A little rain ? yeah right....

Sunday July 2nd
The sweat dripped steadily and burned my eyes ,lips and legs, the heat flogged me as if to whip me forward to find an end to today's ride. The ride out along the lake bike path was uneventful and maybe boring to a small degree. Legs were good, little or no wind, smooth payment, I expected 30 to 45 miles as each Saturday or Sunday of late produced.
On Lakeshore Drive I turned around at 17 miles, the thunder rumbling across the lake and the darkening sky called me home. Across Causeway the first drops pelted me , I stopped and waterproofed my camera, phone, mp3 player, and GPS module. Another 100 yards and the downpour ensued, felt good , cool and wet, except for the mud flying up from the levee construction, my back tire slipped a few times but my balance prevailed.
Suddenly like a shot, a lightening flash forced my eyes shut for a second, the thunder clap
pushed my shoulders back, I laid low on my bike to lessen my profile and sought shelter.
The rain poured harder and harder, another flash and clap of thunder, no shelter in sight.
Kept moving, if lighting is going to slam me down, it'll have to catch me. Another flash,
seemed closer than the last, a loud demanding clap of thunder still no shelter insight.
I'm drenched , teetering on water and mud, surrounded by lightening and thinking this may
be how it'll be, but then , what a dramatic way to go . Suddenly ! as I near the Suburban Canal
I blink enough to focus on an old shelter , the roof is rickety and the mud floor is about 4 inches deep but it takes the lightening target off my back. I pull in and dismount , I sink to my ankles in mud, but it's ok, I'm safe, I stand on the bench and find a spot where the roof is leaking the least. A chill comes over me, but there's no relief, I'm still getting rained on but relieved I'm not getting bolted by lightening strikes. The booms continue, the rain teems down.
I bid my time watching the runoff flow into the small lagoon between myself and the lake,
I keep scanning around but I am alone, alone except for the terror attacking me.
The wind and the rain grow louder, I am pelted with raindrops hurling at me sideways.
The air is instantly cold and biting, I look toward the lake and all I see is white, no lake ,no sky,
no clouds, just white. My bike is slammed onto the muddy ground, the same gust pushes me back about 3 feet, I move toward the corner of the shelter and clutched the metal post, I protected my face by shielding it behind the 8 inch square metal post and once again I felt , this may be it. The next 3 minutes seemed like hours, cold, pelting, driving rain, gusting, treacherous wind,I tried to hide my girth behind the small post but all I could do was protect my face.
The torrent swirled around me for about 3 minutes and eased off at the same pace it came.
The rain down to a drizzle, the lightening stopped, I'm soaked, laced with mud and cold, I re-mounted and continued my ride like nothing had happened. It wasn't just another ride, it was an adventure. Another 35 miles in the bag. What a ride.

Says it all.

Finally, the picture I think says it all.

Flat tire strikes again.

Last weeks ride was not without consequence. Great weather, great sights, some not so
positive.. The good news is it looks like workers are tearing out the inside of Warren Easton
High School, I hope that means their fixing it, the bad news is Montelepre Hospital is being demolished.
When I was 16 or 17 I had a job in Montelepre Hospital buffing floors with the buffing machine.
One of my many astute careers. While I was taking these pictures I think I saw some wax I applied still on one of the floors. It tore at me to see what I considered a monument of my past being hit by the wrecking ball. A very emotional moment.
Every bike rider has to deal with the occasional flat tire, it's an opportunity to stop and let the world go past you for 30 or 40 minutes. Relaxing. I added a picture of the little metal spike that got me. It happened on Canal off Jefferson Davis..I stopped in the shade of a beautiful oak.
All in all a good ride, the weather has been perfect
but we know the heat is coming. MS Tour for Cure is October 7/8. Getting a little better every week. Don't want to peak too soon.
When in the Quarter stop at Esplanade and Decatur and notice the long line of
beautiful balconies. That end of Decatur is a hidden treasure. . Remember you can click on the pictures for a larger view.. .
Later
Gary

Stellaaaaaaaa.....

Great ride today, Saturday, not much wind, perfect temperature, did 35 miles.
The French Quarter was pretty busy , plenty tourist in town for Jazz fest.
Jazz Festival is a Festival featuring music of all kinds, Rock, gospel, Zadeco, Catfish,
Blues, and sometimes they even have some Jazz, not much but sometimes.
Please note the line at Cafe De Monde, long, thier addicted to Coffee or Benets, both delicous,
anyway plenty action for a deserted town. On Bourbon there's a courtyard with a bronze of
Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, recently added Fats Domino and now Chris Owens. WOw...
I'm sure you've heard of the statue of Jesus in the rear Courtyard of St Louis Catheral,
Jesus' left hand has fingers missing from a tree that fell during the storm, all the tourist are taking pictures of it.
As a kid my mother took me shopping downtown, one of the must stop stores was McCorys.
Although the front of the buiding is something new, the back door still has the McCorys sign on it.
And the final picture is a old, old, old, house that caught my eye, it looks like small apartments
on a second floor. All I could think of was Marlon Brando standing outside in a torn
undershirt drunk and sweating screaming Stellaaaaaaa......
It looked like the kinda of place that Williams was inspired by when he imagined "STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE" . .. It just had that feeling when I saw it. Some things just give off an aura like a place with a soul... the tall wall protecting it from the street, the ivy growing all over keeping it warm and safe, and the balcony where it monitors the world.
Anyway, great ride, great feelings, inspirational......
later
gary

RAINY WEEKEND

Although this weekend was filled with rain , we managed to get in 30 miles today (Sunday).
The Quarter was fresh and clean, a lot of the usuals were working the Jazz Fest.
I didn't get down there until about 10:30 so the restaurants were cooking lunch,
boy what great smells did I enjoy.. I took a few pictures of my favorite subject, (me).
One is me in front of the Cabildo, one is me in front of the Steamboat Natchez, and the other is me having a drink at the horse trough. What a great place to live. The weather was perfect and my legs were chugging.
I think I may have been a Pirate in another life and that's what draws me to the quarter.
No doubt I try to "live out the box" even though at this point in life the box walls are higher than I can scale. As I get older the walls get higher .
I just realized last week I can't grow up to be Ernest Hemingway. Why Not ?
I guess we all make those dashes for a lusty adventure and try to grab pieces here and there
and feel pretty good about our trips out the box, PaPa Hemingway lived it every minute, every day, every place, what a guy, what a pirate.
I want to be a character in a Jimmy Buffet book, a line in a Tennesse Wiliams Play, a verse in a Beatles song, a stanza in a Phillip Suza march, and a guy on a bike that thinks he's all that.
Where's my ship?
later,
captain gary

It's spring....

Yes it's Springtime,
The air today, once reeking of catastrophe, now carries the hope of pollen and seed,
the fruitful aroma of flowers, and the freshness of a clear new day. .
Spring does it to me, it washes all my winter sins, troubles and woes.
I rode 50 miles last weekend ,30 miles this weekend and about 30 during this week.
As the sun stays longer I am equally eager to embrace the beauty that's here in spite of our houses , roads, buildings and the tons and tons of cement we've cruelly mixed in an effort to paint gray the green beauty God gave us to smell, roll in and gaze and graze upon.
There's something about raging endorfins that make the natural world slap you around and attack your senses till your senseless. Makes you say, dammmmm, why didn't I see this before.
Don't stop and smell the roses, touch them, smell them, examine them, live them, for tomorrow there may be a piece of cement there instead. .
==========================================

The "Patrol Boat River" you see me next to is about 3 blocks from where is originally was, it moved from the Naval Reserve station to the Seabrook Bridge.
You have to guess who took the picture.
I've been looking for a picture that tell the whole Katrina story in one picture, I haven't found it yet but I found two that are close. One is a statue of Virgin Mary on a Balcony so she don't drown, looking down to the street, and the other is a boathouse apartment, painted on the edge of the floor is, "for sale , needs some work , slight water damage", the fact is there is nothing behind the wall, it's all gone.
keep peddling
later
gary

GARY AND FRANK VISIT WEST END PARK

Saturday morning my riding friend Frank

and I hit the Lakefront for a 20 mile jaunt.

It was extremely cold and windy, being the champions we are we blazed through the wind and fended off the cold.

Part of our ride involved the Yacht Harbor and West End Park. There is certainly more tragedy than "Boats on Land" but we weren't looking for tragedy, just some interesting sights. We found them. The photos with just pilings are where the restaurants and nightclubs used to be.. The boat house apartments are just shells.

The lighthouse continues to collapse.

Shelter number 1 is missing both bathrooms.The good looking guy on the bike that's so tough he wears shorts when it's below 50 degrees and riding into the wind on the lakefront is Frank. Frank is a Tri-athlete.That means he rides a bike, runs , swims and plays poker all at the same time. No inspiration this time just some pictures. Click on the pics to see them larger.

Later

gary

What a ride...

Saturday/Sunday
Had a great ride today,
in spite of blue roofs, piles of sheetrock, FEMA Trailers, I worked my way to 25 miles this weekend and it''s not much but it's a start back.
For the first time in a long while the air smelled fresh and clean, the road was clear and
the course was level.. My MP3 player was blasting Foghat and endorfins were releasing
like balloons at a political rally. Felt great. Legs were good, weather was cool and sunny,
and 15 miles an hour was in my pocket. . Katrina who?
10 things I do while Biking to embellish my ride.
1. PRETEND I'M FLYING A JET FIGHTER
2. RUBBERNECK AND LOOK AT EVERYTHING AROUND ME
3. LOOK FOR LOOSE CHANGE IN THE STREET
4. SING OUT LOUD WITH THE MP3 PLAYER TILL PEOPLE STARE AT ME
5. STAND UP ON THE PEDALS WITH MY ARMS OUTSTRETCHED AND YAWN
6. WHEN GOING THROUGH TRAFFIC I KEEP LOOKING BEHIND ME LIKE SOMEONE'S
CHASING ME.
7. IF A CAR PASSES ME WHILE I'M DRINKING I TURN MY BOTTLE TOWARD THE
SIDE OF MY MOUTH AND SPRAY THEIR WINDSHIELD
8. STOP AT THE CONVENIENCE STORE AND ASK DIRECTIONS TO MONTANA.
9. COUNT THE NUTRIA ROAD KILL ALONG THE CANALS
10. DON'T ROLL THROUGH WATER IN THE STREET, YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM.
later,
gary

update....

Finished the final ceramic floor today for th e spare bedroom, now if there's a hurricane in New Jersey and anyone needs to evacuate we can accomodate them, or if there's a earthquake in California we can take in a room full. I still have a great deal of trim work to do , but we're in livable conditions and beginning to feel at home again. 4 of my neighbors have FEMA trailers,
there neat but small. Seem cozy to me but I don't have to live in one. Molly says there too tight .
The carpetbaggers are leaving town and the scalawags are taking over. . The trees are almost all ground up , the trash is mostly picked up in Metairie and the contractors and wanna be contractors, and has been contractors, and never were contractors are making a bundle.
Anyone that can hold a trowel is now a sheetrock expert. Roofers with one eye and vertigo can
't get to the next job fast enough. Thank God for these fine people rebuilding New Orleans while New Orleanians are Femacation..
Here's a refreshing thought , Hurricane season is only 6 months away.
Have I learned any lessons, yes,
1. don't leave, my house can take it.
2. stock up weeks of food and water because no help is coming.
3. MRE's are a good thing.
4. blue tarp your roof before the storm hits..
5. sleep on the floor so you'll know when the waters rising.
6. I've always kept an axe in the attic.
7.. Start your insurance claim before the storm hits.
8. Order sheet rock and roofing once you learn the storm is a definite hit and avoid price hikes. .
9. Make sure everyone in your family has a cellular phone.
10. Don't turn off the pumps..
later
gary

Home at Last.

Home At last,,,,,
Yes we are home at last, feels good, ....
the bed room is done (see pic, the one with the bed), the ceramic floor I installed so there's no carpet to rip out, I raised the front bedroom furniture to new FEMA flood standards, and finished my office (the green room).
We have one more bed room to do then we're done. I have been bike riding in spite of everything, did 15 miles yesterday. Haven't had much play time, work work work, but we.ve recovered, I hope that others that are disposed get back in their homes as well.
The only thing that speeds up recovery is to do as much as you can yourself, set goals ,and be resolved to get there.
There are 4 FEMA trailers on my block. We had a lot of help , starting with Uncle Elster and Aunt Esle taking us in in Baton Rouge , Neil getting us a room there, Neil and his in laws, Danny, and Nat stripping my carpet and moving furniture and covering the roof, Diana and Kevin helping me strip the house, Neil , Kevin and Rusty helping me cover the roof with blue tarp, Neil and Stacy helping me rebuild , Dennnis across the street helped me with the ceramic tile, Mom for taking Marie and I in so we'd have a place to live while we worked on the house and Marie for supporting, helping and encouraging me to push onward.
Therre's no way we'lll ever repay them but I don't think repayment is what they had in mind,
It's just what family and friends do. I'll be blogging more often now that I have my "fortress of Solitude" back..
later
gary