train. 

On the next sunny warm day, I will go out with Glenn and try the bike out again. I really want to be able to rent bikes in France for our upcoming trip. 

I felt if I wrote about my accidents  on my bike, I would lose some of the fear. We will see.