My dear New Orleans friends D. and M. are in DC for a few days this week on a work trip, so I took my non-teaching day to head down to corridor for a little taste of home. We weren’t going to be riding bikes, so I left Brompty at home and just took the Surly to Penn Station where I searched for a spot on the couple of bike racks before awkwardly locking up to the side of one. Continue reading
bike parking
Bike Parking at Penn Station in Baltimore
I woke up early early, threw on some grown up clothes, and wrapped my reflective safety triangle belt around myself and my bag before hopping on the bike and flying down the hill to the train station for a trip to DC and an all-day meeting. It was dark and cold and my eyes watered as I groggily pedaled along, and I was happy it was a short ride. I snapped this picture of the nearly full bike rack. Yep, ride to the station-parking’s expensive, and so are cabs. I went a lot of places today and never had to get in a car, and that’s just how I like it. Now we’ll just see if the bike’s still there when my evening train arrives.
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.
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
Bike Parking in Front of Dinwiddie Hall at Tulane
I’ve been watching this documentary about New York City, and it is blowing my mind. I am a lot of talk about the importance of bicycle infrastructure, but part of me thinks we’ve already got the roads we’ve got and it might just be too much trouble/money/work to really fundamentally change them. And then I learn about Robert Moses and the development of car culture. Continue reading
Confederate Memorial Hall at Camp Street and Andrew Higgens
So I started watching Ken Burns‘s National Parks documentary, and then I lazily watched an episode of his Civil War documentary and got hooked on that as well. He is dangerously soothing with these things, all the fiddles and pianos and familiar voices softly reading to me. The documentaries are so epic I can be tempted to imagine I know the whole story after sitting through nine or twelve hours of his stuff. That’s certainly not the case–he’s got a perspective and is making an argument just like the rest of us. Continue reading
Bike Parking at the Tour de Lis
I got up early this morning to bike over to City Park for the Tour de Lis. I was a bit sluggish after a lot of riding over the past few days, I’ll admit. My legs are t-i-r-e-d. But it was good to see lots of other folks with fresh-looking legs up early for some loops around the park to raise money for Lance Armstrong’s foundation. The bike parking was tremendous, as you can see in this photo. I also enjoyed the 9:00am chicken pasta washed down with a cold beer. Continue reading
Bike Parking at the Saint on Lower Magazine
Tonight found me riding my bike down to the Lower Garden District to meet friends for drinks and socializing, and then over to one of my favorite bars for some dancing. The first place didn’t have anywhere to put bikes, so I locked up on a pole about half a block away; a couple bikes had already staked out the bus stop sign. Continue reading
Frenchman Street From A Balcony
Last night ran late, so i didn’t have the energy to blog when I finally got home. The night started with a drive–yes, a drive–down to the Lower Ninth for a housewarming party. Continue reading
Bike Racks On Oak Street
Today’s bike ride took me to my office to go through some boxes in search of books and then over to Oak Street for yoga class. Oak Street, according to my friend S., used to be hopping. A lot of commerce has now moved to Magazine Street, but Oak is attempting a renewal. Continue reading