Touring - Travels with "Q": A New Orleans Tour

There was a recent debate in Adventure Cycling magazine about what constitutes a bike tour. Is it only a cross-country expedition, or could it be a long weekend someplace you've never been? I vote for the latter.

Earlier this year I picked up a used Bike Friday Traveller "Q," a tandem that can fit in a suitcase, and be a single, too. Since then, I've taken it (as a single) on business trips to Spokane, WA and Washington, DC. Last weekend I took it to New Orleans for four days. I got in good rides each of the four days:

Sunday: 60 miles. From French Quarter to circle City Park, then Lakefront Drive, and then out the east side of the city on Chef Menteur Highway to Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge (http://bayousauvage.fws.gov/) and back.

Monday: 22 miles. Across the city on Magazine Street to Audubon Park, and then onto the Mississippi River Levee bike path for another 8 miles and back.

Tuesday: 23 miles, and Wednesday 28 miles: From French Quarter up to City Park and Lakefront Drive again and back.

Weather: warm and humid, in the 80s with heat index in nineties.

Road Conditions: often quite rough and occasionally jarring (these are old streets). I even rode on some cobblestones, and yes, going down the center is the best.

Terrain: Flat to pretty flat. Overpasses...

Other cyclists: many day riders with no helmets in the French Quarter. Multiple groups of road riders on Lakefront Drive.

Architecture: Incredible-- but I think the upkeep would kill me.

I stayed in the French Quarter at the Hotel Monteleone. Having a rental car would have been foolish (as much as $28 a night to keep a car at the hotel). I simply took the shuttle from the airport:

My room at the Hotel Monteleone was wonderful (it's on the historic register). So nice, in fact, that I was really worried about getting in trouble in the lobby rolling the bike in and out. No problem-- just smiles from the door man as I went in and out each day.

Here's the Q ready for the first ride:

Here's picture of Rue Royal in the French Quarter, taken in the early morning as I rode along. Sorry, no pictures of Bourbon Street. I did learn that one should have fenders on if riding Bourbon Street early in the morning.

Tile signs throughout the Quarter help with revealing the history of the place. Traffic was so slow that keeping up on bicycle was no challenge.

You can imagine what the balconies look like during Fat Tuesday. Yes, it was warm, but for some reason I like riding in warm, humid weather (as long as I have the breeze from moving along, and drink enough).

Beware of spending too much money in the art galleries:

The architecture in the Quarter is actually Spanish, meaning that many houses and buildings had fine, cool courtyards for dining and relaxing in.

I thank the New Orleans Cycling Club for posting ride descriptions and maps for me to use at their website:
http://www.gnofn.org/~nobc/rides.htm.

Lakeshore Drive was a great place to cruise along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. In the distance to the right (not really visible) is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest bridge in US (24 miles long). It's mostly two floating bridges side by side. I thought about cycling across it to get to the Tammany Trace bike trail on the north shore, but then changed my mind...

Turnaround time on Lakeshore Drive:

Time to pack up the Q:

Time to close the case. Note the directions to baggage handlers who might make the mistake of unpacking the bike too far.

Nice photos and I agree with you touring to me is more a state of mind than anything quantifiable by Adventure Cycling.

Thanks for posting. That's a spiffy little bike.

Thanks for posting. That's a spiffy little bike.

Thanks-- I had a great time cycling in Looziana, and I hope to again someday.