League of American Bicyclists

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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 →

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Riding Around Town in the Cold

I sat around my house today, waiting for the HVAC guy, considering some major Life Decisions, vaguely remembering earlier this week when I had heat and my pipes weren’t frozen and I had running water. He finally came over, fussed around with the unit, called somebody at the office. I heard sentences like, “This thing looks crazy,” and “I sure got the short end of the stick on this one.” He had to go get a replacement part to replace the replacement part he got yesterday, over on the West Bank. I ate a sandwich, sent some Life Decision related emails, and then it was time to get on the bike and head over to the Regional Planning Commission offices for tonight’s League of American Bicyclists League Cyclist Instructor training session. 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 →