Did you know that people drive their cars into canals--by accident??

When I was a little girl I saw a Ripley's Believe it Or Not?! where they showed people in some ass backwards town in Holland driving into canals, literally. It's like they missed the "Canal in 1 mile" sign and the road ended so they just drove right into it???  Water pressure, not escaping the car, people drowning.. the memory of this episode was horrific.  It has been cemented into my mind that at any moment, the road could end, and you too could drive into a canal. Now, Ohio does not have many canals and Lake Erie is pretty stinkin' big. It would be very hard to drive into Lake Erie with all those "watercraft" signs and "Lakeshore" drive signs. Never-the-less I was petrified to be in a car over a bridge ever since. I would cry, sob, hyperventilate and create all sorts of dramatic panic moments. My family dreaded getting in a car with me where there was a body of water within 50 miles of our destination.  Fast forward to the year 2000 when I moved to San Diego. When I first saw that bridge the Coronado Bridge, I was petrified. It's skinny, and curvy, and high in the air. It goes straight over the bay and into the ocean. Check this thing out:
I've combed the intrawebs and found this to be one of the best bike over the bridge moments. It's too long to watch the whole thing, start at 3:5
The guard rails are low and people jump off it . There are signs--"suicide hotline" signs on this bridge, that is how popular terminating yourself on this bridges is. So...to drive over this thing for the first time 14 years ago was terrifying. I told myself  "you're in a new city, new life, just do it. Conquer this fear and get over it" guess what??? I did. I drove my VW Jetta straight over that damn thing. I white knuckled it. I loved the view, I was proud I moved to San Diego all by myself at age 25, it was a liberating move and a liberating  release of a super strange fear to drive over that bridge . I repeated it 4 times that day and now it's one of my favorite views in San Diego. Knowing that I am riding over that bridge in a month is bringing back those fears. I hope I don't get knocked off my bike and fall into the water? If I did, I hope no one mistakes me for one of those suiciders. Should I write a note in advance that says if I fell it was a mistake ? Will the hill of the bridge be hard to climb? What is the grade? Will going down the hill be fun or scary? Should I wear my GoPro? I definitely think I should wear my GoPro. Should I wear a life jacket and swimmies and nose plugs as I approach the bridge? So many questions, so many fears but ready to answer and conquer all of them. After writing this it has provoked me to incorporate some bridges into my training rides. In fact, I know the perfect one. It is much lower and smaller than the Coronado Bridge but there is a bridge over mission bay that is very skinny and unsettling for me to ride over. If I can master that without fear, I will probably be ok. Sounds like a good start to me. 9.