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
New Orleans
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
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
Boat Docked on the Mississippi at the Fly
Today was the first day of classes for the spring semester. I love the first day of school. It’s like the first day of the baseball team: everyone’s in first place, no one’s fallen behind yet, and everything’s all new and crispy. Love. It. I got up early, hopped on the bike, and headed to campus. Continue reading
Beignets and Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde
It was another sunny and warm(ish) day in New Orleans, perfect for another ride on the bike. Today I headed up to the office to print stuff out and make copies and get my mind set for back-to-school on Monday. And then it was time for the Saints. I raced to the grocery to pick up snacks and then biked down to the Treme for a viewing party. 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
People Watching Fireworks Along the Mississippi
It was a stormy last day of the year today, and I spent much of it inside, reading, reading some more, watching, and thinking about what a lovely 2010 I had. There was so much good stuff in it–books, music, friends, cats, bicycling, festivals, music, learning–I really has a most excellent year. And then it was time to go out. On New Year’s Eve. This is a dangerous night for a biker, especially in a town like this one where drinking and driving is totally normal. (You can get a daiquiri from a drive thru, for pete’s sake.) Continue reading
Swan at Audubon Park
Today I put on short sleeves and a skirt and rode the bike up to campus in 70 degree weather. Oh, New Orleans in December, how I love your occasional spring day! After coffee with a student and a quick stop at the office, I pedaled over to Audubon Park for a quick spin around before heading to the grocery. The path was crowded with people enjoying this unseasonably warm day: kids on bikes, a woman trying to go for a run with a puppy, mature dogs talking their humans on walks, a rollerblader, and a guy in a weighted vest jogging. The bike racks were full and golf carts zipped back and forth across the path. It was a regular postcard out there. Continue reading
Blighted Attic at Gallier & Law
Today’s bike ride took be down to the Bywater for lunch with J. The sun was out, I was in short sleeves, that asphalt on Camp in the CBD is still like butter, and I felt lucky to be here now as I zipped along. By the time we were done the clouds were rolling in and I got to ride around in a whole different kind of day, this one darker and cooler. I pedaled up Chartres and over the sharrows before taking a left on Mazant toward the Upper Ninth Ward. I rode around that neighborhood, up and down the streets, doing laps, struck, as always, how different it is over here on the flood side of St. Claude. Continue reading
Loose Gravel in Pits on Baronne Between Josephine & Jackson
A couple lovely days in the Delta and it was time to head back to New Orleans, so I strapped the bike to the back of the car (and yes, I spent the entire ride staring at it in the rear view mirror, pretty sure it was about to fly off–can anyone explain how that flimsy thing can hold anything on my car while I drive 75 down the interstate?), loaded in S. and the dog and the new snazzy Christmas record player, and we were off. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 