Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Take A Ride With Me (Bicycling NOLA)

I have a 31 mile loop I do early on weekend mornings that gives me a glimpse of all that the NOLA area has to offer. Make no mistake about it, I hate living here, but in the quiet of an early weekend morning when I have the roads almost to myself, I can appreciate its character.

After about 3 miles of riding through mostly residential areas, I pop up onto the levee path. This morning the fog was thick and patchy.



The path takes me from Old Jefferson to NOLA. There are only about 10 houses outside the levee protection system. Most of them are run down shacks, but this one is really cool. An architect built it and used a lot of materials of historical significance. One day when I was taking a pic of it, the builders wife started talking to me and invited me in to show it to me.




A little further down I come to a place in Audubon park called the Butterfly. The fog had cleared over the path but still clung to the chilly waters of the Big River. On pretty spring afternoons, women from the two nearby universities come here to lay out.



From there I roll around behind the zoo. Sometimes the giraffes are out. I always say "hello giraffes." Dogs, cows and giraffes rate a hello. Past the zoo a multi-use path encircles part of the park. It can make a fascinating study in human stupidity when it's crowded. Although the path is very well marked with one way bicycle symbols marking the bike side, two way pedestrian symbols marking their side and a separation zone, people just don't get it. There can be some very good yoga pants action here. Some that looks like serious hail damage too.




Out onto historic St Charles Avenue past the century old mansions, there is a narrow bike lane that presents some challenges. To stay out of the swing radius of car doors (door zone) sometimes you have to hug the left edge of the lane. While it's never busy when I ride it, some motorists feel a need to buzz pass. I guess they don't get why riders avoid the door zone.





My ride take me down into the CBD, into The Quarter and onto Bourbon Street. During non-Covid times, it can be nasty as hell. It was lightly littered today.




Then I emerge into an impoverished part of the city. If I am running late, sometimes I am treated to the joyous and soulful sound of southern black gospel being sung in this church. I stop to listen when they are singing.




From there I hit the Lafitte Greenway. This is new, and since I knew my stalker Bayou Rover would pop into this thread, I took this pic for him. New Orleans is a very free and diverse, anything goes kind of town. Bayou Rover would fit right in.



Then I pick up a path that parallels Bayou St John. BSJ used to connect the river to Lake Pontchartrain, but it has long been blocked off.



Then I ride along Lake P for several miles before I am back into the residential areas winding my way home. I make it hard for anyone to say "I didn't see him." The constant movement of the high vis socks is very attention getting.



That's it. Back home to cut and edge the lawn.

I like to VISIT Nola.

And Slidell.

Want to make it to the WW2 museum.

I am not a huge museum fan. The WW2 Museum gave me goose bumps and brought tears to my eyes. It is a MUST SEE in NOLA.

Thanks for the trip. I've not been to Nu Awlins in a long while. Had some very good times there.

L.W.

Thanks for the quick tour and the pics, looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks PaulB, I enjoyed the ride.

Too dangerous for me to ride there.

Kinda hard to work on climbing there, eh?

This is a pic of Bourbon Street during the peak of the Covid restrictions.

This is my bike the day I started building it.

No Chalmette? 😁😁😁. And the Versailles Oaks at the De La Ronde plantation?

My two fav places in that area

Cool! Looks like you're making the best out of living there.

Nice bike!

I wouldn't ride a bike over there. The connector roads are a death wish.

I try. The fishing is some of the best on the planet. I need to do more of it.

Was that black man just sitting there throwing his trash down and letting it blow away?

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. I have heard that the museum is really good. Hope to get there someday.


Jerry

That’s a pretty outfit!

I don't know if he was tossing trash. He was having a great conversation with himself though.

You would not believe how nasty Bourbon Street is on a sweltering hot morning after a night of full-on partying. A toxic sludge of hot beer and hand grenades, mixed with puke and other bodily fluids on 90 degree streets. Then 20X as much litter as is in that pic.

Pretty interesting stuff Paul, thanks for sharing.

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