I got doored by a guy getting out of a livery cab a couple of months ago. The
cab was in the traveling lane, stopped at a stop light.
I was super-lucky: I only had some bruised ribs. Apparently, my front wheel
took the brunt of the force, but I was ejected from my bike and hit the parked
Ford E-Series van with my torso. Nevertheless, I decided to go to the
ER to make sure I didn’t have a
broken rib in danger of puncturing a lung.
In New York, the following laws come into play:
VTL §1214: “No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on the side
available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to
do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic.”
NYCRR §4-11-(c): “Taxis… while engaged in picking up or discharging
passengers must be within 12 inches of the curb or parallel thereto”.
NYCRR §4-12-(c): " No person shall get out of any vehicle from the side
facing on the traveled part of the street in such manner as to interfere with
the right of the operator of an approaching vehicle or a bicycle."
Of course, the driver was not cited with any of these violations by the
responding officer because the NYPD doesn’t give a shit about cyclists or
pedestrians.
Here are the costs that have been involved.
My health insurance has a 10% copay on emergency services. I had already met my
deductible for the year prior to the incident.
Item
Base Price
Discounted Price
I Pay
FDNY Ambulance Transport
$775
$775
$78
FDNY Ambulance Mileage
$11
$11
$1
ER Doctor
$215
$201
$20
ER “Ancilary Services”
$6604
$5052
$505
Radiologist
$61
$10
$1
Radiology - Chest
$65
$23
$2
$7731
$6072
$607
The “ER Ancilary Services” was broken out by the hospital on a bill to me,
but strangely, the totals don’t add up except for the amount I had to pay:
Item
Base Price
X-RAY
$549
X-RAY Chest
$489
ER
$4985
$6023
The ER visit at NYU Langone was pleasant: the doctors, nurses, and radiologists
were all very nice. I had to wait around a while and they eventually forgot to
release me, but otherwise it was fine. It was sad to sit and listen to all of
the people who use the ER as their primary care facility or who are
hypochondriacs.
It took a surprisingly long time to recover, around 4-6 weeks. I likely
aggravated the injury by returning to overhead and bench pressing too soon.
Since I was still a little miffed about cycling in New York, I took up running.
I incurred the following non-medical expenses:
I had to have a new front wheel built. I went to Sid’s who wanted to
charge me $267, which I negotiated down to $227 after realizing they threw
out my perfectly good tire. Later, I realized they didn’t line the
rim with rim tape, which I had to do for an additional couple of dollars.
I decided to buy a front-facing camera, since my GoPro was not
operational that day.
A strap on the bag on my front rack got torn off, but the bag has a lifetime
warranty, so I’m just out some shipping costs.
The front rack eyelet for my dynamo-powered headlight got damaged and
eventually fell off. I took the rack off after deciding that using a rack bag
on a is not advantageous compared to a backpack for my (very narrow)
use-case, despite enjoying the lack of sweat on my back after commuting.
Things I would do differently:
Ride even more defensively than I usually do to avoid the accident. I
definitely should have been travelling at a lower rate of speed and shouldn’t
pass stopped cars on the passenger side.
Have someone take a picture of the driver’s license and insurance
information.
File a complaint at the TLC with the video of the dooring.
Pre-emptively file a claim against the driver’s no-fault car insurance, even
before getting billed.
Sue someone in small claims court. It would be an educational experience, but
I’d also have to take time off from work for it.
Walk myself to an urgent care center instead of taking an ambulance ride to
an ER, unless I were massively hemorrhaging.
Several years ago, Yuko and I watched the final episode of the first season of
the Netflix documentary Chef’s Table. We became transfixed by the personality
of Chef Magnus Nilsson and the idea of his creation, Fäviken. Located halfway
up Sweden, in the woods, far from cities, visiting the restaurant has become a
pilgrimage that only true food lovers are interested in taking. By the end
of episode, we half-joked that we should go.
Eventually, Yuko got serious about it. She planned for the day the restaurant
would release reservations for the summer season. The best way to experience
the restaurant is to stay the night at the adjoining inn, avoiding the need for
taxi service to another hotel, permitting additional activities before and
after dinner, and getting an included seat at the reportedly fabulous breakfast
the next morning. She booked our spots and we planned a trip around what we
expected to be among the best dinners of our lives.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The secondary goal was to visit some friends who live in Copenhagen, Denmark
and experience what that city had to offer. As an avid cyclist, I’ve wanted to
check out this city which is so famous for its successful transportation
policies.
SP34: We got off of our
red-eye and needed a long nap, so we went straight to our hotel. One thing I’ve
learned about most design-oriented hotels is that they look pretty but are
often not terribly functional. Everything was pretty, but the rooms were
cramped and not very comfortable. Some of the design choices just made the room
not that useful. The included breakfast was good, though. The gym was so
depressing we didn’t use it. SP34 at least delivered on its promise in our
reservation of having actual beds to sleep in. While the location was
excellent, I’d probably try to stay elsewhere next time we’re in town.
Manfreds: Our friends made reservations here,
which is a casual restaurant by the same people behind Michelin star
award-winning Relæ, who are also former NOMA alums. This organic, biodynamic,
plant-focused menu was great. This casual and rustic spot was a good choice for
a meeting between some locals and some out-of-towners. Get the biodynamic wine
pairing: you likely wouldn’t make the same choices, which were enlightening.
Mikkeller & Friends: One
thing I appreciate about Mikkeller is their commitment to bringing good
quality, interesting beer in a nice environment around the world. One downside
to that commitment is that each of their locations feels more or less the same.
This was no different: great beer, unremarkable venue. Though, there are
unmanaged picnic tables across the street which was a nice place to enjoy a
good brew in the last hours of a long Scandinavian summer day.
Architecture Tour in
Ørestad:
One of our friends is a practicing architect and he offered to bring us to this
neighborhood which is under active development with some very interesting
buildings in various states of construction. Just driving around is
interesting, but getting out and exploring particular buildings is recommended.
We walked the entire loop around 8
House, so named because of its
integral, inclined, exterior figure-eight walkway connecting the building’s
residential units. We snuck into the the Tietgen Residence
Hall and daydreamed what it would be like
to live there as a student. Finally, we saw the cool funicular-like elevator in
the VM MOUNTAIN. Our
friend isn’t available for private tours, but I recommend finding a
publicly-available guided tour of this neighborhood.
Ismageriet: A great way to beat the heat on a
sunny day in Copenhagen (yes, that was actually the weather while we were
there!) is delicious ice cream. The outpost in Ørestad had dozens of flavors on
offer and felt like stepping into a bygone classic era.
La Banchina: Another way Copenhageners cool
down is a swim in a canal. Doing it with a good restaurant nearby is doing it
in style. We had a refreshing drink here at a picnic table shielded from the
sun.
Sögreni: This is a pretty famous bike
manufacturer that happened to be next door to our hotel. I chatted with the
staff member tending to the front-of-house for a while. It’s worth a visit if
you’re into bikes and worth a purchase if you’re staying in Copenhagen.
Taphouse: We had some time to kill before a dinner
one night, so we stopped into this place that has 61 taps of local and
international beer. It was fine; we sat outside which was nice.
The Coffee Collective: Delicious coffee
being served artfully and with intent and passion. We visited their outpost in
Torvehallerne, which has a bunch of really
delicious-looking food stalls under one roof. We sat outside on a picnic table
and had some delightful pour-overs. I’d come back here and to Torvehallerne in
a heartbeat.
Tivoli Gardens: We’re not really amusement
park people, but this one is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the
world and is quite pretty and lively inside. It was worth the price of
admission to walk around for a while.
Hey Captain: Our friend recommended this canal
boat tour operator to us because it bucks the mold of the other operations. Hey
Captain has smaller boats and offers complimentary wine and beer onboard. Our
guide was great and the tour was very pleasant. Recommended.
Vaekst: This is the restaurant
attached to SP34, but has gained high marks for its vegetable-oriented menu.
The food and service was good and the convenience factor high, but I regret not
trying to snag a table at a more interesting restaurant in a city full of
Michelin star award
winners.
Running around Christiania:
This was a really nice run mostly on a well-maintained gravel road through
Christiania. Along the way were some old buildings and a different way of life.
All in all, we loved our short stay in Copenhagen. The people were nice, the
good and beer were great, and the cycling culture is a breath of fresh air
compared to New York. Coupled with the sane, human-oriented policies Danes have
decided to support — universal healthcare, good childcare and schooling among
them — we could even see ourselves living here.
Åre, Sweden
Getting from Copenhagen to Fäviken turned out to be a little awkward due to the
scheduling of flights to nearby airports. We decided to fly from CPH to
Trondheim, Norway and drive 133 kilometers across the border to the ski-town of
Åre, Sweden, where we’d stay for a couple of nights until checking into the inn
before dinner.
Holiday Club Åre: I
booked this hotel for a couple of reasons: 1) From the pictures, the gym had a
ton of free weights and monkey bars, which I’ve never seen at a hotel before.
2) The pool complex had a multi-story water slide, a lazy river, and
multiple whirlpools! 3) The breakfast menu looked good. 4) They had just
completed construction of a new wing of rooms (which required a small premium
over the older rooms). We visited during the time between ski season and the
summer season, so the hotel was almost completely empty, despite being massive
and clearly built for peak ski season. It felt like we had the whole place to
ourselves. I was the only one using the waterslide while visiting the pool, as
a group of kids and a group of senior citizens looked on.
Wersens: After getting settled, we left the hotel to
explore town and get some dinner. Our first choice, Parkvillan (see below)
wasn’t open for the new season, but Wersens was open and seemed to be hosting
the entire town for dinner. The food was decent and the local beer selection
not terrible.
Hike to Åreskutan: We woke up
to beautiful weather for our planned hike. We had just missed the end of the
ski season and the downhill mountain biking season had just started. The
largest ski lift was taking a break for a few weeks between winter and summer,
but a smaller lift was operating for cyclists; it was even free the day we
wanted to use it, the first day of the mountain biking season.
The hike was lovely, though my hiking companion was not happy about the
verticality. [ed: What do you expect when walking up a mountain?] There were
sizable snow patches that needed traversing; though they remained
non-technical, we each slipped and slid on our butts down one such field. We
ended up only hiking up to the end of the larger, closed ski lift and
cancelling our summit plans due to the falling temperatures and remaining snow
on the ground. Still, the sights were lovely. Recommended.
Krus: But, it was most fortunate to have
turned around when we did: we were able to get back into town just in time for
a late lunch at Magnus’ pop-up casual restaurant. Everything we had was
delicious, and Yuko claims their roast chicken is the best she ever had, which,
as a chicken lover, is one of the highest praises she could award. We happened
to strike up a conversation with the other couple eating so late, who turned
out to be from Iowa and dining with us the next night at Fäviken! My only
regret is not coming back for pastries the next morning (as breakfast was
included at the Holiday Club). Highly recommended.
Parkvillan: We went back to the hotel to hang
out for a bit. Yuko started watching Blades of Glory, but I wanted to explore
a bit more and visit this brewpub in town that gets high marks for both their
beer and their food. I’m glad I did: their offerings lived up to the reviews
and then some. I sat at the bar and struck up a conversation with the owner
(after he offered to translate the menu to English for me) plus a couple of
other locals, one of whom invited me back to hang out with his group of
friends. It seemed like the whole town eventually came through that night.
While the burger is the most well reviewed, the cod special they had that night
was artfully prepared and presented. The beer was even better. Highly
recommended; I can’t wait to get back.
Lilla Saluhallen
Prästgatan: We
checked out of the Holiday Club and had a couple of hours to kill before
checking into the inn at Fäviken. It turns out there isn’t a whole lot going on
in the villages in the area; no town centers, no particularly interesting
attractions. We decided to drive to the nearest city, Östersund, and walk
around. We surveyed all of the restaurants along our walking route and decided
this one looked the most interesting. We weren’t disappointed. While the shop
is mainly a butcher and charcuterie shop, they had one meat and one seafood
lunch dish on offer; we got one of each and both were delicious. Sitting at the
window stools and watching all of Östersund go by was enjoyable.
Fäviken: This was one of the most
special, enjoyable experiences of my life. From the time we met our host at the
inn, Simon, to the time we checked out the next morning from Hatim, we were
taken care of in the most warm ways imaginable. Even before having dinner, we
enjoyed the reindeer jerky and local beer, the guided garden tour with a
surprise snack, and I enjoyed the dry sauna.
Dinner was nothing more than phenomenal. The food was beyond comparison. Every
element of the service was obviously intentional and well thought-out. The
rituals involved were fascinating; for example I hope to never forget the sound
the two firm claps from a staff member about to announce the next course!
After-dinner activities included sampling homemade liqueurs, an 1875 madeira,
local whiskeys, and the Swedish version of chewing tobacco. The night ended
past 1am around a fire in a teepee alongside several of the other guests that
night.
That didn’t stop me from getting up early to enjoy the estate’s grounds with a
decent run before breakfast,
albeit with a decent hangover.
The multi-course breakfast the next morning was delightful as well. I still
pine for the table butter.
I thought this was a bucket list, once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope to be
wrong because I really hope to get back here again.
After leaving Fäviken, we had a day to kill before getting on a flight back to
Copenhagen, and then an early departure for New York the next day. We spent the
day driving and visiting some touristy destinations along the way.
Whereas we took the direct route from the Trondheim Airport on E14 on the way
in, we took the slightly longer, more northerly scenic route along R72/322 on
the advice of the owner of Parkvillan, which I would also highly recommend. The
road was fun and undulating, with a variety of interesting topographic
features.
Undersåkers Charkuteriefabrik: We
first stopped at Magnus’ nearby meat shop to pick up some of the hand soap used
in the Fäviken bathrooms. I’m sad we waited so long; the shop smelled of
delicious charcuterie and I really wanted one of everything.
Tännforsens
Waterfall:
This is the largest waterfall in Sweden and is very impressive. After paying a
small fee for parking, the waterfall is only a couple of minutes walk down a
well-maintained path. Highly recommended if in the area.
Pick-Up
Cafe: After
driving through some really interesting territory for a couple of hours, and
with my copilot fast asleep, I got bored and hungry, so I stopped us at this
Americana-themed restaurant — complete with an attached museum — in the middle
of a really neat looking valley. The food was edible and a rest stop was well
received.
Steinvikholm Castle:
The Trondheim Airport is actually quite a bit of distance away from the city
of Trondheim itself. We got near the Trondheim Airport with a bucket of time
to spare, and instead of driving past the airport to the city, we visited this
nearby landmark. The castle was interesting; though the interior was closed by
the hour when we arrived, we still walked the perimeter, and tried to imagine
what it was like to live there in the 1530s. The roads around the castle were
fun to explore, too, with winding roads nestled in between small farms.
Clarion Hotel at Copenhagen
Airport:
We had a late flight into Copenhagen and an early flight back to New York, so
we just stayed at the airport hotel. This was sort of a waste, as it would
have been nice to have another night in Copenhagen proper, but couldn’t be
helped due to the schedule of flights from Trondheim. The hotel is a standard
business hotel but was nice enough; the brunch the next morning was pretty
good.
Places that we weren’t able to visit
While I like to do a lot of research before a trip around our interests, I kind
of failed to do it in advance of this trip for some reason. Next time, I’d like
to hit up some of these places.
…in Copenhagen
Various food:
Noma: The epicenter of the revolution of “New Nordic”
cuisine. Hard to get tables and expensive, it would have been mind blowing
to visit both Noma and Fäviken on the same trip.
Istid: Freeze-dried ice cream! I like weird ice
cream!
Svartklubb: Svartklubb is the nighttime
version of Krus, a pop-up by Magnus Nilsson serving cocktails and hors
d’oeuvres in the same physical space. It was only open while we were in town
the night we were at Fäviken, so we didn’t have an opportunity to visit.
Ottsjö Brygghus Café & Pub: A small,
mostly-organic, mostly-local brewpub in the mountains in remote Jämtland? Whose
husband/wife owners and operators mention their dogs on their webpage? That
sounds like my kind of place! Sadly, they too weren’t open while we were in the
area. Make reservations.
Copperhill Mountain Lodge: This was my first
choice of accommodation in the area, but this design-oriented hotel is closed
for the month of May in between seasons. I would have liked to stay here or
visit their restaurant and their spa. That said, this place is quite far away
from the town of Åre, where Krus/Svartklubb, Parkvillan, and Åreskutan are,
so it might not be the right choice.
