Originally Posted by
clubman
Sorry but I'm perplexed.
It's my first posting in this forum and fwiw, I commuted a major northern city for 22 years, 4 seasons if that gives me any street cred.
Where, in the picture, are you going to ride if not where the arrow indicates? Anything that is stationary or slow moving gets passed on the left. n'est ce pas? Doors are a fact of bike life. You can take the full lane and follow cars if you want but personally I feel more in control of my destiny watching for doors rather than trusting traffic to not run over me from behind. Also you'll never get anywhere quickly by acting like a car. What's the point?
Maybe there's a new commuting philosophy that requires a borg-like adherence to arbitrary, predictable and uniform behavior but it's not for me. I've been door-free for over 30 years of riding. It's a jungle out there so keep those brakes dialed in.
The times they are a changin'. Thirty years ago I didn't worry too much about being doored and would not hesitate to ride where the arrow in the picture indicates. I don't know why, but the carcissits are opening their doors without looking much more often now than I have ever seen in the past. Maybe it is because the cars don't stay parked in one place as long now as in years past, or maybe it is because our nation is getting fatter and less able to look around, but I NEVER ride in the door zone anymore. I've seen too many doors open unexpectedly as I ride by to ever put myself in their path.
It is also my experience that the driver who will run you over in cold blood when you take the lane is a rare bird indeed. However, most drivers will buzz you if you share a lane that is too narrow to share and a noticeable percentage of the buzzers will make contact if you don't take action to avoid it. Thus, if you ride near the door zone you are likely to be buzzed into it, which means focusing on both the passing cars and the parked ones. No thanks. I'd rather anger a few impatient drivers.+