Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Ouch.

Wednesday, 6 August: I'm finding Chicago to be extremely bike-able. I almost didn't need to pick up my free biking map of the city, because the suggested bicycle streets are so well marked. If ease in biking was my only criteria in choosing a place to live, I would move here. But I am devoted to Seattle...

That being said, I got car-doored for my first time ever today while running errands on my bike. A guy opened his door to get out of his car just as I was riding by, so the edge of it split the padding on my handlebars and scraped my thigh. It wasn't really a big deal, but I was a bit shaken, and I think I'm going to have a pretty good bruise to show for it. So be sure to look both ways before exiting your car when parked on the street, because it can be hard for cyclists to see through your car windows, and we don't know when you are planning to open the door.

But at least I got my ice cream home before it melted completely.

3 comments:

claybasket said...

OUCH! Take care of that bad scrape. That had to be one big surprising bump.
I'm so glad to find that Chicago is bike friendly for you. I can't believe the ease with which you found your way into that city. We were left scratching our heads as we know you've never been in Chicago and whose never heard of the horrendous traffic and highways. How do you do that?
I was studying your line up of hollowers in here and had to chuckle when realizing that Aunt Claybasket (me) is mother to MinnesotaJo and sister to Mom. Guess I'd better find something worthwhile to go take care of.
Ride with the wind in the windy city. Ohhhh-Yaaaaa!

Cheri said...

Maps are the best. Chicago's bike map is online, and I compared it with the route my GPS told me take, wrote down a few deviations from the GPS route, and off I went. I wasn't really on any highways, just streets that are recommended for biking because they have lower speed limits and less traffic. I would have had a tougher time of it if I hadn't spent some time route planning at my friend's mom's house just outside the city.

And it's more of a bruise than a scrape. There will be pictures soon...

MOM said...

Ouch is right. I am glad it wasn't worse though, like totally causing a spill or something.