I Have a Bad Phobia of Riding Bikes

by Jenna Leigh
(San Jose, CA, USA)

Hey, I'm a 14 year old girl, and I have a bad phobia of riding bikes.
I just went bike riding about 20 minutes ago...my first time in 4 years. I haven't ever ridden or owned a bike since I was nine. I wasn't that bad then, but now...AGH!!!! I'm still freaking out, even though it's over right now.

I'll tell you what happened, and I discovered this phobia while I was riding this morning.
My mom bought me a cool bike. But today, she made me ride it. I didn't want to, because I wanted to go on the computer. But I lost, and I had to ride. I couldn't start off, and I was scared of falling off. Eventually, I got on it, but I was almost crying. I couldn't go straight, I kept swerving wildly. I was freaking out. I was scared of hitting something, like a car, or anything. I can't think of what exactly scared me, but I do know I was horribly freaked out. I was crying almost the entire time.

After we were about half-way through, I noticed my hands were in agony. I stop and look at them, and I was holding the handles so tight out of fear that they were blood-red. They still are, actually, and they hurt like hell.

Well, anyway, I was doing it well, but still freaking out. When I heard a car, I would panic, lose control, and I would jump off. I live in a crowded neighborhood, so this was often. I was still swerving crazily, too. Then my mom made me circle around the round thing in the middle of the street. OH MY GOD!!! I was almost crying again, and I managed to do it. We finally got home, and I was in tears.

My parents don't beleive I have a phobia, but I know I do. Riding bikes just freaks me out. I don't know the name of the phobia, but it's horrible when I ride a bike.


What doesn't work clearly is riding a bike. You've seen that. What does work, I have no idea. I'm still freaked out. My hands still hurt.

I won't let my small phobia stop me in life. I have a phobia of riding bikes. It does not have me.