Check out Andy Menking's Local Food Map with bike routes!

Mapping volunteer Andy Menking has used the NolaCycle date to create a bike route map in GIS connecting local food sources (farmers markets, community gardens, and a couple produce stores) to one-another (because sometimes you have to go Hollygrove and Crescent City to find all the ingredients for your weekend feast) and to the East Bank neighborhoods.

I'm really excited that our data set has been put into use even before our map is done!

NolaCycle will be working with Andy's help to build off this map to create a "Bike to the Market" map for the Crescent City Farmers market this summer. Keep posted and look for it around later July or August!

Events for this weekend: Hollygrove and the 7th Ward

We had some really great events last weekend - new faces and completed neighborhoods! The weather was really nice this weekend too. Couldn't be any better!

Phil from the Tulane Bike Shack figured out the best way to map city streets this weekend - the use of a tandem! The front person steers while the back rider fills out the maps! You can just keep rolling the whole time and you don't need to stop to fill things out.

We have events for you guys this weekend again. We'll be doing Hollygrove on Saturday and the 7th Ward on Sunday. On Saturday we'll be meeting on Olive Street near the Hollygrove Market and Cuccia-Byrnes Park. There are some baseball fields there and we'll probably just be hanging out in front of those across the street from the Market. If you haven't been to Hollygrove Market yet you should go check it out. Right now they're getting everything ready to be an urban agricultural site and produce store but while they're still building planting beds and fixing everything up and you pick up a box of locally grown produce on Saturdays between 10am and 2pm for $25. You have to e-mail them ahead of time to reserve the box. If you're curious about it, Saturday's mapping event will be a good time to stick your head in there and check it out. Eira and I have been getting them for 3 weeks now and we love it. I'd recommend spliting a box with a friend because it's a lot of food.

On Sunday we'll be in the 7th Ward at the neutral ground park at St. Bernard Ave and AP Tureaud Ave. There is a statue there and some park benches.

Both events are going to be from noon to 2pm. As always, try to get there as close to noon as possible so we can get everything done in time. We'll be sending out people in pairs or small groups, so bring your friends!

Bring a bike lane with you!

Things can get a bit slow with trying to get DOT to fund bike lanes in New Orleans (and many other cities for that matter), so Alex Tee and Evan Gant of Altitude came up with a bike light that let's you create a bike lane wherever you are! It's only a concept right now and not for sale, but if I was these guys I get one because I think it could be the #1 gift for cyclists in 2009.

I guess this was featured in GOOD magazine this month...but since I don't live with Ella and all her amazing magazine subscriptions anymore I don't get GOOD. Bummer. I need a money and a permanent address so I can have magazines delivered to my door.

Wisner bike path opens! More on the way!

Photo: Chris Granger

From the Times-Picayune (Dan is once again interviewed - he's such a rock star. I think all the female journalists at T-P have a crush on him. Only thing that explains how often he gets quoted.)

"The long-awaited Wisner bike path officially opens today, one of three projects completed this year that double the miles of cycling trails in New Orleans.

And there's more to come.

The 4.7-mile hybrid path -- which stretches from Lafitte Street at North Jefferson Davis Parkway, along the Bayou St. John side of City Park, to Beauregard Avenue and Lakeshore Drive -- will be followed by three other bike projects.

By November of next year, bike lanes, such as those on St. Claude Avenue, will probably likely be completed on Harrison Avenue, from Marconi Drive to Wisner Boulevard; on Robert E. Lee Boulevard, from St. Bernard Avenue to Paris Avenue; and on Louisiana Avenue, from St. Charles Avenue to Magazine Street, said Robert Mendoza, the city's director of public works.

The growth of bike lanes, shared lanes and bike paths in New Orleans increases the odds that the city will be able to obtain more federal money to create infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, said Dan Jatres, program manager for the Regional Planning Commission's Greater New Orleans Pedestrian and Bicycle Program.

"Wisner -- a north-south path -- is another down payment on the future for an interconnected system," said Jatres, who said that the University of New Orleans, the Regional Planning Commission and the Department of Public Works are collaborating to obtain money via a federal transportation bill.

The federal government provided 95 percent of the financing for the $1.4 million Wisner project, and a Wisner foundation grant provided the remaining 5 percent.

The hybrid path includes a mix of 10-foot-wide concrete paths and existing roads marked with bicycle symbols and bike-route signs. A 1.7-mile concrete path has been placed between Wisner Boulevard and the bayou from Milton Street to Robert E. Lee Boulevard. And a two-block concrete section has been built between Esplanade Avenue and West Moss Street.

The streets with signs and symbols that inform motorists they are sharing a lane with cyclists include Moss, Lelong Drive, Golf Drive, Zachary Taylor Drive, Beauregard and Lakeshore Drive. Some of those streets wind through City Park.

And for much of the ride, cyclists will be able to travel from Lake Pontchartrain to City Park without having to deal with regular traffic," said Bao Vu, a project manager for the city's Department of Public Works.

The Wisner project, as Mayor Ray Nagin sees it, "will greatly enhance the quality of life for our youth and families."

With the exception of a limited stretch alongside the south end of Bayou St. John, the Wisner path connects the Xavier community with the lakefront, with the South Jefferson Davis Parkway path covering part of the route. The new project enhances recreational opportunities, creating a safe place for walkers, bikers and runners, Nagin said.

With the addition of Wisner, the city now has 19.8 miles of cycling infrastructure, including 2.6 miles of bike lanes, 10.3 miles of bike paths separated from city streets and 6.9 miles of shared lanes, said Jatres, who will gather with others today at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Harrison Avenue and Wisner Boulevard in City Park to celebrate the opening of the Wisner trail." By Leslie Williams.