Doored! Odd Circumstances...

"I" was doored on Saturday 7/20. This is the first time I have been doored in my life, in over 4yrs commuting in Chicago with over 20k miles ridden. Plenty of close calls under my belt but I have to say, I didn't expect my first time with these circumstances...

My wife and I had house guests this weekend, married friends and their son who is 10 years old. While they were in town, they wanted to ride around the city being cyclists themselves and go to Lincoln Park Zoo. My wife and I lent them some of our N+1 bikes for the weekend. Given their son's age, his only option was to ride with me on the back of our tandem. So, the 5 of us headed out on our 4 bikes - and now you know why "I" was doored... it was a group activity.

Everything was going well, the group had stopped by Wrigley Field and was headed down Clark towards the zoo. We were riding about 12-14mph given the nature of the group. The kid and I were in the lead at Clark/Deming when it happened. We were riding toward the left side of the marked bike lane when I saw a car door start to open about 1ft in front of the front wheel. I had no time to react.

Knowing the real danger is getting hit by a car behind you, I white knuckled the brakes and moved a little to the left. I knew we would make some contact, thankfully it was only the kitty litter panier on the back right side. I still don't know how the door missed the kid's right leg and only hit the panier. When the kitty litter bucket hit we were still moving at a decent speed and the impact stopped us instantly. Thank God the kid was holding on and didn't go flying in the street. At this point we are bound up with the car door, I put my feet down to deal with the situation.

Another cyclist not in our party was right behind us, followed by the kid's dad and then my wife. The other cyclist - thank you by the way - said that she saw everything and stopped for us to see if we needed a witness. We first determined the child was not harmed, and honestly not impressed by the situation at all. This kid is precocious as shit. At this point I turn my attention to the driver. My wife witnessed the whole interaction. She described my interaction as rage which quickly turned to exasperation as I noticed the driver was a ~70yr old women. She had nothing but apologies for us and admitted full blame. I had few words for her but given her age they only amounted to "watch out, that is illegal, this is a child, etc."

So what was the conclusion? What should you do with this person? The only damage was a zero dollar panier which was easily fixed with more zip ties. Doored by a person who is unlikely to be more attentive with a ticket or more harsh talking to. No personal injuries. We simply gave a scolding and moved on. I left the whole incident thinking "wow, hat was an odd way to get doored for the first time".

I never would have expected my first dooring to be under these circumstances. It goes to show you that you always need to be vigilant, even on a fun ride.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Miller on July 22, 2014 at 9:09am

Glad to hear that you and the tandemonium escaped the collision (mostly) unscathed. Hopefully the kitty litter pannier made it, too!

Permalink Reply by Tandemonium on July 22, 2014 at 3:11pm

Thanks all for the nice wishes. It felt great that we escaped the situation without injury or any real damage. The parents were very grateful and we had a nice day at the zoo and riding home on LFT from that point on.

On a side note, I decided to fix this safety graphic in light of newly discovered techniques. Please keep them in mind going forward and pass them on to anyone without the necessary riding prerequisites:

Permalink Reply by Shawn Evans on July 22, 2014 at 7:12pm

It's sad the kid couldn't ride a bike. When I was 10, I was riding all over my neighborhood without adult supervision. Not down Clark, but still.

Permalink Reply by Tandemonium on July 23, 2014 at 5:25pm

Easy there yourself, Pal. Sometimes posts get deleted because they are too aggressive, just something to keep in mind as you continue to develop as a more complete forum member. Regarding this particular forum conversation, we should consider the following:

        on Monday:

"4 years is not enough time to learn the hazards of street riding."

Then on Tuesday:

"Years of riding all year round would also have one seeking out side streets or even polite sidewalk stints when carrying loads."

So, again, what is the fixation on years and experience? At what point do I cross the threshold between polite sidewalk rider and qualified right hand lane street rider? I'm not sure and I differ to the revised safety-graphic. 

Please tell me in one complete sentence how this was not an experience based discussion.



h' 1.0 said:

Easy there. Juan's point is that the streets are much more dangerous to ride in than they should be (witness your particular incident) - I don't think he was looking to make a statement about your skill level.

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on July 24, 2014 at 3:45am

Well done with the updated revision.

Thanks, I like it alot.

Perhaps you can join us for Critical Mass this Friday, helping cork intersections and yell at unruly people.

Permalink Reply by KayCee on July 24, 2014 at 7:57am

Your safety graphic rocks.  Glad you're okay!

Permalink Reply by Tandemonium on July 24, 2014 at 2:49pm

Heh... I did what I could. Look, we disagree on some aspects but I felt it was a fun way to get my opinions across. I will be at the critical mass tomorrow. I tell you what, we should squash our internet beef tomorrow with a unity tandem ride around the plaza. I'll where my orange shirt and we can ride on the sidewalk - J/K. Happy Friday :)


Juan 2-8 mi. said:

Well done with the updated revision.

Thanks, I like it alot.

Perhaps you can join us for Critical Mass this Friday, helping cork intersections and yell at unruly people.

Permalink Reply by Tandemonium on July 24, 2014 at 2:52pm

Thanks! I went for funny, even though some people can't take a joke. MSpaint + comic sans font = comedy gold in my opinion!

 
KayCee said:

Your safety graphic rocks.  Glad you're okay!

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