Last month, as I was speeding up Broadway on my bike, there it was: my first car-door flying open into my path, milliseconds before I was destined to hit it. I remember the absurdly loud crunching noise, landing in a not good way, and feeling profoundly depressed. Two weeks before, I made a conscious decision to stop wearing my helmet -- it was cumbersome, I felt confident in my skills as a veteran city cyclist. But as I lay on my back, a crowd gathering over me yelling things like "call an ambulance," "don't move" and "are you okay?" I thought, this must be a sign. Luckily, the only thing seriously damaged was my derailleur, which fell off completely on my way to work the next morning. I escaped death/coma/concussion, but I wasn't going to take any more chances. From then on, before I'd even leave wherever I was, I'd have that sucker strapped on like Jenny Shimizu's thigh dildo.
A few weeks later, I was vigilantly pedaling up 1st Ave, in the shoulder, carefully giving myself a 4-foot buffer between parked cars on my right and traffic on my left, when suddenly I heard that crazy crunching noise again. I'd been doored, again. As my head snapped back against the asphalt, all I could think was, I'd so be dead if I wasn't wearing this helmet. I got ten stitches in my hand, whiplash, crazy hip pains, a nightmare insurance situation and blood all over my nice white shirt, but life has never been so good -- it is not uncommon for a biker to die in an accident like this. There are two obvious points here: 1. Always wear a helmet while biking, and 2) Will the car-consumers of this universe please be so kind as to look before throwing their doors open and possibly killing/maiming/emotionally-crippling another innocent being? Thanks.