The nice thing about riding a bicycle in New Orleans is that the city is flat. While geographers and flood waters can detect changes in elevation, I can't. The whole place seems flat as a johnnycake. This is bicycle terrain. Two hours go by lickety-split and my legs are none the worse for wear.
While the lay of the land is ideal, the state of the streets is somewhat less so. I've written before about the potholes and jangling so I won't drone on about that anymore. It's part of the parcel.
I did take a nice ride today along some very nice streets though. Picking up St. Charles Avenue at Audubon Park, that street has been recently repaved. It's one lane traffic on this stretch toward Riverbend but with ample space between traffic and the parked cars. After the bend, I headed up Carrollton Avenue where the new paving has left a bike lane on the right. Nice.
I took South Carrollton until it turned into North Carrollton at Canal Street. This is a nice block or two just after Canal. Old Italian eateries are cheek by jowl with hispanic restaurants and a Chinese joint. At City Park, I traced Bayou St. John down to Orleans Avenue. That street leaves something to be desired but they are working on it so it may just be a matter of time before it's on par with Riverbend's standards.
2 comments:
You were close to the Maple Leaf which is on Oak just two and a half blocks from South Carrollton. Your poetry reminded me that you might like to check this place out one Sunday afternoon. This is from their web site:
"The Everette C. Maddox Memorial Prose & Poetry Reading, held every Sunday in the courtyard at The Maple Leaf, is the longest running poetry reading in North America."
Thanks Anita. I had read about this and forgotten about it. We might go tonight to see the brass band.
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