City Park

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Hellenic Dancers at Wisner & Robert E. Lee

Another day feeling out of sorts, another day riding the bike to try to reset. I headed out in the heat of the day toward Mid-City to check out Greek Fest on the Bayou–Opa! It is really, really hot out there, so I was a soggy mess by the time I made it through City Park and up the Wisner bike path to Robert E. Lee. I paid my five bucks, filled out my raffle ticket, and wandered in. Continue reading →

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Trees at City Park

It’s Mardi Gras Thursday–or Muses Thursday, if you, like most folks I know, have been waiting for this parade in particular. The parade isn’t until tonight and I had the day mostly free, so I took the bike out for a ride to this appointment and that appointment, and then rode out toward City Park to check out the folks already gathering for this Saturday’s big parade. Continue reading →

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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 →

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A Building Reflecting Off the Bayou at Wisner & Harrison

I am just plain exhausted this weekend. I don’t know what it is–maybe five years of looking for a stable job teaching what I love to teach and now that I got one I’m allowing myself to feel how tiring it all is. Or maybe I just need to go to bed earlier. It was hard to peel myself off the couch, but after not riding yesterday, I knew I’d feel better if I just got on the bike. I was right. Continue reading →

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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 →

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Lighted Tunnel From the City Park Train at Celebration in the Oaks

I woke up at a reasonable hour this morning, tied up this loose end and that loose end while doing laundry, and by 3pm had put the Fall 2010 semester to bed for good. You know what that means? Time to go for a bike ride. I took the Surly out and headed to Lake Pontchartrain via Bayou St. John and City Park. It felt so, so good to ride with nowhere to be at any particular time. Continue reading →

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Ramshackle House on Calhoun & Rocheblave

I had one of those days where work just gets the best of you, so when the day was done, I needed to go on a bike ride. I headed toward Broadmoor with no real destination when I stopped to take this picture of a dilapidated house on Calhoun, between Rocheblave and York. It looks like it’s made of weathered old cardboard, lacking the comfortable facade of its neighbor. Just a few blocks on and I was on Versailles, looking at huge and beautiful homes. Continue reading →

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Tents at the Voodoo Experience Music Festival in City Park

We are in the last days of October and here in New Orleans that means it’s time to put a sweatshirt in the saddlebags when heading out in a skirt and tank top to ride under a perfectly blue sky, sun overhead. What a delight! I had a lovely Saturday, reading for pleasure before hitting to road for a very leisurely pedal out to Lake Pontchartrain. And then I remembered it’s music festival weekend in City Park. I don’t quite have the cash to lay out for the show, so I decided to see what I could hear for free just by biking around. Continue reading →

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Bridge, Trees, and Blue Sky in City Park Along Harrison

I got up early again this morning and headed out for Day Two of bicycle safety class. Nobody was on the roads this morning and it wasn’t hot yet and it felt simply divine to be out pedaling. We took our written test (29 out of 30–holla!) and then set up to go on a group ride. We pedaled along, each signaling in turn, politely waving at piles of gravel and potholes to let each other know about road hazards in advance. My favorite was when we would come to a stop. Continue reading →

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Beer On Tap Festival at City Park

I got up early this morning and biked over to the Regional Planning Commission’s offices over in Lakeview for bike safety class. I then got to spend the day with other regular bicyclists talking about how to teach other people to ride their bikes safely in traffic (hint: ride with traffic, not against it). I left the workshop wanting to practice my rather dismal bike handling skills so I can confidently execute my avoidance techniques. The bike nerd alert sounding loudly, I practiced taking the lane over to the lake and then along the Wisner bike path back to City Park to meet M. and friends for New Orleans On Tap, a beer festival to benefit the Louisiana SPCA. Continue reading →