FunkyStickman

It's just part of the laid-back New Orleans lifestyle. Not everybody is like that, but yeah... it's New Orleans.

Shimagnolo

Better flotation.

FunkyStickman

lol.

orcanova

There's a lot of young, bohemian types here on fixies and cruisers, and get around a lot on bikes. I think their presence increases the number of and the visibility cyclists here and are helping make drivers more aware of and used to bikes on the streets. Drivers here used to not know how to deal with a bike on the road, and most thought bikes belong on the sidewalk (one big, stupid dick in a pickup truck recently buzzed me on Carrollton, and at the stoplight he yelled that I was supposed to be on the sidewalk). But for the most park drivers are much more used to bikes now, and much better about it.

Fat tires are also more common because the road conditions here suck, for the most part. The one bike I don't have, which would be probably the best bike to have here, is a cyclocross. That would open a lot of cycling routes. Time trial bikes are aplenty here, too, due to the growing multi-sport community, and they are a good choice for the winds along the lakefront, and atop the levee. There's also a lot of newbies getting into cycling, and they go for the bling of a TT bike when they walk into a bike shop. Its a byproduct of the fact that New Orleans people are admittedly tacky, gauche, flashy and flamboyant. Everything is a Mardi Gras parade and everyone wants that big, shiny red fire truck to ride in, since its a conversation piece. So you do see a fair amount of out of shape riders on TT bikes in t-shirts and camelbacks, usually with bad riding skills. Its cool, and I find it amusing.

Some good paved roads for road bike routes (look at Google maps and see how they interconnect):

Carrollton Ave.
Wisner Blvd.
Canal St.(away from downtown)
Canal Blvd.
Orleans Ave.
City Park Ave.
Marconi Dr.
Robert E. Lee Blvd. (there is one horrible stretch between Franklin Ave and Elysian Fields)
Leon C. Simon Blvd.
Gentilly Blvd.
Desaix Blvd.
Franklin St.
Press St.
Lakeshore Drive


Note that all of these are City Park/Gentilly/Lakefront area. Uptown is a bit congested and I don't know any good routes there, although they may exist.

The other long route is the Mississippi River Trail, which runs from Audubon Park to near Ormond Plantation in Norco/Destrahan La., on top of the levee on the East Bank. I think its 22 miles one way. Lots of headwinds and tailwinds as it winds like a snake along the Mississippi.

Another long route is out Hwy. 90 towards and beyond the Rigoletts, towards Bay St. Louis. Its flat and barren, but you can get a lot of miles in. I recommend not riding through New Orleans East, as the traffic sucks and there's no shoulder, but starting at Bayou Sauvage and going from there.

pitchpole

The main thing you need to do is make sure all your belongings are either portable or disposable. Because it is only a matter of time before another Hurricane puts that place under water again.

orcanova

funny, but not funny, pitchpole. No need for derogatory comments. Really don't care if you don't care about "that place."

JusticeZero

It was 'just a matter of time until another hurricane hit' for decades and decades and decades and nobody had any trouble. Plus, the evacuation has been dissected and replanned. Your risk meter is off.

FunkyStickman

Louisiana's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be... especially not as backwoods as some places I've been in Arkansas and Texas. But, it's all relative. I agree it's kind of dumb to have an entire community built below sea level, but hey, that's just the way it is. The city's been there longer than most of the states in the U.S.

And hey, you can't beat the food. Best cooking in the whole, entire country... bar none. History, culture, uniqueness, cuisine, architecture... and mosquitoes and heat/humidity. I put up with the bad stuff cause I love the good stuff.

JusticeZero: you get your stuff yet? Everything settled, do you need anything?

pitchpole

My comment is not meant to be derogatory. I have relatives who live in New Orleans and I enjoy visiting there. Hurricane activity is predicted to become more severe in the coming years. New Orleans is right along one of the most common tracks for Hurricanes and it is also below sea level. If you think the risk is acceptable go ahead. When you go to buy flood insurance please post up what the rates are.

oneofpr

Plenty of mosquitoes in the sweaty summer afternoons. Seriously, you may see gators crossing public roads every now and then. The summer temperatures are grueling humid, it does take a while to get use to.

Headwinds are going to be your hills.

I did a while back the Times Picayune marathon, if not mistaken it is now called the Rock n' Roll marathon. It was just celebrated May 06, the food is awesome, I love Gumbo / creole food big time!

Be careful with the Hurricanes, hand grenades, jagermesiter shots... lol



If you go to Bourbon street, stay on the main roads, it is very easy to get mobbed as its a touristic trap. I lived in Metairie for almost 2 years, our cars got broken in 3 times.

orcanova

Fair enough. It just came across that way. But actually New Orleans is usually out of the common hurricane paths. They usually go up to the Florida/Bama region or over to Texas, but they always seem to miss here.

Many poeple also don't realize that Katrina, as for as the New Orleans area is concerned, was also a man-made disaster, thanks ot the Army Corps of Engineers designing and building the Mississippi River Gulf outlet, which gift-wrapped the storm surge and placed it on our laps, and the under spec'd canals and the malfeasance in the construction, which were even under-built from the inferior specs.

Not to detract from how amazingly powerful and devastating that storm was, but the flooding in New Orleans and St. Bernard was in a large part a man made problem, and the canals and levees are being brought up to the protection where they should be.

JusticeZero

So far, only issue is that i'm getting a bike soon, but it'll be in Kenner. I'm in the Garden district. Not sure how i'm going to pick it up.
Oh, are there materials to watch for or avoid? I'm used to "Cotton Kills", but I doubt i need to worry much about my clothes icing up here....

FunkyStickman

You still want to avoid cotton in the summer. You will be drenched with sweat, and soaked cotton shirts are just nasty and chafing when it's 100 degrees out. We're still not in the hot part of the summer yet, enjoy this little cool snap while you can.

orcanova

If I were in town I would offer to help, as I am out in Kenner often, but I am in Natchez at the moment. That's one of those situations where a car is required, but maybe that won't happen often. PM me next week and I may be able to get you out there.

Trooper

Are you living in the Garden District? I'd recommend a taxi out to Kenner and then ride back along the Lakefront and come down Marconi to Wisner down to Carrollton Avenue to St Charles Avenue...it will be a nice ride. (I was born and raised in NOLA - I have ridden just about everywhere there.)

As for cotton - in the South cotton is king. The synthetics are good for long rides but depending on the distance of your ride a cotton t-shirt is very comfortable.

Trooper

The reason for the fat tires - a lot of New Orleans streets may not be in the best condition. I preferred fat tires on the streets but a road bike for the bike path areas.

renzhee

some of the best food in the whole darn country.

wfin2004

New Orleans just got voted dirtiest city in the US. Saw it on the national news last night. New Orleans must be filthy if it is dirtier than Detroit.

JusticeZero

Got the bike, bussed it there. Put a review up in Utility Cycles. Wanted to give a good review. Still want to give a good review. Am reluctantly panning the thing hard though.
Teenage daughter showing up soon. Need to find her some work quickly.

orcanova

No, its not that bad. Not the cleanest city, but Travel and Leisure readers generally only see Bourbon Street and base their impressions on that. It is one of the most violent, though.