I didn’t figure on much of a bike ride today. I was tired and in the mood to hermit away after a long week, which is exactly what I did, reading, cooking, watching Ken Burns tell me stories on the television. Then it was time to head just a mile Uptown for dinner with S., N., and N. The food was great, the wine drinkable, and it was just good to see friends. S. asked for route advice for her ride back downtown to the Marigny, and rather than tell her, I figured it was a good sign that it was time for me to take a ride. Continue reading
bikes
Patched Asphalt on Baronne & Josephine
I saw lots of things on my sixteen miles of riding about town today, but the most beautiful thing by far was the new patch job on Baronne right before Jackson. It might not look like much in this picture, but that black square? That’s just the edge of a patch that stretches from the curb to about a foot from the center line. And there’s another on the other side. For as long as I can remember, those two holes have been mounded over with loose gravel, an absolute nightmare for a cyclist. I’ve been slowing down and waiting for my turn to ride the center lane at least three times a week for over a year, at least. I won’t have to do that anymore–I can just pedal up the road, right over this smooth patch, until it cracks or starts falling in on itself at the edges, but let’s not borrow trouble. When you ride a bike you end up developing quite a relationship with road surfaces, and I always enjoy seeing mine get that added jolt from surprises like this one.
Snapdragons at Audubon Park’s Main Entrance
I had one of those incredibly long days, the kind where you are working from the second you get up in the morning through to the evening and you can literally count the number of minutes where you weren’t doing something for the job. Fortunately, I love my job and working all day, while exhausting, means I get to think about a lot of different things in a lot of different ways. One of my students asked in seminar this afternoon how you tell the difference between the self you perform and the self you “really are.” Oh my. Continue reading
Lights at Comiskey Park at Jeff Davis & Baudin
I’ve been under the weather this weekend. Maybe allergies, maybe a spring cold? I don’t know, but I do know that I’ve been sick more often in New Orleans than any other place I’ve lived, and I think that has something to do with the environment. It’s not safe here. I love it anyway, but the people who live here deserve clean air, water, and soil. The weekend’s malaise kept me off the bike, but I had a dinner party to attend in Mid-City this evening and after a day spent fantasizing, I really needed to get in a quick pedal. Continue reading
Cargo Bike at Jackson Square
Today’s ride took me down to Jackson Square where I met I. to help her out with her bicycle survey that she’s doing for the Metro Bicycle Coalition on bike parking. There are no bike racks in the Quarter, and parking down there is way too much of an adventure. I know that, but do I really *know* that? Where do peoiple want to be able to put their bikes? Would our bikes be safer if we locked them up to racks? How far are people willing to walk from rack to destination? I asked a lot people those questions today, and I had a lot of people pretend I didn’t exist as I attempted to flag then down. It is an odd sensation, having people make eye contact with you but refuse to even suggest they hear you or recognize you as a fellow human being. How’s about we not do that, even if we are tired of being asked? It must be much, much harder to ask. Anyway. I saw lots of bikes and lots of bikers today, including this one in the Square. That guy’s towing some serious cargo. I want there to be room for everybody’s wheels. I sat on the steps of the Cabildo for a break, watching Critical Mass gathering, listening to a surprisingly good band, and counting the number of folks who wanted to pet that one dog–what is it about jowls? I do so love living in a world with so many different kinds of people, many of whom will wander through the square on warm spring days like this one.
Collapsed Roof on a House on Roffignac & Dorgenois
Ok, the weather is just ridiculous in New Orleans right now. I got up early, read for a bit, and then took the bike out for a ride. After a couple hours of grading at the coffee shoppe I pedaled out with no destination. I headed toward the Lower 9th but was thwarted by the bridge up at the Industrial Canal. Wait, wait, wait, and then wait a little bit more, and then I was zipping around, trying to trace as many newly-paved roads as possible. Continue reading
Graffiti at Washington & Gayoso
I wasn’t planning on going out tonight, but when M. asked if anyone was watching basketball games outside with beer, I jumped on board (and partly so I could go ride my bike in this beautiful spring weather). I took the Surly and headed over to the bar in Bayou St. John, and the pedaling felt so easy and smooth, just like I like it. Continue reading
Blighted Building at Bernadotte & Baudin
I spent the day working from home on the endless revisions of this endless article, and after a lovely chat with the lovely R. who stopped by to recount yesterday’s victorious master’s thesis defense–yay!–it was time to take the bike out. I headed toward the lake ISO pelicans on this perfectly sunny spring day. I needlessly worry sometimes that that 20 mile loop will ever get old, so today I took a left after I rolled off the Jeff Davis overpass and rode around Mid-City for a bit, figuring I’d end up at the lake at some point. Continue reading
Pelican Tricycle at 8th & St. Charles
I spent yesterday on foot and was hoping to have a day of riding around town, from the Uptown parades over to Endymion in Mid-City and a night or riding around the Marigny and the Bywater and the Treme looking for pockets of friends doing this or that. If the rains slow, that might still be my night, but I woke up to sprinkles that portended the rain they predicted yesterday. I thought it best to get in an early (for carnival season) bike ride, so I headed out to ride the parade route in front of Tucks. Continue reading
Clouds Over Lake Pontchartrain
It was warm and lovely out when I left my place early to head to the Bywater for brunch with students. Someone else was paying, so I got myself some praline bacon with the rest of my meal, drank too much coffee, and put extra butter on my biscuit. On my way out I ran in to S. and R. coming in, so I stayed for another round of water and caught up on the rest of their parade night before heading over to Bayou St. John to catch up with D., M., R., and N.–thanks, terrible cell phone service, for keeping us apart last night! Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 