Bikin' on the Bayou

My girlfriend and I were fortunate enough to celebrate a co-bachelor & bachelorette party this past weekend in New Orleans. I use no hyperbole when I write that the Crescent City is something that truly can't be described. It has to be experienced. Everything was amazing: food, music, art, history, architecture, I could go on. Add amazing friends to all of that and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the beginning of their new life, and we did all of this in one small area of the city.

In addition to experiencing so much of the eclectic culture that's so plentiful throughout the French Quarter, I also seized the opportunity to take a small amount of "me" time to explore more of the city via bike share:

The NOLA incarnation is called Blue Bikes. Most bike sharing systems in the US are very similar, but they all have their own little quirks. This particular variety is produced by Social Bicycles and is semi-dockless. You register on SoBi website or app (including payment info), where you're given a unique account number and select a pin. You input both of these on the back of the bike you want to rent:

If you're successful, you are allowed to remove the u-lock that can be attached to either side of the bike (most appear on the right side):

What I really like about the semi-dockless system is that you can deactivate/end your ride simply by re-attaching the u-lock in its designated lock points, and you don't need to re-attach it to a dock, meaning you can lock up anywhere:

This helps alleviate two major issues I've had with bike sharing. True dockless systems (like Lime) allow you to leave the bike or scooter anywhere, including locations that are inconvenient or dangerous, like the middle of a trail for example. Docking systems eliminate this issue, but if there's no dock present, you can't end your ride. With this system, you can technically "lock" the bike anywhere, but psychologically you're more inclined to lock to something when a lock is included. I saw no instances of bikes left in precarious locations (at least none that I can remember).

A brief aside, I also really enjoy that bike rack. They're scattered throughout the city and are sponsored by local businesses:

Anyway, my first trip using the system was on Friday afternoon, when I ventured west to find some lunch for my girlfriend and I at seed Cafe:

Another thing I really like about these bikes is that they're much lighter than some other shared bikes I've used, with only a basket on the front to store cargo. As you can see, that was more than enough space for my purposes:

I'll go as far as to say that this has been my favorite bike share program that I've used in any city (so far - there's a lot more research to be done).

That short 2 mile ride was all I had time for on Friday. I ventured back out on Saturday to do some exploring and to burn off some of the beer from the night before:

It doesn't matter what city you're in. Cars are going to park in the bike lanes. Blah. Anyway, I had a loose goal in mind of finding as much of the city's bike infrastructure as possible. I saw a couple places that looked promising according to GoogleMaps, so I headed in that general direction. I first stopped by the Superdome about a mile north of our hotel just because it looks so damn cool:

I continued north and east, not quite knowing where I was, but knowing that somewhere there was a bikeway up that direction. Thankfully, most of the bike-friendly roads are well-marked. New Orleans is known for many things including its distinctive street signs, and bike infrastructure is no exception:

I continued on my way towards the Lafitte Greenway (I bet you never would have guessed that's where I was going based on that pic up there):

It's very similar to most greenways or trails you've probably seen in your area, including the Olentangy Trail near me. I found it to be a pleasant ride, even though a local remarked as he rode past, "Be careful man, they don't care about bikes around here." I had no issues.

At any rate, the Lafitte leads to a two-way protected bike lane at its south end, which I took to head west toward the heart of downtown:

There are plenty more bikeways in the center of the city, including some that are parking protected:

I also happened upon perhaps the best bike lane marker I've ever seen, which can really only "fit in" in New Orleans:

It's so unique, a friend suggested it should be on a t-shirt. I tend to agree.

I didn't fly solo the whole weekend, as my girlfriend joined me for a short 1-mile ride on Sunday morning before we headed back northward. In a weekend where we did basically everything we possibly could cram into a true New Orleans experience, being able to sneak in 10 total miles of riding was the icing on the cake, and made me love this magical slice of America even more. I can't wait to go back.