Hello, MD peeps! I've been slacking in my ride report duties. I had a great time on the trip to New Orleans for my friends' wedding. The weather was perfect -- low 80's in the day, low 60's at night, and lots of sunshine. Four of us (and, as it turned out, a few other people that we met at the airport bar who were also going to the wedding) flew down on Friday, arriving in mid-afternoon. Our hotel, the Royal Sonesta, is on Bourbon Street; after we checked in, we hit the "Lucky Dog" hot dog cart on the corner and wandered around for a bit. Some of my friends were in the wedding party and had rehearsal dinner duties Friday night, so three of us hit a nearby restaurant for a very tasty N.O. meal, and then bar-hopped around, listening to some great music.

On Saturday morning I went for a 2-hour lunch cruise on the Steamboat Natchez -- very cool! It's the last authentic steamboat on the Mississippi.

Saturday night was the wedding, held in the courtyard of the historic Hermann Grima house (prominently featured, so they tell me, in the movie "Double Jeopardy").

Following the ceremony, the wedding party and guests walked the several blocks down to the reception location, the Riverview Room in the Jackson Brewery complex, which is on the riverfront. It's a beautiful room, with several balconies overlooking the river.

When the reception ended at 11:00 p.m., a traditional New Orleans brass band showed up, and the guests were all issued white hankies (imprinted with the date and the names of the bride and groom), and, of course, "to go" cups to be filled with our alcoholic beverages of choice. The bride and groom were given umbrellas. Then we did a traditional New Orleans parade, dancing/marching along behind the brass band and the bride and groom, waving the hankies over our heads -- out of the Riverview Room, down the escalators, onto the street, and then the several blocks back up to the hotel, with a police escort out front clearing the way. It was a hoot!

Sunday morning, I walked a little over a mile to meet up with the group from the Confederacy of Cruisers to do the Creole New Orleans bike tour. (I had wanted to do the Lower Ninth Ward tour, which is offered on Saturdays, but unfortunately the woman who does that tour was out of town with a sick relative the weekend I was there.) They had asked in advance how tall I was, so my bike was already set up when I arrived, and it was close enough to not need any further adjustment. It was a big, heavy, single-speed, coaster-brake cruiser bike with a basket on the front -- I think my first bike, when I was five years old, was zippier. It had a big, cushy, sprung saddle that had been set so low that my feet were almost flat on the ground sitting on the bike.

But that was a good thing, because I had a hell of a time riding the thing, especially at first. It's funny how after years of riding with clipless pedals, certain things have just become physically ingrained habit that I don't even notice anymore -- like the fact that I *always* start pedaling by clipping in my right foot, pulling the right pedal up to the top, and pushing off with the right foot. I was fumbling pretty clumsily trying to get started on the cruiser bike's platform pedals -- not helped by the fact that the bike was so heavy, and that my knees were so bent that they were shrieking for those first few pedal turns. But once I was moving, the bike just rolled along comfortably.

Our guide, Laura, was great, very personable, well-informed, and fun. Like all the CofC guides, she has been living in the city for a number of years. She started off with a brief summation of New Orleans history, and a description of where we would go and what we would see on the tour. She then asked if anyone had any special requests for things to see -- CofC keeps the groups small (I believe there were 7 of us) so as to accommodate ad hoc side adventures as the mood strikes. One of the women asked to see a cemetery, and so that was added to the itinerary.

The tour started just over the line from the French Quarter, and went through the Bywater, Marigny, Upper Ninth Ward, and Treme neighborhoods, dipping briefly back into the French Quarter just before the end. It was only about 7 or 8 miles, I think, with our detour to the cemetery, and we stopped frequently for Laura to tell us about the things we were seeing. We also stopped midway through the ride at a local bar, and sat outside with our drinks while listening to more scandalous stories of New Orleans history.

I really enjoyed the tour; it was extremely laid-back and relaxed, but also very informative. I learned so much about New Orleans; its social history is really fascinating and unique. There is so much to see and do there, I was mentally noting all the things for which I need to make a return trip! The weather was, of course, perfect for a ride, and although it felt odd for the first few minutes, I was loving riding along with no helmet or gloves, hair loose, in regular clothes and shoes.

I'll try to get some pictures up Tuesday night.