Routes to and from Rome Park

Meet us at 10 am tommorrow! allow for 45 minutes travel time if you're unfamiliar with the route.

Call us if you need directions: Scott 504 237 0323


View NolaCycle Mapping Ride 11/22 in a larger map

TONIGHT - NOLA Bike Bash Opening Party & Goldsprints at Handsome Willy's

$2 to race per round, FREE to watch!

What are Goldsprints, you ask. Well check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldsprint for answers.

Here's a video from YouTube. We'll probably be racing one-on-one though.



Meet other guys and gals that like to put the fun between their legs as we kick-off a great weekend of bike fun in New Orleans. Come out to Handsome Willy’s and cheer on your friends that choose to race the Goldsprints. But what are Goldsprints, you say? Well, you know how way back in the 70’s, everyone had stationary bikes that turned into clothes hangers in the 80’s? Then everyone wanted to go spinning at the gym. Well, it’s kind of like that, except, with a big projection screen behind the stationary bike, and the faster you peddle, the faster the scene changes behind you. Oh, and to make it better, you’re competing with your friends lined up next to you, and you have screaming crowds cheering you on to victory. Sounds fun, doesn’t it. It is. We have drinks specials, too, just be careful drinking and racing.


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Detailed Bike Bash Schedule of Events

Here's the details on all the events happening this weekend.

FRIDAY:

Bike Bash Opening Party with GOLDSPRINTS @ HANDSOME WILLY’S
10pm-12am…218 s Robertson
$2 to race per round, FREE to watch! What are Goldsprints, you ask. Well check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldsprint for answers.
Meet other guys and gals that like to put the fun between their legs as we kick-off a great weekend of bike fun in New Orleans. Come out to Handsome Willy’s and cheer on your friends that choose to race the Goldsprints. But what are Goldsprints, you say? Well, you know how way back in the 70’s, everyone had stationary bikes that turned into clothes hangers in the 80’s? Then everyone wanted to go spinning at the gym. Well, it’s kind of like that, except, with a big projection screen behind the stationary bike, and the faster you peddle, the faster the scene changes behind you. Oh, and to make it better, you’re competing with your friends lined up next to you, and you have screaming crowds cheering you on to victory. Sounds fun, doesn’t it. It is. We have drinks specials, too, just be careful drinking and racing.

SATURDAY:

VIEUX CARRE RIDE
10am…esplanade and royal
FREE!!!
Participate in an awareness ride highlighting bicycle safety in the French Quarter. This ride will take you on a scenic tour of the historic Vieux Carre (French Quarter), while showing the importance of bike safety in shared spaces with motorized vehicles and pedestrians. Afterwards, the tour will continue north to RampART along North Rampart Street and then up the Lafitte Corridor, a planned greenway which will feature a trail from the French Quarter through Treme, Mid-City and ending at Canal Blvd. The ride will terminate halfway up the corridor where it intersects Bayou St. John, a natural inlet from Lake Pontchartrain, and also another established bike route the Jefferson davis and Wisner Trails) stretching from Uptown all the way to the lake: very much the future bicycle cross-roads in the middle of New Orleans.

N.O. BIKE POLO OPEN
10am-6pm…canal and villere
FREE to watch!
Come out and watch talented players from all over the world (literally) with impressive maneuvering skills battle it out in a 2 day tournament. Teams are flying in from all over to show off their skills during the N.O. Bike Polo Open. It’s tough, it’s rough, it’s gritty, and dirty. And it’s loads of fun. Want to participate? Go to www.nopolo.org.

BAYOU BBQ & VOLLEYBALL
12pm-2pm…moss and toulouse
FREE!!!
Ride your bike to end of Bayou St. John (near Lafitte) and enjoy some BBQ and volleyball. Mid-City Volleyball is a very active organization in helping get the Lafitte Corridor plan approved along with the Friends of Lafitte Corridor organization. So Mid-City Volleyball will be setting up volleyball nets for a nice social afternoon to be accompanied by some grilled foods provided by the Metro Bicycle Coalition (omnivores, carnivores, and herbivores are all welcome). This is a great opportunity to get off the bike, socialize with fellow enthusiasts, and refill with some much needed calories to finish your day on the bike.

BIKE RODEO 4 KIDS
1:30pm-4pm…n. tonti & gallier (RUBARB)
FREE!!!
Bike Rodeo for kids of all ages. Learn how to ride safely and be more predictable around motorists and pedestrians. You’ll learn about which way to ride down the street (with traffic or against), the way to signal when you’re making turns left and right, and a lot more. This is a great training for anyone unfamiliar with what the laws really say, and to help parents teach their children correctly, as well. We’ll have a prizes, too!!

VEER MOVIE SCREENINGS @ NOLA CANDLE FACTORY
Two showings @ 5pm & 8pm…4537 n robertson (Candle Factory)
$8
There is limited seating, so feel free to bring your own chair. Enjoy New Orleans’ first screening of Veer, the movie. Veer explores America’s fast-growing bicycling culture by profiling five people whose lives are inextricably tied to bicycling and the bike-centric social groups they belong to. The film follows these characters over the course of a year, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their personal struggles and triumphs. Veer examines what it means to be part of a community, and how social movements are formed.
Recognized as an official selection for the Lincoln Center New York Film Society Green Screens Series, Victoria Film Festival, Winner of Best Documentary at the Calgary Underground Film Festival, Nominated for Best Documentary at the San Joaquin International Film Festival, this screening should not be missed. Watch the trailer: http://www.veerthemovie.com/trailer.asp
There will also be beverages available for purchase and popcorn.

SUNDAY:

AUDUBON ZOO BIKE RIDE 4 KIDS (AND THEIR FAMILIES!)
8:30am-9:30am…6500 Magazine (Audubon Zoo)
$4 per bike (Children in Safety seats or pulled in bike trailers free)
Early morning bike-ride through the Audubon Zoo for children. Register ahead of time with Monica Pasos (mpasos@auduboninstitute.org ) at Audubon Zoo, so you can be one of the 50 bikes to ride through. The ride will last one hour, with several stops to see the animals along the way. This is a great opportunity to get into Audubon Zoo before it opens when it’s quiet, animals are out, and the crowds have not yet arrived. When the ride is over, you can go back to the zoo a little longer to sight-see some of the animals you missed, or browse the shops.

NOLACYCLE MAPPING RIDE IN PONTILLY
@ ROME PARK PLAYGROUND
10am-12pm…robert e lee and st roch
FREE!!!
Help complete NolaCycle’s mapping project while enjoying a ride in Pontilly. NolaCycle is a grassroots organization that recently joined forces with the Metro Bicycle Coalition. Led by Lauren Sullivan, the group has ridden all over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to grade the roads of the city by width, quality, and speed of motor vehicles. You’ll be given a small quadrant map and a few markers so you and your team can graphically illustrate block-by-block what the conditions of the roads are from a cyclist’s perspective. When this data is completely collected, a GIS map will be created and distributed showing the best blocks to ride on, in order to inform a cyclist’s route across the city. What’s better is that Acorns of Hope, an organization set out to replant trees along coastal Louisiana after Hurricane Rita, will be making their annual bike ride to plant trees, and end up in New Orleans on this day to help with the mapping. We welcome our tree-planting-cousins from Southwest Louisiana, and are glad they can be here to help make New Orleans a more sustainable city. We’re especially excited that they’re biking the whole way here!

N.O. BIKE POLO OPEN
10am-6pm…canal and villere
FREE to watch!

BIKE DRAWING & RACK INSTALLATIONS & SPONSORSHIPS @ PO BOY FESTIVAL
11am-6pm…Oak St.
Where Ya’ Rack? is the latest Young Leadership Council project to come out of the Leadership Development Series in the fall of 2008. The purpose of the project is to have plentiful, safe and secure bike parking installed all over New Orleans. There will be a raffle for a bike at the Po Boy Festival, as well as information for individuals and businesses to learn how to sponsor one or more racks for installation, and tell us where it is you live, work, and play, so Where Ya’ Rack? can install racks where demand is greatest.

METRO BICYCLE COALITION BBQ @ N.O. BIKE POLO OPEN
12pm-2pm…canal and villere
FREE!!!
Chow on some BBQ while watching Bike Polo. This will be the end of the internationally attended New Orleans Bike Polo Tournament. Come by, have some food (again, all omnivores, carnivores, and herbivores are welcome), and see which teams come out on top.

BIKE BASH AFTER PARTY @ ALL-WAYS LOUNGE
9pm-?…2240 St. Claude
$8
Fund-raiser for Plan B at the All-Ways Lounge (formerly Cowpokes). Will have 3 bands and 2 DJ’s. More info forthcoming.

NolaCycle Mapping event this SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!! Come out and map the streets!

On Sunday November 22nd, as part of the city-wide NOLA Bike Bash festival, NolaCycle will be organizing volunteers to map the greater Gentilly/Lakefront/Pontchartrain Park area. Riders will meet at Rome Park playground (at St. Roch and Robert E Lee) at 10am.

People of all ages and cycling experience are encouraged to attend. Riders will be given a map to record information on road conditions that will take approximately one hour to complete. Since we survey conditions block-by-block, NolaCycle rides are slow paced and relaxed. Even middle school children have helped out! Acorns of Hope, a group riding across southern Louisiana replanting trees, will be joining us along with a number of Metro Bicycle Coalition members.

Volunteers need to only bring a bicycle (actually, skateboards work well too) and something to carry a clipboard with such as a basket or messenger bag. NolaCycle organizers will explain the process, assign areas to pairs of riders to map, and hand about materials. The mapping event will end at noon at the parking lot on Canal and Villere for the FREE Metro Bicycle Coalition BBQ and the N.O. Bike Polo Tournament. Riders who don’t want to join us for the lunch can return materials to NolaCycle organizers at Rome Park by 11:45am.

The more people who attend, the more data we can collect, and the closer we get to completing the first comprehensive, city-wide bike map of New Orleans! Hope to see you Sunday!

The Bike Bash is Almost Here!!!!!

It's going to be awesome. Check out all the details on MBC's Bike Bash website.

NolaCycle's event is going to be on Sunday from 10am-noon. We're going to do a mapping ride like that ones we were doing last summer until this spring, but we're taking it above I-610 this time! Bring your bike, friends, and a basket or bag to carry a clip board and meet us at Rome Park. After the mapping ride, we'll go down to the BBQ at the Bike Polo Tournament.


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Digital Working Session Wednesday Nov 4

On Wed Nov 4th, NolaCycle will be holding another working session to digitize the NolaCycle data.

We're building a database of our raw data (on the map sheets volunteers filled out) that can be used to GIS and online mapping programs. Bring a laptop with Excel and a PDF reader program. There will be some laptops available for those who don't have one. Please let Scott or Lauren know if you need a computer to borrow.

We're meeting at Flora's at Franklin and Royal in the Marigny. We'll be working from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Flora's serves food and coffee drinks. If you haven't helped with digitizing before, please come at 6:30 so we'll have plenty of time to explain the process and answer questions.

Digital map working session tomorrow Oct 27th

If you have two free hours tomorrow evening, swing by my place (e-mail for directions) at 7:30pm to help build the data base for the digital map. We need LOTS of help on this since it's a very time consuming process. Please bring a laptop with Excel.

I'll make some of my specialty vegan chocolate cookies for volunteers (and yes, they are seriously just as good as non-vegan cookies. If you don't believe me, then come tomorrow and taste for yourself).

Plan B Bike Co-op is hosting a Halloween-themed Bike-In movie this Sunday

Straight from Plan B:

BEETLEJUICE!!! Sunday Night. Plan B Bike-In Movie, Halloween Edition. Bugs Bunny Cartoons, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!, A Garfield Halloween. Cartoons start at 7:30 sharp, Movie after! Bake sale! Popcorn! Beer! Fall Drank treat! Only 2... DOLLARZ!!! Behind the Mardi Gras Zone. Repost if you love us!!!

Movies are screened on Architect's Alley (behind Mardia Gras Zone) in the Marigny.


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Pizza will be provided for volunteers this Sunday

If you enter data, we'll feed you pizza!!! After we finished at 6pm, we'll have some pizza delivered to Loyola for all our wonderful volunteers.

Let us know if you're vegan or have a gluten allergy so we can order something you can enjoy.

Digital Working Session THIS SUNDAY

If you'd like to help NolaCycle build this digtal database of street conditions (which will be used to make shapefiles of conditions and recommended bike routes), please come to Monroe Library at Loyola University this Sunday from 3 to 6pm. We'll be meeting in Multimedia Room 2 (MM-2).

You don't need a lot of computer knowledge to help with data entry. All we will be doing is putting information from the maps we filled out during mapping events into an Excel database. So if you can type, you can help! Bring a laptop if you have one, but some extra computers will be made available.

This is a map of Loyola's campus. The library is located in the middle of campus next to the Danna Student Life Center. E-mail Lauren if you have questions.

Loyola University Police Bike Auction October 1st - this Thursday!

Ever wonder what happens to all those bikes left behind at the end of each quarter? They end up being auctioned off by the university police department a couple times a year. This is a great opportunity to get a cheap "fixer-upper" that might have been abandoned because of a broken wheel or stolen seat.

Here's the official 411:

University Police will hold a bike auction on Thursday, October 1, 2009 beginning at 5:00 p.m. on the 4th floor of the Freret Street garage. Viewing of the bicycles will take place from 4:30p.m. until auction time. Bid opening will range between $20.00 and $50.00 depending on the condition of the bicycle. All bikes will be sold in an AS IS CONDITION and ALL SALES ARE FINAL. Checks will only be accepted from Loyola University community members. All other must pay CASH. Bikes must be removed immediately upon purchase.

N.O. Bike Polo Open

Check out New Orleans Hardcourt Bike Polo for more information as the date nears.

Mark your calendars - the first annual NOLA Bike Bash will be held November 20-22

The Metro Bike Coalition and N.O. Polo are planning the first annual NOLA Bike Bash for November 20-22. Events will be held around the city, including a polo tournament, group rides, repair clinics, film screenings, a BBQ, and a NolaCycle mapping event. More info to come soon!

NolaCycle Update, aka "What the heck have you been up to, Lauren?"

It's been a crazy and fast summer for me. As you probably gathered, I graduated from college and now I'm living in New Orleans permanently. I'm also working full-time for a non-profit organization. Add all that on top of a personal life, and things get pretty busy!

A quick run down of what's on the table for NolaCycle right now:
1 - Digitizing the NolaCycle data. We have a database! A database that needs information added to it... John DeFraites put together a database file we can add information to segment by segment. I'll be dividing up raw data maps this week and giving those to volunteers to start adding that info into the Excel file. Once everything is added, that can be turned into GIS shapefiles and KML shapefiles (for use with internet-based programs like Google Maps). If you're interested in helping with adding data, let me know. I have a list of about 10 or so people, but the more we have, the less time it will take.
2 - Fall mapping events. Soon we will be holding NolaCycle mapping meet-ups again! Gentilly, Lakeview, Algiers, and other areas of Orleans Parish that we're mapped last year will be mapped this fall and winter. That includes all areas of the East Bank north of I-610/Florida Ave (We mapped all of the southern half of the East Bank already). We did Algiers Point, but would like to continue the map further south. If some brave souls want to map Eastern New Orleans, that would be wonderful. Since I'm working full-time, I won't be able to head up as many mapping meet-ups as I used to. NolaCycle is going to need volunteers to help with this because Dan, Tom, and I cannot do it alone right now. If you want to help organize events in your neighborhood, e-mail Lauren (at) nolacycle.com and I'll help you get started. ***If you're in Jefferson or St. Bernard Parish, we'd really like for you to get involved and organize mapping events!***

Okay....that's it for now. I'll update more later.