bikes

by

Parked Cars on a Lawn on S. Lopez Near Esplanade

image

I got to get up at 6:30 this morning and ride my bike to work–yes, all of this is happening on a Saturday–to give a final exam. We all sat there dutifully, them scribbling along, me looking busy, for four hours. Sigh. I was tired, but the day was lovely, so I rode over to Mid-City to see R.’s new apartment and then just pedaled around until I found D. on a porch. It’s Jazz Fest time, so everybody is on the porch and watching the crowds roll by. I snapped this picture from a most beautiful porch while D. and M. moved cars around like Tetris pieces. Yeah, I’m glad I took my bike, as were those folks walking the wrong way down Esplanade who could ask me, because I wasn’t locked up in a car, “Where is Jazz Fest?” A couple beers and several conversations later and I was pedaling along empty streets on my way home, smooth and mindless circles. I picked up Bicycling Magazine from home and grabbed a salad on the corner. Colin McEnroe writes, “Look what I’ve accomplished, and I have 14 whole gears I haven’t even touched yet.” Oh my, exactly.

by

Wheel on the Neutral Ground at St. Claude & Marigny

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 →

by

Cargo Bike at Jackson Square

image

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.

by

A Fork in the Road at Baronne & MLK

A couple weeks ago my chirping chain finally impelled me to go pick up some new chain lube. I headed to the bike shoppe on Frenchman and walked into a crowd of those bike shop guys–the ones who drink cheap beer, ride expensive bikes, and would totally be friends with Kevin Bacon if this were Quicksilver. Somebody in here was about to sell me some seriously high class chain lube, and I was in the mood to be sold. Continue reading →

by

Cool Breeze Uptown on St. Charles Ave.

Sometimes I work a really, really long day, like non-stop-for-fourteen-hours long day, and the last thing I want to do is think about what I’m seeing riding my bike around today. I just want to be home watching the Saints with a beer and leftovers. But then I get on my bike and get in a rhythm and the streets are dark and empty and the air is actually cool. And then I’m glad I’m not at home on the couch, happy to be alone on my bike for 20 minutes so the long day can just drift away. Yeah, that’s what I saw riding my bike around today.

by

Overgrown Weeds and Abandoned Housing at Governor’s Island

image

I am having a most wonderful vacation in NYC, in spite of having to *gasp* walk. This town is made to bike, and there is a ridiculously fantastic bicycle infrastructure here. Sharrows! Buffered bike lanes! Bicycles, bicycles everywhere. I want to move back here with my bicycles and bike every last one of these lanes. Today, though, I rented a bike and was just happy to get to pedal a bit and let my feet and legs rest. I am in great biking shape. Walking? Not so much. I rode around Governor’s Island, learning some history and dodging a zillion bicyclists and walkers and Civil War reenactors (not Rebs, like they’d be back home, but just as weird). The sun was bright and all was right with the world. I snapped this picture of overgrown weeds in front of some abandoned Coast Guard housing. Right across from here are views of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan and all kinds of big city views of a fantastical nature, but this is the view that reminded me of home. Oh, I am most pleased to be living here and there, now.

by

Professional Pharmacy Prescriptions at Touro on Foucher and Prytania

We are having a wee bit of a heat wave here in New Orleans. Or at least that’s what the weather folks are telling us every day, with their heat advisories and everything. Heat advisory, or dude, it’s summertime in New Orleans, which means it’s just going to be hot–these are the questions that try my soul. But after Saturday’s long ride in the heat, I needed a day of rest yesterday, and today just got away from me, so all I got was a short nighttime ride to meet some former students for a drink (look at those shiny young graduates with their bright futures!). Continue reading →

by

Chainring on a Bike at Exchange Place and Conti

I’ve been struggling with some writing I’ve been doing lately–the professional kind–and it’s been frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels, and not in that happy-bicycling kind of way. When I get stuck in a rut like this it’s usually a good idea to get on my bike and pay attention to stuff that has nothing to do with me, so when S. invited me out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, I thought sure, I’ll ride down to the Quarter, savor some savories, empty the brain. Continue reading →

by

Empty Lot at Claiborne and Cadiz

I rode home from work along Claiborne Avenue after grabbing a quick lunch and a few minutes of the Copa Mundial at the local burrito place. It’s a wide street–three lanes in each direction–and there’s even a shoulder. The asphalt is smooth. But it so flipping scary to ride there. The cars zip by so fast. Take the foot off the pedal, folks! Give a girl some space! Continue reading →

by

Terrible Asphalt at Magazine and Julia

You know I love riding my bike around New Orleans. It’s flat as a pancake here and the weather is always perfect for a ride, assuming you don’t mind thunderstorms and 100+ heat indices, which I don’t. But our streets are, in many places, spectacularly awful. We have some repaving projects, some even including facilities for bikes–Chartres, St. Claude, Gentilly, upper St. Charles, La Salle/Simon Bolivar, Loyola–but most streets are a mess of exposed streetcar tracks, potholes, loose gravel, ridges, and all various and sundry temporary patches. Continue reading →