Carnival is upon us again, and even though I was feeling a bit under the weather, I wasn’t about to miss my last first-parade-of-the-season as a resident of New Orleans. I hopped on my bike and headed downtown without a sweater or anything, because I swear it’s already summertime. The traffic was crazy once I crossed Canal as folks gathered for Krewe du Vieux. Continue reading
bikes
Barge on the Mississippi From the Fly
When I left home on Friday afternoon for a weekend retreat in beautiful Raymond, Mississippi, it was literally freezing. Imagine my surprise returning to bright sunshine and warm temps–it feels like springtime up in here! I was exhausted from the long weekend, but it was a most excellent exhaustion from time spent with a truly remarkable group of students, faculty, and staff. Continue reading
Feats of Engineering at the Huey P. Long Bridge From the Levee Path
The weather outside today was simply beautiful, enough so that I didn’t mind having to be in my office at noon to meet J., who calls that the crack of dawn (which it sort of is, for a Sunday). After a quick meeting I rode over to catch the Tulane women’s basketball team in their CUSA showdown against Houston. Continue reading
Baby Broccoli Growing in a Container in Mid-City
When I last visited my dear sister in NYC, I realized that if you aren’t really into bicycles, you might not even notice them. I was only half listening as we wandered around Brooklyn chatting about the old days when I, too, lived in Brooklyn. The other half was busy checking out every single bike that rode by–the fixies and cruisers and hybrids and road and mountain bikes–and only occasionally checking out the rider. Continue reading
Bike Parking on Tulane’s Campus
It was so beautiful out today. It was almost 70 degrees, sunny, blue skies, and I put on a dress and took Rhoda out for a spin after picking her up from the shop. I hadn’t been on a cruiser in months and months, and I’d almost forgotten how playful it feels to ride like that. Summertime. Continue reading
Group Presentation at the Regional Planning Commission
Ok, it’s been a long, long week, and I wasn’t really in the mood to get up before 7:00am and ride my bike over to Lakeshore for another 8 hours of bicycle safety instructor training. I decided to strap my bike to the car and drive over there and hope I was just tired and not on the verge of getting sick. To tell you the truth, I felt like a zombie sitting there, and try as I did to pay attention, I was only about 65% there. Continue reading
Bike Lane on Harrison Through City Park
I got up early early this morning, took a shower at the landlady’s place (I haven’t had running water this week), and hopped on the bike to get to the Regional Planning Commission for Day Two of my bike safety training course. It was way too early for me to be up. I am so tired. But alas, this is the schedule, and I am always on schedule. Continue reading
Buses Parked in the Bike Lane on Magazine & Andrew Higgens
I was out of town for almost exactly 24 hours and returned home exhausted, to a house with no heat and no water (frozen pipes). We’re having a cold snap. It was so cold in my bedroom that getting out on the bike seemed like a great idea, even in this weather, so that’s what I did, first Uptown to meet a student and then down to the Marigny for coffee and a chat with S. Continue reading
Chicken Mart Sign at Simon Bolivar & Jackson
My twin sister E. left today after a lovely week-long visit. I loved having her here, and I loved showing her around. Only your twin sister will humor you and let you drive her on all your bike routes to talk asphalt and bike infrastructure, and humor me she did. She doesn’t ride bikes, so I took this opportunity to drop the Surly at the bike shoppe for some free routine maintenance (another reason to buy your bike from an independent shop) while we used my car to tour New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Continue reading
Flocks of Birds Over Inverness, MS
Ok, I’ll admit it. When I woke up to gray skies and blustery winds, I considered *not* taking a bike ride today. I mean, I enjoy spending time in the smallest chain ring, but I just wasn’t sure I felt like working that hard this morning. S. pointed out that I could always go out for a short ride and come right back. Excellent plan. I donned my layers, took a right out of the driveway this time, and headed toward town. About half a mile in I was reminded that it is always a good idea to go for a ride. The wind wasn’t bad and the views went on forever. I stopped right before Inverness to watch a couple of horses snack on hay, and I heard the gurgles of so many birds. I snapped this picture of part of the crazy stretch of birds flying together against the clouds. Everyone was headed the same direction, but at intervals three or four would turn around and, in my anthropomorphizing mind, work as crossing guards, herding everyone into lines, keeping things orderly. They were noisy and beautiful and I was completely irrelevant–perfect. I rode through and around the silent town, outrunning dogs, studying cypress in the bayou, wondering if that was a cotton gin, and then headed home to a hot shower, an extra soft, extra large sweater, and some footbal. Like I said, perfect.
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 