Originally Posted by
JoeyBike
Over the past 3 years I have gradually given up recreational cycling entirely, sold the road bike and several others, and strictly used my bike for getting to work, doctor visits, grocery, etc. 100% utilitarian cycling. I have been car-free since 1989 as well.
During the past couple of years I have been searching for a new job closer to home. Landed one and started yesterday. Now I work ONE MILE from my home - a 20 minute walk or about 10 minutes on a longboard (giant skateboard). If I ride a bike it takes about 5 minutes to make the trip. So I am no longer a bike commuter! My walking/skating route passes through the campus of a community college (looks like a park), then I cross one street to enter City Park where I now work. My commute is literally 99% through parks.
I gave up unnecessary cycling a couple of years ago due to the current cellphone-while-driving mayhem. Now I don't have to do ANY cycling outside of a couple of MUPs and parks. Even to get to the grocery. Doctor visits will still require a nice 30-minute bike ride across town on back streets and trails.
I used to LOVE cycling. I have commuted to jobs as far as 18 miles each way and toured self-contained across the USA five times. I could not count the numbers of local tours I used to ride along with road bike training rides. Thanks to the prevalence of rumble strips on our nation's highways and motor vehicles commonly too wide for a normal highway lane, along with all of the electronic distractions, I gave up touring several years ago. Regular news reports of touring cyclists getting hozed out there on the roads has only reinforced my concerns.
Unless something changes at this job I am officially OUT! No longer defined a "cyclist", just a dude who bikes to the grocery 1-mile away on an MUP. I have a wealth of knowledge from my 50+ years of cycling to share but I doubt you folks will be hearing from me very much in the future. I no longer have a passion for exposing myself to imbeciles behind the wheel nor the desire to encourage others to take the chance.
Be careful out there folks! The roads have become stoopid crazy. I will not miss the mayhem and stress. Something else is going to have to kill me.
This does not make sense. You are going to give up Cicyling altogether because Street Riding is too dangerous and stressful. While I totally agree that Street a Riding is too Dangerous an Unpredictable, especially in New Orleans, then just give up Street Riding. There are a tremendous amount of riding venues even in the City of New Orleans that are great experiences and very safe. You live right by City Park. One of the largest Urban Parks in the Country. With the largest collection of Oak Trees in a Urban Setting in the World which are Hundreds of years old. You can ride for two hours in City Park and never use the same street twice. See tremendous Landscape Architecture, Lakes, Lagoons, New Orleans Musuem of Art, The Sculpture Garden, Botanical Gardens, Greenhouses, Art Deco Architecture, Art Work by Enrique Alvarez, Tad Gormerly Stadium, The Abooretum Forest, the list goes on and on. Ten minutes from City Park you have the whole Lake Pontchatrain Lakefront. One of the Largest inland Urbsn Lakes in the Country. If you are Uptown you have Audobon Park. There is a dedicated Bike Path on top of the Mississippi River Levee that runs from Audobon Park to the Airport where you can watch the comings and goings of the river. There are many great places to ride that do not have the drawbacks of the street. Pick yours. Cycling is much more benefical to you as you age. You can be Cicyling long after you are no longer proficient at Roller Blading and Long Boarding.
Share your concerns of the utter mayhem and crime on the streets. But do not let that dictate Cicyling in general.