I’ve been itching to ride Jack around these past few days and finally had time tonight to velcro on my bike shoes and tool around for a bit. I rode to meet some friends for dinner, and I found myself racing my friend’s car for part of the way. See, I think riding a bike is pretty much the fastest way to get anywhere, especially once you tack on time for parking, not to mention traffic jams and lights. I wanted to beat S. to the restaurant. I didn’t, and I don’t think she knew we were racing, but I loved the feeling of speeding down St. Charles. After dinner I headed over to the Treme to join D. for some NBA action (oh, Orlando, how will you recover after having your souls ripped out yet again). The sun was going down, and I tracked the look of the sky from the I10 on ramp through the Quarter. It’s one of those views, where, like so often in New Orleans, you see the beautiful all mixed up with the ugly. Like the ridge of pink clouds above the ratty billboard advertising Wendy’s at St. Charles and Calliope. Or the glow of sunset bouncing off old buildings atop an industrial trash can and the smell of Bourbon Street here at Dauphine and Bienville. A picture lets you cut out the ugly stuff, but that’s no good either, because part of what makes the beautiful so striking here is just how ugly so much of it is. Yep, another night in New Orleans by bike. Sweet.