Rain. Ride? Or Drive, Stay Dry?

It looks as if TS Eliot Alex will stir up just enough mess to make the rain chances stay high in my area of south Louisiana. In fact, flood warnings have popped up all over the place.

It's always a decision for me about whether to chance the weather. My basic rule of thumb is that I am not able to bike to work in the rain, since my office has no place to re-shower and dry off.

But what if the skies look clear in the morning and rain only threatens the afternoon? I am not a total rain wimp, and have ridden many times in many downpours. And, after all, the temps are in the 80s. So I'm leaning toward the wet/rain/ride side of the fence.

As I recently told a colleague, if I waited until there was little chance of rain, in my area, I would ride maybe 25 days a year.

If it happens, I'll bring along my camera and post some wet and wild bicycle pics! 

 

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The B-Side of Communiting

About two months ago my company management informed us that they had been scouting around for a new building -- for numerous reasons -- and the perfect choice had become available. They made the purchase, informed our current landlords and, yes, they said, we will soon relocate.

The bike commuter part of my brain immediately felt disappointed. The current route is almost a straight shot on a bike lane. I only have to navigate a couple of extremely busy intersections and congested streets for the 7 mile, one way trip. Now it's changed.

The new building has no such direct connection. In fact, it stands right off one of the busiest, 4-lane Federal Highways in our state. That would be the infamous Airline Highway, for decades the only way to New Orleans from Baton Rouge before the interstate days and, of course, now in the history books as the location that found the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart doing his not-so-Christian-like acts at the Travel Inn back in the day.

After a bit of Google mapping, though, persistence to Ride and Tell prevailed and, sure enough, I found a way to the new building that allows me to ride outside most of the terrifying traffic of my city. Terrifying as in: driving 60+ MPH to get to the next stoplight on narrow city streets.

So I hit the road this weekend to try out the route in vitro. Below is my pictorial documentary of what I now call The B Route, for reasons that soon will be obvious.

Not a bad commute at all, and in fact is more shady that my current one.

It will be a few weeks before I am encounced permantly in the new building, but when it happens, my bikes will feel more comfortable knowing that the route has been mapped, traveled and deemed suitable for Bike Like Me.

Much of the route still has a bicycle path, so I'm still very fortunate, more fortunate than 99% of all bicycle commuters I suspect. The path is on the other side of these cars.

The worse intersection on the new route is this one. This shows a very, very slow Saturday. At rush hours, cars will be sceaming down this highway to be the first at each light.

Onto the neighbor side streets. Frequently you will see an interesting Southern Louisiana Catholic tradition: a statue of the Virgin Mother or some other saint, or both, promonently displayed - for divine protection - in the front yard of the home.

On my trial run, the Google map actually had this little side street, but it just stopped. Now I see why. I could easily navigate around the barrier, however, onto an unfinished street on the other side. This is the exit of the crowded townhouses that are blocked off by the above barrier. In a car, No Exit. On a bicycle, options abound!

At least there is a snow cone stand to stop by on the way home!

Now to the B-Part of the Ride.

The primary subdivision I will ride through is a twisting and turning little number that must have been built by someone named "Bell." Get a lode of the "B" streets that were all over the place.

Note that this is "Bellfor" and not the "Bellfort" above. So my written directions - written, because my mind is too small to remember all the "B" names and directions - were something like, "turn right at Bellfor, go to Bellridge, left at Bellmeade, right at Bellglen" and so forth. Finally made the "B Trip and" here stands my bicycle in front of the foutain outside the office. Back home, and the odometer shows 17 miles -- but the trip by car only shows 14 miles, round trip. That's 3 miles of winding around those "B" streets when I got turned around going home!

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The Long Hot Summer-Trip Home

Back in the saddle again, taking the 7ish mile, one way, to work and back home again on my beloved commuter bikes. I'm starting off using my blue Trek 7.3 FX, which is an absolute joy to ride. Of my steed, she is one of the top ones. I've also been riding my 2008 Raleigh SuperSport -- not the carbon model, but the entry-level racer coverted to a commuter.

I love that bike too, but being a racer, she is just not as smooth as the 7.3 -- but I do go a bit faster.

So here are some pics from my ride home, in the late evening. It was preceded with a typical South Louisiana downpour that was loud, heavy and wet and lasted about 10 minutes.

At this point, in the late afternoon,  people were asking if I needed a ride home. In just an hour, despite this deluge and the zillions of lightening bolts, it was sunshining and I was on my bike.

 

For most of the route, there is a designated bike path. Nice, but I have procured three flats in just a few months of riding the path. Better than no path, though.

On other parts if the ride home, it's a ride through quite neighborhood side streets.

Baton Rouge is full of magnificant, sprawling trees. This giant lives outside a school near the bike path.

Part of the Lush Life that inhibits Baton Rouge. This is part of the drive-through neighborhood I use, far from the exhaust-coughing cars.

However, some of the bike path is along very heavily traveled streets, and of course, people can't resist the temptation to use the path for a convenient parking space. Fortunately this does not happen often.

This summer, several of my most-traveled streets are being resurfaced.

Of course, it can't all be scenic. This leads to an older industrial corridor of the city.

Back in the day, this was the booming part of the town. All of these drivers are headed out of town, to the 'burbs. This little side street offers relatively traffic-free biking for 4 miles or so.

Part of the fun of commuting this part of the year is getting to enjoy the sunsets.

A look-back at the final long stretch. This is not during the peak hour of traffic, but this side street rarely is congested.

The final turn into an adjacent subdivision, north of mine.

 

Finally, my own little neighborhood. It's a breeze from now on, about two mintues away.

 

And once home, the panniers are unpacked, clothes are put up to dry out, clothes for the next day are assembled, and the bike is put away. It'll get cleaned/oiled this weekend, both of them actually. This is the rain-free ride. At least a few times before this Fall, it will be inevitable that the ride home will be through a thick shower. But today -- just the setting sun.

 

 

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