JoeyBike

A few weeks ago, someone yelled at my bud and I on the way home from work "I'm gonna go get my gun and kill ya" after terrorizing us for two miles. The Original Post

Then two nights ago some hoodlums yelled at us "I'm gonna kill you!" from the sidewalk. Here is that story:

I have been experimenting with my route home which is now in the dark. If it is raining, my normal route has some issues. First, lots of potholes that fill with water just waiting to take down a rider in front of traffic. Secondly, heavy traffic in the opposite direction causes so much glare on my wet eyeglasses that I can't see diddly. There are no parallel streets. And the neighborhoods on either side range from sketchy to "White Man keep out" (literally).

The route I found through The Hood is really nice - great road surfaces, lots of twists and turns and stop signs that make the route unattractive to through traffic. One catch. I'm the White Man. But on stormy nights, no one is outside and my headlight makes it impossible to see me until I am past. So long as I don't get a flat tire, waaay safer than the busy road I normally take in stormy weather. Last week I took this route in daylight and had five teenage boys line up across the street ahead of me. I wasted no time with a quick u-turn and then a right turn. No problem, maybe no threat, but why take chances?

This past Thursday night it was storming when I left work. I rode alone on my new route. B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. No problem. Not a soul to be seen. So Friday night, my bud wants to check out the route. FRIDAY night in The Hood on a beautiful evening. I should have known better.

We are buzzing along maybe 15-18 mph in a 20 mph zone side by side with BRIGHT head lights. Probably look like a car from ahead, who knows. As we pass some teenagers on the sidewalk to our right, soon as the lights are not in their eyes one kid yells out "I'm gonna kill you!" Then a few blocks later, there is a black SUV parked illegally against traffic (on our right) with at least two occupants smoking crack. The passenger yells as we go by "Slow Down!" (so I can rob you).

We made it through the next mile without incident. I guess we had that coming riding through there on a Friday night. Just a reminder to keep our speed up and do not stop for anything if possible (not one traffic light on this route but lots of stop signs). The new route is only a few blocks from my regular route, but that would be a long ride on a flat tire.

God how I love my town sometimes.

Chilled

Thanks for reminding me I'm Canadian. It isn't even that bad in Vancouver's 'notorius' Downtown Eastside.

semperfi1970

Good god man, is it worth all of that?

JoeyBike

It does get tiring sometimes.

wheel

Can we see this route on a map?
Maybe a loop back with the safer route?

knobster

New Orleans is a rough place. Even before Katrina. Afterwards, there is no way I'd live there again.

Very dangerous place. Could imagine riding there. Ever thought of moving? Portland is "nice" this time of year.

JoeyBike

Here ya go

JoeyBike

The wife's job makes that impossible. At least very difficult for her to relocate. I could live anywhere without back-to-back days of ice on the roads.

hairnet

I've been through The Hood several times(i.e. Compton) but only during the day. It seems there aren't many cyclists, or just anybody on bikes, out there but the people were pretty nice to us. I was just praying not to get a flat tire and look vulnerable in lycra with my expensive bike, but you can say that for a lot of LA.

kjmillig

Time to change your route! I've ridden through unsafe parts of Houston in the past, but wouldn't do it at night.

BigDaddyPete

Wow, that sucks. I ride through a notoriously bad neighborhood in New Haven. But there are certainly lots of people who ride bikes, although they're mostly X-Mart bikes. I'm usually the only caucasian in the 'hood, and I manage 4 locations so I'm constantly riding back and forth. They know me and many of them wave. Last week when I had mechanical difficulty with one of my rigs, I had several people approach and ask if I needed help. I'm of the mindset that good people are everywhere, but I guess that's not entirely true.

Fremdchen

Well, desperation doesn't always bring out the best in people. Ongoing abject poverty is a perfect recipe for all kind of societal ills.

FunkyStickman

Holy cow, man. I used to be a courier driver in N.O. and I had routes that took me through S. Claiborne, Tchopotoulas, MLK, and so forth (and Metairie, Kenner, Westbank, etc.) and there were some places I didn't want to get out of the car. But having lived there for 9 years, I'm not surprised. There's a reason we moved out of N.O. 2 years ago...

JoeyBike

Most of the people in that neighborhood are good hard working people. By far. They don't walk or bike the streets at night either.

JoeyBike

Time to change my job more is more like it.

To get from my job to my house on the shortest route is 4 miles. It's a busy, narrow, wrecked surface, hateful route. It cuts right through the hood too, but nobody is going to be standing in the road waiting for me there. My speed will be 20+ mph and the red lights are generally easy to blow through. If there is so much traffic that I must stop, then there will be lots of witnesses around and it will probably be daylight. The Hood is about 2 miles of this run right in the middle.

The problem on the main route as I stated is heavy rain that fills (hides) the potholes and affects my ability to see in general.

It's a TRAP! Any alternate route takes me into other bad neighborhoods or insane traffic and pedestrian risk after dark downtown and through the French Quarter. If there was an underground bike tunnel from my home to my work, I would use that every time in the Winter when it gets dark early.

The only answer is to get a job in a different part of town.

rugerben

I won't ride through the ghetto. No matter what. I work in Waterbury CT, which, for those who know the area, has neighborhoods that are about as ghetto as it gets. I'll ride 2-3 miles out of the way to circumvent those kinds of neighborhoods.

jeffpoulin

If you wear a helmet like the one in your avatar, that's probably a good thing.

Geez, I can't imagine these kinds of commutes. For me, a tough commute is having bad weather or maybe a close call. If I had people who wanted to assault me for riding through their neighborhoods, I would seriously reconsider commuting, or in Joey's case, find a new place to commute to.

RI_Swamp_Yankee

You know you got a bad commute when Esplanade is the "safe" route. I say screw it, go down Decatur to Canal t Carrollton - traffic's heavy, but the road is wide, and not as many tourists on Decatur as there are deeper into the Quarter. Way out of your way, true, but hey, it's an excuse to spend more time with your bike and less time with muggers.

I biked everywhere when I was in NoLa - no car, by choice - any time of the day or night. But I was 300lbs, 6'2", with a fu-manchu and goatee. Ain't nobody gonna mess with. Especially since my bike lock was a heavy chain and padlock, worn over the shoulder. This was before Katrina, tho... I understand things have taken a turn for the Mad Max in recent years.

djork

Whoa, that's hardcore!

gamester

I ride through Hartford CT for two years now and was initially worried as I ride through some sketchy parts. What has happened is at least once per month someone yells out the window to me a somewhat encouraging but not quite disparaging comment like "c'mon big boy, get up that hill"... Always makes me chuckle and pull a bit harder...

capejohn

I feel a lot better about my home after reading this.

Luddite

Aint that the truth, you might get hollered at by some buzzed out crack head but I don't ever recalling getting a death threat.

b_young

Me too. I have 3 lights in 10 miles. And I can avoid them if I want to take the alt route. It is fun to read though.

BarracksSi

One of the guys where I work moved up here to get out of N.O..

ddez

The other day a rather over weight guy hollered "dont break a sweat"and i replied "you ought to"Think he was ticked but by then i was way down the road.