What would I do if I got doored? Valentine's Day. Rain Jacket. Video of the Week

Nearly doored

So today I found out what would happen if a door opened in front of me.

I'm ok - luckily, I still had half a car length to react.  

I was on Doncaster, heading South, almost at Anzac.  

It's pretty narrow there, so I usually ride in Primary position and then move back into the cycleway (which is where I was when the last parked car opened their door).  They were a pretty fat car - SUV like - so they were pretty wide.

I just braked and yelled OOH SHIT!

But as it was happening, I didn't feel any animosity towards the driver.  They looked pretty stunned and I was just focussing on being safe.

So I just rode to the intersection and stopped and tried to stop my legs from shaking.

(My legs still shake when commuting - random things give me little adrenalin boost - which I have to admit is a little bit exciting about cycling, even though it can be scary.  Examples, close calls, beating a male cyclist, having to accelerate quickly when a car decides to give way to me,.)

I just tried to find a interesting picture and came across an article that mentioned people in the Netherlands are taught to open car doors with your opposite hand.  What an interesting idea!  

Mike Cavenett, of the London Cycle Campaign, says that "dooring" is one of the most common forms of accident that cyclists suffer across Europe, never mind London.

"Dooring is a massive issue. It's thought to be trivial but the fact is that it kills some people. It is such an issue that there have to be prosecutions.

"But there has to be education too. In the Netherlands, they teach people to open a car door with their opposite hand - so if you were in a right-hand-drive car here, you would reach over with your left hand. That means your body turns and you look over your shoulder."

Valentine's Day

Best Valentine's Day cycling post ever:

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Rain Jacket

So after (SO MANY NIGHTS OF) researching and talking to people at my work, I decided on 2 requirements:

1. Good quality / good reputation - that is - the more expensive, well known branded ones.  A workmate said he got a couple of cheap ones and ended up throwing them away because they didn't work.
2. Windproof / water resistant (rather than super waterproof) - Sydney climate is really not that bad (in relation to the rest of the world), and it sounds like it's all about layering, rather than serious waterproofing winter jackets developed in Europe for colder climates.

To be honest, I got a bit fatigued at all the options and lack of stock of the pink ones (I'd decide on one, only to find they were out of stock of pink ones!).

I ended up going for the Ground Effect Flip Flop jacket in blue:

$209 AUD + postage ($15 for next day delivery to Sydney)

Although, I signed up for an account and you get $30 off your order straight away so it ended up being < $200 all up which I was hoping for.

From the FAQ (which I have to say was one of the best FAQs I've ever read - it's rare to read an FAQ that specifically answers ALL the questions I have):   

"The Flash Gordon and Flip Flop provide extended protection and are good for up to a couple of hours in continuous rain."

I figured that would be ok - surely I won't be planning to be more than a couple of hours in continuous rain!!

Although, I seriously never thought I would be one to ride in the rain... so who can say...

Here is a video of the Flep Flurp jacket in action.  ;p

So super extra bonus is that the arms zip off so I have a windproof vest too now!!

I hate orange.  Bleagh.

I chose Ground Effect because they were praised all over the forums and were one of the few cycling-centric companies (the husband said mostly mountain biking).  (A lot of rain jackets are designed for hiking or running).

And I figured being made in New Zealand is pretty cool and hopefully similar to the Australian climate.

Anyway, it got here the next day - just in time for the heavy rain forecast for today.

It's coming right for us!

But alas, no rain hit Sydney today.,

But the jacket is awesome - it packs up to the size of 6 inch subway sandwich and is super light.

I wonder what it's like to ride in.  I will have to wait a bit longer to find out!

It's not super tight fitting - almost a bit loose - a lot of jacket reviews mention whether or not a jacket makes noises when riding, and also how obvious a jacket feels while riding - so it'll be interesting to see what this jacket is like to ride in.

Video of the week

Is this not the coolest thing you've ever seen?  There's even other videos with people doing the DOUGIE!