Parking Phobia

Last Sunday was the 4th Annual Bikes on the Bay in Capitola. It was a small but awesome vintage motorcycle show in the parking lot of the Capitola Mall. I met Willy D, Carol, B.B. and Dave there and we had a great time hanging out for a little while.

As I prepared to ride to the Mall to meet them, I realized I had a huge problem. It's been creeping up on me for some time, but I had no idea it was this bad. I have developed a parking phobia. This also crosses over to my car, but I won't cover that here.

Almost every time I ride or even think of riding somewhere, the thought starts haunting me. What is the parking situation? Is it on a slope? Will the street be so narrow that I can't turn around? Will I be able to get out of the parking spot?

I know that I can back into any space, but sometimes even that is a little difficult. This problem is keeping me from venturing out to places unknown when I am by myself. As I prepared to ride to the Mall, the panic and dread hit me. Of course, once I got there I found a nice spot in the parking lot, which is partially sloped in most directions. I was a little nervous I wouldn't be able to get out of the spot, since I had gone into it forward.

I had absolutely no trouble and rolled right out of the spot. What was I afraid of? That is usually the case so I don't know where this is coming from; although I have had trouble once or twice rolling my heavy bike backwards out of a sloped spot. I am not that tall so it is always a challenge, even though my bike is pretty low. It is just getting leverage that gives me a problem. I really want to overcome this, so I will be working on it by going lots of places that I am unfamiliar with.

Is this just a 'girl' problem or does anyone else experience this?