b.rox

The Louisiana Department of Transportation held a public meeting at City Park Tuesday night to gather input for a statewide bicycle/pedestrian master plan. I missed it, but good ole Charlie London tells me we can still send ideas to esoll@bkiusa.com
Here’s what I sent:

I commute to work every day in New Orleans using the Jefferson [...]

In just a few weeks, Xy will start back teaching, which means we will be putting our infant daughter into daycare. Aside from all the other anxieties this engenders, I’m trying to solve the transportation puzzle.
See, I will be responsible for dropping the girl off in the mornings. The daycare is just four blocks from [...]

I almost missed this story in today’s paper… There’s supposed to be an accompanying slideshow with audio on nola.com but I can’t find it here.

Q: What do you get when you combine Gcast, a cell phone, a Bluetooth headset, a bicycle and me?

My day started off with a bang. I’d just changed the inner tube on my bike because I ran over a screw the other day. First flat I’ve had in over a year, seems like. I pumped it back up, went to the sink to wash my hands and BANG. Really loud. Scared me. At [...]

I’ve been meaning to post about the Lafitte Greenway Master Plan. Actually I’ve been told it’s more of a “visioning plan” than a “master plan” but nevertheless it’s complete and you should check it out:
Lafitte Greenway Master Plan
This is the most comprehensive statement to date on the Lafitte Greenway. It explains what the greenway is, [...]

It takes ten minutes for me to ride my bike from home to the office. On a hot day, I’m soaked with sweat by the time I get there. But I can ride my bike the other way, from the office to home, without even breaking a sweat.
Why is this?
Further clue: This is true whether [...]

I wish I’d had a day of rest upon returning to New Orleans, but of course I didn’t. Sunday morning started off with the third annual hike of the Lafitte Corridor.
We began with a dozen people and finished with seventeen.

Click the picture to view a set of 20 wild and wacky pictures from along [...]

After my bike was stolen last week, I walked to work and then called the cops from my office. I was told I would need to call back from the scene of the crime, since an officer would need to come by to file the report. Can’t be done over the phone. I would need [...]

I got my new bike from Adam’s. It was ready about ten days earlier than expected. I’d wanted to get the same bike I’d had before, a Raleigh Venture 5.0. But I guess the factory was out of stock, at least in my size. So I ended up getting the comparable model from the competition: [...]

Today’s musical accompaniment (mp3) provided by Admiral Stereo.
My psychic powers kicked in early this morning, as I was puttering around the house, getting ready to go to work. Some inner voice told me I should check on my bike. I went into the living room and peered out the window onto the front porch.
Gone.
Looking through [...]

The Second Annual Lafitte Corridor Rail Hike was a screaming success!

On Sunday, May 21st, eighteen of us hiked about three miles from Armstrong Park to Canal Boulevard, right through Mid-City following the old Norfolk-Southern rail line. The Louisiana Institute of Film Technology is building a film studio on a key parcel of this land, and [...]

On May 21st of last year, with a couple friends, I hiked about three miles through New Orleans following the (mostly) abandoned Norfolk-Southern rail line. This line runs from Armstrong Park to Canal Boulevard, through the area known as the “Lafitte Corridor.”

(Click to enlarge the map.)

We thought it was an excellent candidate for a Rails-to-Trails [...]

Nice to have a holiday. I have Maundy Thursday and Good Friday off — an advantage of working at a Catholic institution. It has given me the opportunity to reflect on how close to “normal” our lives have become, despite the devastation that surrounds us.
We planned to meet some friends at the recently reopened Finn [...]

There are low-hanging tree branches on the Jeff Davis bike path. As MaP?? said, it can be “cruel to the tall and the swift.” I scraped my head on them last summer, one week before Katrina. Now they are worse than ever. City crews have cut the grass but not trimmed the branches.
Yesterday they [...]

Yesterday a bunch of teachers from Xy’s school gathered at the Dry Dock in Algiers Point for snacks and drinks. So after work, I rode my bike down Canal Street, took the ferry across the river, and joined them.
It was fun to hang for a bit with some less-than-sober schoolteachers. Sadly, they seemed to be [...]

Here’s me on my new bicycle:

Originally uploaded by Michael Homan
It’s a Raleigh Venture 5.0. Extra large Atomic 13 butted aluminum frame, SR suspension fork, Hayes HMX-2 disc brakes. Sweet. I bought it to replace my old bike, which was flooded.
(People have told me that my old bike was salvageable. I don’t know about that. It [...]

I ride under a lot of tree branches every day. About half of my ten minute ride to work is under tree branches. These tree branches are filled with many birds, and these birds are pooping all day long. Which raises the question: After years of riding my bike to and from work every day, [...]

The right handlebar of my bicycle broke off as I was riding across D’Hemecourt on the way home from work yesterday. It broke off right in my hand. I couldn’t believe it. I almost wiped out.

I discovered that it’s damned hard to ride with one hand. Riding is so deeply intuitive it feels instinctive, though [...]

I walked to work this morning because my bike had a flat; the tube ripped at the place where you attach the pump (what do you call that thing?) and the bike shop doesn’t open until 10:00 AM.
So I walked, which was pleasant, because it’s a beautiful day. And I saw some things, like a [...]