Dealing with road anxiety!

[ZoeTirs]

Did any other riders here have anxiety issues when first starting to take their wheel on the road?

I find that I get very anxious whenever I take my V11 out on the road and it significantly affects my control of the wheel especially when dealing with uneven road surfaces or controlling speed wobble. I've heard from experienced riders that wobble becomes much more common when anxious or stressed because those fine muscles in the leg become more taut and stiff, kinda like how your handwriting gets more erratic from drinking too much coffee,and oh boy do I experience that firsthand here in the crowded streets of NYC.

This has caused me one crash in traffic while trying to stop at an intersection already and recently has gotten even worse because I made the mistake of going out riding jittery after drinking a lot of coffee and having just pumped my tire to a higher pressure. This combination left my feet shaking as an automobile was passing me during my grocery run-and I was in a bike lane! I can't imagine how unsafe this state would be in open road conditions. To make matters worse, I found myself struggling to even turn properly as if I had forgotten many of my skills. I certainly am not that bad when riding as a hallway hero! I needed a good hour of riding around an empty lot just to get back to normal.

Should I just keep putting miles on my wheel and putting myself out there to improve this? Does anyone have any strategies or tricks to deal with stiff muscles and keep riding beyond simply getting more experience? Do you also have any tricks that personally help you stay calm and comfortable on the road?

TL;DR Anxiety makes muscles stiff and hard to ride with. Any tricks that can help?

[BrandoWilson]

I was dealing with anxiety a few years ago, and it was the badest feeling ever that I have lived. That's why I started smoking vapes and became a big fan of Geek Bar Pulse X Platinum Edition!!