Just back from NOLA

[flamin lib]

Bicycles are a popular mode of transport in the French Quarter.





Some are in better condition than others . . .

[talkingmime]

1. Single speed coaster brake bikes. Those are making a comeback.

I've seen that robin's egg blue one in a bike shop - same bike, except it ALSO had matching tires. They were still whitewalls, but the tread was the same color as the bike.

[bluedigger]

2. You don't need multiple speeds there.

Kind of flat.

[talkingmime]

3. Ah. Around here you need 21 or so. The tandem only has five.

Then again, the tandem weighs at least 70 lbs on its own. It isn't built for speed, but it does have a rear drum brake. It needs it. Regular rim pads wouldn't do anything to slow it down. Still, those bikes remind me of my old Schwinn Typhoon. It was also really heavy, but I could out hop all of the kids with BMX bikes. We used to stack skateboards to jump and I could easily clear four or five. I never knocked them over. It took about a 1/8th mile runway to do it, but I could.

And that was before helmets. How am I still alive?

[bluedigger]

4. They have some crazy bike contraptions in NOLA.

I'll bet someone here as a pic of them. The riders are sitting about six feet off the ground.

[talkingmime]

5. Like a Pennyfarthing?

[bluedigger]

6. Mashed up out of regular bikes, sort of.

I think the front wheels are usually smaller than the rears, but I wouldn't swear to it.

[talkingmime]

7. Not anymore, but the pennyfarthing got its name exactly from what it says.

The front wheel was a penny and the back wheel was a farthing. I STILL haven't figured out how you would get on one of the things to begin with!

[bluedigger]

8. There's lots of porches and elevated steps in NOLA.

I'm pretty sure that's a key part of the "where do I park this?" thought process for the riders.

[rdking647]

13. i wondered the same thing so i looked it up

heres how
http://www.thewheelmen.org/sections/faq/faq.asp#15

[talkingmime]

14. Well, I could have done that 20 years ago. Not now.

I'll stick with my mountain bike (which I do NOT use for off-road death rides). A friend gave it to me when he bought a new mountain bike, and he DOES do off-road death rides. It had shoe clips for pedals. The first thing I did was remove those and put on real pedals. I also put on what we used to call "book racks", and yes, we carried books on them. I guess you'd call it a Kindle rack now.

[rdking647]

15. i ride an electric bike

i can ride it like a regular bike but when i come to a hill it has a motor

[talkingmime]

16. Well that's cool. I shift into first and it goes slower than walking.

Curiously, it's easier to bike in 1st than it is to push the bike up the hill. That's not true with our behemouth tandem. Its first gear feels like 4th on a hill. We can either stand up or push it. Pushing is easier.

[bluedigger]

9. I think I recognize that last one.

I think it's on it's way to eligibility for the National Historic Register.

[flamin lib]

11. I think it's actually a piece of sculpture. A local told me that it has been there for months. nt

[bluedigger]

12. I wasn't kidding.

I lived in the Quarter from '08-'10. More like years, I think.

[liberal N proud]

10. This is what happens when a male and female bike mate

Nice photography