Time ticks away to MS Tour. .

click on the pics to enlarge

Bourbon early in the morning...Wet

Bourbon early in the morning, Wet.
 

Jackson Square from Washington armory
 

The Museum

Cathedral

Gateway to Chalmette, Claiborne aka Robertson

The New Lighthouse on Lakefront

Mexican Flag on a crane in a barge along the river.

Bike path along Carrollton Ave, Uptown .

Grossmans Pharmacy

Bigger  Pic of the crane.

It was 90 degrees..

After last Saturdays epic 70 mile ride up river, and not being able to ride Sunday due to  me being a lightening rod,  I put the Bike in the shop for it semi annual tune up and pre MS tour check up .  My Bike tech Jonathan fixed me up ,  new head set, tires, tubes, brakes, chain, cassette, 1 cable, adjusted gears levers, trued wheels.   I'm ready,  did a good 50 yesterday and again today.  Thursday I may get to challenge some 100 mile an hour winds, that should put my thighs in tight shape. Although it was 90 degrees last 2 days as long as I kept moving I felt good, rode the levee to Audubon, St Charles or Carrolton to the quarter, Saturday I rode Franklin to the Lake and Sunday Elysian Fields.  Early in the morning they wash off Bourbon Street, the trucks come, then business owners pull out their hoses,  like their restoring dignity and class to what isn't .  I think they feel the need to wash away the beer, whiskey, vomit, cigarette butts, lies, promises, illegal transactions, and hooker negotiations from the night before.  Like  cleansing their souls when the street is rid of the previous nights debauchery.  The doors are open , pumping out cold air conditioned air carrying , cigarette and cigar smoke, cheap perfume , cheaper cologne, more lies and promises, tall and short stories. You ask me ? How do you tell a hooker, easy,  25 to 30 years old, very attractive,tattoo on the side of her right calf of a black cougar, shiny bracelets on her wrist carrying a small small small wallet. She's holding hands with a man that looks like a young Poncho Villa, brand new never worn blue jeans,  brand new never worn white t shirt,  some new construction boots, a wallet with a Foy Foy chain and a big smile on his face.

 For reason's I don't know there's a crane on the river flying a flag from a country south of here, I don't think the crane is from there.  Should be an American Flag there instead.. 

Carrollton Ave uptown great ride, shady, cool, nice wide bike path, doesn't stop anyone from trying to kill you.  A pickup truck passed me so close today his fender brushed the hairs on my leg.  I sent him some Italian sign language.

Have a picture of Grossmans Pharmacy, now closed, every Thursday, comic books came out , 12 cents,  Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, John Jones,  Atom, loved them all, they were in color, my TV wasn't .  Corner of Banks and Dorgenois.

Crossed Claiborne at Elysian Fields, thought about a return trip to Chalmette , looked at the bridge and the traffic , decided I'd be real stupid to try that. I'll be stupid anytime. but not real stupid.

Its was St Charles Ave, felt something on my right arm, look down to see  a striped mosquito about to stick his blood sucking needle in one of my pores,  I looked him in the eye and asked "Do you have West Nile Virus?", he looks at me an with a squeaky mosquito voice says "I invoke the (don't ask don't tell rule)", I calmy reply , "I invoke the "Gary don't like rules rule", I swung my left hand over and flattened him like a sheet of tissue paper and with prejudice flicked him off my arm to the gutter to rot with the other vermin.  I caught the East Nile Virus once, for 2 weeks I wore a turban, ate goat, didn't bathe, wore JC sandals, and threatened to send plagues of frogs on anyone that pissed me off . I was cured Dr Abdul Mohamed  Haman Jones.  He rubbed camel saliva on my chest for 3 days and I was cured.

This Hurricane will not disrupt my cycling.  I own a poncho.....
later
gary















 

Awoke Saturday morning with developing anticipation, weather looks good for now, temperature was great, legs felt good, pretended I was 19 years old , hit the street and didn't look back, 
Blood pressure was 109 over 71,  sitting pulse 65, MP 3 player charged, camera broken.
As Greely suggested I headed west, river levee toward Spillway, will ride till weather stops me.
Mounted the levee at Williams, coated my lungs with wheat dust at the dust bowl in St Rose, aka grain elevators. Not much traffic, most anticipated rain, I am ruthless, disregard for common sense is my middle name. Traversed the Norco sulphur exchange , got my snoot  full,  heavy air created a scrumptious soup of sulphur, wheat and corn dust,tug boat exhaust, I love it.. . I reached the spillway in no time, sky was still clear, model airplane pilots were working on their little planes.
I never see any flying , they just work in them , I guess that's what they do.  The bike path is intermittent at this point, have to travel the River Demolishion Derby Road through Montz,
was able to jump back on at the beautiful Bayou Steel Plant. Passed  Little Gypsy Electrical Generator Plant, fished there when I was a teenager, 100 years ago. The River area through Laplace is beautiful, the bike path through Laplace is beautiful, needs a few garbage cans. Finished my 2nd Gatorade, had half of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, still charging forward. Recognized the Marathon Refinery, pictured it on Airline Hwy, gee I thought to my self, long way from home, planned on 50 to 60 miles today, felt great , in a grove, legs feel great, next town Reserve, then Garyville. Visited with some of the locals, (believe that), enjoyed the homespun scenery, everything was quaint and riveresque. I reached Mount Airy at 35 miles, decision time, I'm close enough to make Baton Rouge, Marie would love to drive an hour to pick me up, or do I turn around and go back home, or just follow the Mississippi to Canada, change my name , get a job as a grocery clerk, live under a bridge in summer and hitch hike to Florida in the winter to panhandle. recond I'll just turn around an go home.  Finished the 2nd half of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich , sucked down half my banana, instantly was rejuvenated, headed home like the hero I am.  Again I reached the spillway in no time, looking up I noticed the sky on my right was black, not dark but black, it seemed to make a horseshoe in front of me, I spotted a clearing about 5 miles ahead, OK if I can reach the clearing before it comes down I'll be fine. Peddled like a mad man, I was passing cars I was going so fast, started feeling drizzle in Norco, as I covered ground east it got heavier and heavier, I'll stop under the Destrehan Bridge for shelter, for there was none here, hadn't seen another rider for 3 hours, apparently they have better contact with meteorologist than I have. A white wall appeared about a mile ahead, seen it before, it races up to you, the raindrops are solid , cold , constant , like so many steele balls bouncing on your skin, face, arms, legs, I made it to the Destrehan bridge to no avail, the rain was down to a drizzle, I kept riding.  Developed a racing stripe up my back, my padded shorts were saturated with cold rain water and street grit, but hey, I love this remember, made it home safe and sound. 73 miles for the day.  Needed a hot shower, took one. Went straight to the nursing home to see my mom , she says to me "too bad you can't ride today with all this rain", I just smiled ," yea mom, too bad".

ps: didn't ride Sunday, not just raining but deep, went out and got a new camera, a waterproof one.

Paris Champs-Elysees

Bourbon St. Saturday Evening,

St. David Catholic Church

St David Catholic Church

Me standing on the Champs-Elysees - aka Paris Road.  

Welcome to St Bernard !

Bourbon St Saturday Night

Beautiful Park , Where?

World Famous Rocky and Carlo's - it's Macoroni and Cheese.

tried to take a picture of me in fornt of Rocky and Carlo's but it seems my aura was not congruent with the area and stray gamma rays distorted the picture,  A case of counter reticulating turbo encabulators.

this thunderstorm thought is was gonna catch me, I called it and found shelter from teh storm

Damm Big Foots everywhere I go .

The bridge of terror sigh.

30,652 miles on this bike...

Last Saturday quashed by storms.   Sunday I lit out early, normal route, to Williams , the River levee, Audubon park, French Quarter, came down to St Claude to head west when I was pulled by a force greater than my free will,  beckoning , urging, pulling, guiding , drawing me to the east. At first I thought it was a Mecca go east thing,  a magic carpet would swoop down , take me off  to the dessert sands for noon prayers ,  no it wasn't a giant magnet pulling the metal plate in my head , I don't have one yet or they haven't told me about it , it was a Chalmation force , more powerful than a Jedi mind trick, more powerful than a Vulcan neck pinch, my destiny was set.  I followed St Claude to the Bridge of Terror Sigh, crossed the metal grate and through a miracle of God didn't slip or fall.  The other side of the Bridge of Terror Sigh erupted with warnings , don't walk here,  entering St Bernard, entering  Arabia, entering Chalmette, I proceeded without fear, I once worked in Chalmette, had papers allowing me entrance.  The roll down St Bernard highway was nice, smooth and straight, a lot of changes since I was there last. I stopped at Rocky and Carlos Colorful restaurant for a picture of it and me in front of it.   I didn't realize there's a force field that distorts pictures of strangers in front of the restaurant,  when I removed me, the picture was fine.   Damn Big Foots are running around everywhere. The clear shot of me is the Paris Rd Champs-Elysees, I felt so french, so Tour De Chalmette.  I feared going further, I heard the world ends at Yscloskey  and you fall off the earth. (its flat you know) , I reversed path to face a thunderstorm, found shelter, waited it out,  got back to St Claude sighed relief after crossing the Bridge of Terror Sigh. The afternoon heat beat me like a nylon belt,  drank all 4 bottles of Gatorade, ate all my Jelly beans, and pumped and peddled to Metairie on guts. 60 miles total,  little over 5 hours, bike racked up lifetime of 30,652 miles, makes my ass hurt thinking about it. Great trip , great adventure , will do it again , maybe take Claiborne next time to Judge Perez.. Right....

8 weeks to MS Tour........

Click on the Pics to Enlarge..

Country view in Laplace atop the new bike path... Moo!

The path is long and narrow......



River Road,, open spaces...

Had to bunny hop over this pipeline..

Second tractor slide into the ditch, they pulled it out. .

Big Beautiful home.   Think I know the lady that lives there....

Madonna in Laplace  beautiful garden.

New skyline without Claiborne Towers.

Bastille Day fireworks on the Mississippi

This is the Pace Center and Church in Upper 9th Ward.

This church belongs to the Madonna in the next picture.

In front of church above.

Looks like a Bat Turn Robin.

I've never seen one of these before, First nobody usually cares, and 2nd no sign for the uphill.

It was a hot weary day, the Vultures knew I hanging on the edge...He was looking for Catchup .

Very desolate, lot of Deer dung on the track, riding this at night could be an adventure.

This was my notice to head home.

Its a long way home.

Big Andy, working at the SWAMP. on Bourbon.

Passed by a beautiful swamp ..

sunset falls on this swamp

Beautiful Lagoon

Looks like a Gaspergoo to me. on Lakeshore Drive.

Somewhere between France Rd,  Florida Ave, and The High Rise...

Skyline from Poland Ave...

Tow Boat waiting to pass, just got across before it raised.

St Claude Bridge over the Industrial Canal

On the New Orleans side, whew!!!

It's 200 degrees, panting like a bull dog..

The entrance to Arabi , no pedestrians, I'm out of here.

Beautiful St Claude Ave...?

Downstroke to NO...

Only a man with balls of the same material would ride a bike across this bridge...

World Famous Poland Ave.

One of the guards keeping us New Orleanians out of the Promise Land.

whats left of the Claiborne towers.

Dr Mattingly's Office ,

Claiborne Towers.

Claiborne Towers.

University Hosp and a 2 story building up... VA Center in the background.

Shirley Landry Benson  Pace Center in upper 9th Ward.


My weekend adventures have spread in distance and geography. 60 miles on Saturdays, 40 miles on Sunday, 12 on Monday, 12 on Wednesday and 30 on Friday night... MS Tour is first weekend of October.. I am physically and mentally ready. The Laplace run is 60 miles non stop, 1 banana, 3 bags of Fortified Jelly Beans, and 4 bottles of Gatorade. Its all intermittent river levee, so the opportunity to climb the levee, ride in mud, grass, rocks, water, and jump ditches are all there.
Crossing the spillway, added pleasure. The new levee in St John is nice, but in St Charles it's having a hard time getting around chemical plant pipes on the levee. I can't pass through NORCO for a while , I found a 6th toe trying to poke out the side of my right foot and my left ear keeps sagging.. The Rivers very low right now , catfish are sitting in lawn chairs on the bank wearing sunglasses and drinking mint juleps. The levee is a nice ride but it can be boring and lonesome. I especially enjoy the sulphur intake in Norco, gives my skin a nice yellow glow. Last Sunday I rode to the quarter , cruised around , shot out Rampart and before I knew it I was at the bridge on St Claude that protects Chalmette from the rest of the world at the corner of Poland Ave. I am fearless or nuts, so I crossed the metal bed of the draw bridge, risky, very wavy, slippery, I survived it twice, going and coming...Next trip I hope to get as far as Paris Road, want to see if it really looks like Paris. As soon as I cleared the bridge a Tug with barges was coming through, the bridge went up . glad I was on this side , it stays up a long time.  I worked in Chalmette  a long time ago on the corner of St Bernard Highway and Chalmette Ave. I've had many a lunch at Rocky and Carlos and some other good places down yonder.  The Kaiser Plant was still open then, different world. 
I like riding in the heat, it motivates me to strive and push. It was hot....
I've never explored Poland Ave , this was a good chance, I took Poland Ave East,  nice older neighborhood, turned on to France Road, and found the France Road Overpass over railroad tracks, its long, there was construction , so going downhill I stood up , grasp my handle grips and watched for hazards at 23 miles per hour, I jumped a few crevasses in the construction , suddenly it appeared 8 inches front of my front wheel, a chunk of broken concrete the size of a brick, the same color as the street, it sat in camouflage, front wheel popped up about a foot, I had time to squeeze my handle grips, twist my ass so the back wheel missed it, contorted my body to maintain balance, managed to get the front wheel to fall forward rolling, didn't fall down in the middle of nowhere.  My adrenalin level shot up instantaneously but afterward I had a big smile on my face.
Reached the High Rise , went under, got to Old Gentilly Road, headed back toward home, Franklin Ave to Lakeshore Dr. where a lady caught the big Goo right off the seawall at the point.
 On Bastille day eve I was on the Riverfront in the Quarter about 9:00 pm , people were milling around , bike cabs were lined up on the walk, I nestled between Kevin and Debbie and shared my fortified Jelly Beans,  they explained to me the fireworks show was about to start in the River in celebration of Bastille Day, great fireworks show, made some new friends , went to Bourbon and said hello to Andy, he's at the Swamp now,got home about 10:30. Saturday had my first look at the collapsed Claiborne Towers, I didn't know much about the Towers but had a great deal of experience in the Walgreens under it.  Bought my first baseball glove there, it was a Micky Mantle Pro "$4.99".  Also bought our silver aluminum Christmas tree there.  Later I became friends with the inside phone booth.  Our phone was a party line phone in   my parents bedroom, dad went to bed at 8 o'clock, If I wanted to talk to little miss you know who you are, I grabbed some nickels , a pack of Winstons and camped out in the phone booth. It was private, comfortable, and secure, could have lived in one of those things. My Mp3 player is up to over 1100 songs, from 1940 to last week, every genre imaginable, my love of biking runs congruent with my love of music, a match made in heaven when both are employed for pleasure. Yes, pleasure, just like running once your captivated and enthralled there's no pain issue, only pleasure. Endorphins, Serotonin, Valium, all those drugs the make you feel good, when I was quitting smoking my doctor told me that every cigarette gave me a little high and therein is the addiction, I must replace that good feeling with another good feeling, better living through modern chemistry. When I smoked I was  a runner, ran 10 Crescent City Classics, had a smoke before and after the race, I could see that eventually my knees would die so I got involved in biking.  Bottom line, riding my bicycle makes me high, and at 61 1/2 years old all I want is to feel good, I deserve it. My blood pressure last week was 105 over 75, so with that in mind, my motto is "IF IT FEELS GOOD, I'M DOING IT".........