I don't have near the experience of the others but I have crashed. It was entirely my fault, and due entirely to 18 year old hormones on a beautiful spring day.
I waited 35 years before venturing back into riding- not so much because of lack of confidence, but because that was how long it took for my sainted mother to get to a point where my behavior was no longer able to cause her concern and angst.
I am now a very cautious rider, which makes me a relatively slow rider- and I don't care. I do not want to get on the ground and I know that my chances are vastly improved by staying well within my comfort limits- and, hopefully, also within my limited skill limits. I cannot control the behavior of other motorists, or of deer. But I can take every precaution to put myself in situations that minimize those risks to the best of my ability, wile still allowing me to ride. I think sometimes of the padlock in the road, and what it did. In the end, I have accepted the risk that such a random thing may also happen to me. Riding ATTGAT is the best defense I have against such a thing, while still allowing me to ride and enjoy it.
+1 to all of those who have said that only YOU can decide whether you have reached the point where worry and concern outweigh riding enjoyment and satisfaction.
Best of luck to you, whatever your final decision, and hopes that the decision you make is the one that makes you comfortable. It may not be the same decision you make in the future, and that is no more anyone else's business to make than the one you make now.
I waited 35 years before venturing back into riding- not so much because of lack of confidence, but because that was how long it took for my sainted mother to get to a point where my behavior was no longer able to cause her concern and angst.
I am now a very cautious rider, which makes me a relatively slow rider- and I don't care. I do not want to get on the ground and I know that my chances are vastly improved by staying well within my comfort limits- and, hopefully, also within my limited skill limits. I cannot control the behavior of other motorists, or of deer. But I can take every precaution to put myself in situations that minimize those risks to the best of my ability, wile still allowing me to ride. I think sometimes of the padlock in the road, and what it did. In the end, I have accepted the risk that such a random thing may also happen to me. Riding ATTGAT is the best defense I have against such a thing, while still allowing me to ride and enjoy it.
+1 to all of those who have said that only YOU can decide whether you have reached the point where worry and concern outweigh riding enjoyment and satisfaction.
Best of luck to you, whatever your final decision, and hopes that the decision you make is the one that makes you comfortable. It may not be the same decision you make in the future, and that is no more anyone else's business to make than the one you make now.