Day 190 - Bikenstein, The Next Generation

Day 190 - Bikenstein, The Next Generation, originally uploaded by Mikey Brick.

March 8, 2012. There's a fellow on a bike in Wicker Park named Dave, and I seem to have found his doppelganger. The Viewminder often speaks with him and has some fabulous photos of him (http://www.flickr.com/photos/light_seeker/6675184349/in/photostream). I don't think I'd get along with him, partially due to my prejudice for people who ride bikes on the sidewalk - especially when that sidewalk has high pedestrian traffic and is on a street that, while not a perfect bike highway, is more or less a Chicago bike highway. I ride it almost every day. That reminds me, a couple of nights ago I had my first contact with a door - not on Milwaukee Avenue - (were you even wondering how a bright light could be quickly approaching your side mirror before you opened your door, Blondie? No, because you didn't check.) Fortunately, she opened her door in time for me to lean and push off the door with my hand, which hurt like hell all the way up to my shoulder and bent back a fingernail quite uncomfortably. Had she opened her door a quarter of a second later, my ride would have ended abruptly, and my bike and I would have broken parts. So, I'm lucky. A lot have people have been doored more than once and hurt pretty badly with far less time on a bike on city streets. And, Bikensteins, I see how you might think that's an argument for you riding the sidewalks, but you're as dangerous to pedestrians as car doors are to us and far more likely to get hurt yourself than a driver who opens his door.