A Big Easy Bike Ride

“Hey you kids!  Get out of there!”  We have all heard that before in our youth.  We've all wandered into a place we weren’t supposed to be and a mean old man yelled at us.  You know the guy, he is the required resident of just about any street anywhere and he always came out of nowhere to scream at us to get lost.  Somehow that old timer is responsible for every property in town and he assumes some unofficial role of constable.  It was just curiosity we thought, the local police called it trespassing. 

  

Today, while some police may still use the term “trespassing” some folks have decided that a new term exists to better explain the investigation of places that are off limits: “urban exploration.”  Some places aren’t exactly fun for urban exploration—sewers, storm drains, asbestos factories, infectious disease hospitals, oxygen depleted coal mines, the list goes on.  The cool thing about urban exploration is that it can be done—legally—on a bicycle.  We say legally because if you don’t dismount to climb over a fence or through a barrier and just ride by then who is to say you are trespassing?  Some places are available to check out free of prosecution like the abandoned Old Griffith Park Zoo in Los Angeles.  

Urban exploration has a unofficial capital in America: New Orleans.  The Big Easy nearly vanished due to Hurricane Katrina and much of what was lost to the water and waves of the storm surge has been abandoned since 2005.  Many businesses, homes, churches and cemeteries are all derelict and vacant.  The cemeteries are especially spooky.  The low water table of New Orleans required above ground resting places.  Today, due to neglect and desertion they are silent and chilling cities of the dead.   

A bike ride out of Bourbon Street should begin of course with a beignet but once digested head out for a ride down to New Orleans City Park.  Built in 1853 it is one of the oldest city parks in the U.S. and at 1,300 acres it is the sixth largest.  Be sure to check out the live oaks, many are approaching 600 years of age and most survived Katrina.  The park was once home to three golf courses.  All were damaged by Katrina, one has been restored while the two others lay fallow but the cart paths remain and have become de facto bike paths.  Pedal through the park down to Lake Shore Drive.  Follow Lake Shore east along Lake Pontchartrain to Hayne Boulevard (or along the path just off Hayne), this will take you to a place that has been very popular with urban explorers for a few years now: Six Flags New Orleans, formerly known as Jazz Land.   The amusement park was first opened in 2000 and sold to Six Flags in 2003.  The last day was August 21, 2005 when it closed for the season as the kids headed back to school.  Katrina struck a few days later.   

Katrina flooded the park and the years of disrepair have only made the place more forbidding.  Divided into seven sections from Looney Toons Adventure to Cajun Country, the rides, amusements and buildings are all still in place, even the roller coaster “Batman” still stands like a paralyze structural serpent.  The fun house which was creepy enough in its day is now more so due to nearly a decade of neglect.  The ride from Rue Bourbon to Six Flags is about 15 miles one way.   Over 80% of all structures at Six Flags New Orleans were deep under damaging salt water.   The entire park was under seven feet of water for over a month.  Today the park is the property of the City of New Orleans.  There are no plans to reopen. 

  

We have a video of NOLA City Park at our website www.stickybottleteam.net.

Reservoirs Offer Great Rides and Grim History

Dark money, shady deals, secret discussions and intrigue...  The latest spy thriller from Hollywood, right?  That is only half of the story.  The half that is Hollywood is the 1974 motion picture Chinatown.  In the story private detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by a woman who believes her husband is having an affair.   But, it turns out to be more than that as Jake soon discovers a strange web of corruption surrounding of all things—water.  The part of the story that is non-fiction is the true tale of deceit and corruption surrounding the monumental efforts to bring water to Los Angeles.  At the center of that story is William Mulholland. 

Mulholland, an engineer with no formal training in the science was saddled with the job of getting water to LA.  The city lacked a water infrastructure and water was required if the town was to become one of the world’s most famous cities.  When his work was completed Los Angeles had one of the most complex water delivery networks on the globe.   It began with the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a 233-mile water mover that brought the life source out of the Owens Valley down into the LA basin.  The aqueduct was built with great strife and some dirty deals, construction began in 1908.  

 

Much of the acreage purchased for the aqueduct was farm and orchard land and was bought at far less its true value.  The farmers that sold were in essence fleeced.  The farmers grew increasingly angry and as the aqueduct took shape the farmers took action sabotaging the project wherever they could.  This period is now known as the California Water Wars.  As the water was diverted out of the Owens Valley the land and surrounding area began to dry up.  The farms closed and the orchards died.  By 1928 work was completed and the Owens Valley was wiped off the map.  

Mulholland also left the world scene in 1928 following the catastrophic collapse of the St. Francis Dam.  Located 10 miles north of Santa Clarita the dam held a storage reservoir that fed the aqueduct.  On March 12 the dam failed and three towns downstream were wiped out with a total loss of life approaching 600.  Poor concrete set on a non-reinforced rock bed led to the collapse.  It is to this day the worst engineering disaster in American history.  Mulholland was blamed for a lack of oversight during the construction and for rushing projects to completion.

   

California today is home to 36 of the largest reservoirs in the United States and an equally impressive list of dams.  Massachusetts is the unofficial dam capital of the States as many of the Commonwealth’s rivers were dammed to help power a milling industry that dates back to before the Colonial Period.  A bike ride of California reservoirs offers good climbs, fast descents and breathtaking views.  The reservoir roads are service roads that are well-maintained and less-traveled.   Most reservoirs are state parks or recreational areas offering a litany of services, most free of charge. 

If you have an opportunity to ride the Golden State’s reservoirs take a moment to reflect on the incredible history and the complex story surrounding their construction.  Please visit our website for the Chinatown trailer, www.stickybottleteam.net.

We are in the process of revamping the website.  We will have new links and pages this week!  Stay tuned...

Who Needs Art When You Have a Bike?

Every so often the travel website BootsnAll comes out with a list of the most disappointing attractions in Europe.  Once again at the top of the list is the Mona Lisa.  Here is what they say: “In the 16th century Leonardo da Vinci painted a picture of a shy-looking smiling woman.  At that time he couldn’t know what sufferings people in the 21st century will undergo to see the painting.”

The problem is people.  Too many of them queue up to the see the image.  The painting sits rather high and is encased in thick plexiglass.  Each day it is surrounded by hundreds of visitors each craning their necks to get a glimpse and to capture a grainy photo with a cell phone camera.  

 

The Louvre was built in 1793 and is unquestionably the greatest museum in the world.  It is, with 8.3 million annual visitors, the most visited museum on the globe.  It has been noted that if one was to walk through the Louvre with a four second pause at each piece of art, it would require three months to tour the museum.  For serious art lovers who need more time, let’s say 60 seconds, it would take 500 years to complete the Louvre.  

Some of the world’s best art is not available to the public because it does not exist or appear in public.  Theft is a problem.  Art thieves aren’t something out of the movies.  They are real.  Everyone knows of the iconic painting of “The Scream” by Edvald Munch.  It is the most expensive piece of artwork ever sold at auction.  In May of last year the work was sold (legally) to a private collector for a record $119 million.  It is the most valuable piece of art in private hands.  

A little more information…  “The Scream” may be one of the world’s most famous paintings.  The work, done mostly in oil with other media, was the result of a walk Munch was making friends.  At the top of a hill just outside the Norwegian capital of Oslo the group stopped to enjoy a view of the city.  It was at a time of year when the skies above Norway take on a red hue.  Munch thought the sky represented “an infinite scream passing through nature.”  He would later admit the scene led to a personal panic attack and a feeling of abject despair that went unnoticed by his companions.  This is depicted in the art.  Munch is terrified with a face contorted, eyes agape, under a swirling crimson sky.  All the while his friends stand close by, unnerved.  

“The Scream” was stolen and missing for many years.  Poor security combined with ease of transport makes art theft a popular criminal activity.  Generally, stolen art is held for ransom with less than 10% recovered.  Most of the world’s stolen art simply disappears.  Most serious art collectors avoid stolen works because too many are damaged in the process.  Once a framed piece is rolled up it is no longer mint.  Art collectors, many of them, have personal fortunes and they will pay for mint condition pieces—not stolen and damaged.  

Over the past 23 years 13 pieces of art have been missing from the Stewart Museum in Boston.  In 1990 two men dressed at police officers walked into the museum, overpowered the guards and cut the art from their frames.  To this day the frames sit empty in the museum.  None of the art has ever been recovered or is believed to have been sold.

So, why be disappointed with a jammed-packed museum or one with no pieces to view.  Go for a bike ride.  In Paris we recommend a ride along the River Seine.  The river curves through most of the city's famous landmarks with stunning views of the Eiffel Tower, the Cathedral Notre Dame and a host of parks and historic sites.  Whatever section of the river you bike along, you are certain to enjoy a beautiful setting that has been impressing visitors for centuries.  If it is art you need then by all means purchase some works created by local artists for sale in small kiosks along the river.  

Please visit our website www.stickybottleteam.net. 

Virgil Caine is the Name

Virgil Caine is my name and I served on the Danville train

Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of '65 we were hungry, just barely alive
By May the 10th Richmond had fell, it was a night I remember oh so well.

“To this day, people ask me, ‘Whatever possessed you to write that song?’ and the answer is, I don't really know; it's the only thing I could think of at the time.”                           

                                                                                                 ~Robbie Robertson, 2005.  

The song in question is The Band’s “The Night They Drove old Dixie Down.”  Released on the group’s debut album in 1969 the work is look at American history written by a Canadian.  Whether or not there was a Virgil Caine is anyone’s guess but Robertson’s history lesson is relatively factually correct.  It has been written that Robertson needed the advice of Arkansas native and Band drummer Levon Helm in order to capture the essence of the American South.  The group had been together for many years, first as the band for Bob Dylan, and later as their own headlining group traveling the highways and back roads of America.  Robertson wanted a song that felt like America and sounded American.  “The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down” was the result.  Robertson assembled the lyrics in Woodstock, NY and when the southern drawl of Helm was added as the lead vocal an anthem was born.

In the winter of 1865 residents of Richmond were just barely alive as Robertson had written.  Beginning in the fall of 1864 the Union forces under Gen. U.S. Grant laid siege to nearby Petersburg.  The small city was the key link to the Confederate supply lines of Gen. Robert E. Lee.  Supplies from Petersburg were necessary for Lee to keep the Union away from Richmond.  Grant understood the importance of Richmond and knew that Lee would defend the capital at all costs.  Grant decided a siege on Petersburg and later Richmond would help to end the war without a full-scale and costly assault of the city.  The siege last nine months with numerous skirmishes and deadly battles erupting along trenched front lines throughout the duration.  Food, shelter and water were severely limited--people “were hungry, just barely alive.”  Time was running out.  Failing to adequately restock his troops and replace his army Lee withdrew.  Richmond fell to the Union on the evening of April 3.  “By the May the 10^th” Richmond was in ruins as it had been in Union hands for over one month.  The war itself was over with Lee’s surrender on April 9.    

George Stoneman (pictured) was a general in Union Army and was a leader of cavalry troops serving in the Third Army Corps.  His men fought throughout the war in Northern Virginia and saw action during the Peninsula Campaign, at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and at Gettysburg.  Prior to Gettysburg Stoneman fell out of favor with Gen. Thomas Hooker, commander of the all Union Armies and was transferred to Washington and given a desk job.   He was later provided a field assignment again and after service in Ohio Stoneman served under Gen. William T. Sherman on his March to the Sea.   During the “March” Stonemam was captured (the highest ranking Union general to be taken during the war) and was held for three months before being exchanged.   Later, Stoneman led cavalry raids into North Carolina and Richmond.  His troops nearly captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis.   It is quite possible that Stoneham’s cavalry “tore up tracks.”  Stoneman, after the war, moved to California and in 1882 was elected governor.  His home, Los Robles, is a state landmark in the San Gabriel Valley.   

The Danville Train was possibly the Richmond and Danville Railroad.  Completed in 1856, the line covered the 140 miles between the two cities.  Later, it became part of the 3,000 mile Southern Railway.  Today, some remaining sections are part of Norfolk Southern.  During the Civil War it was the last rail line to serve Richmond and was the city’s final life line.  The Richmond and Danville Railroad supported the Confederacy right up to April 4, 1865--just five days shy of surrender.  As Lee waited for supplies that he believed would arrive on the Danville Train--supplies that would help his army keep Grant at bay--the hours grew desperate.  When no rail cars arrived Lee realized the war was over. 

Today, 5.5 miles of the Richmond and Danville Railroad is the Richmond-Danville Rail Trail.  The ride is frozen in time with an old caboose and abandoned train station along the way.  It is simply farmland and forest.  The quiet solitude provided by an impromptu mediation garden near one of the trail heads provides some peace.  Maybe at that spot you can hear the song in your head…

The night they drove old Dixie down

And all the bells were ringing

The night they drove old Dixie down

And the people were singing

We have the video of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” on our website, www.stickybottleteam.net.  Click on VIDEOS.

Boris the Biker Details London Improvements

In 1863 London began the process of building the Underground.  The Underground is a collection of exactly 12 rail lines intersecting London with stops at 270 stations.  Trains generally run between 5 a.m. and midnight, Monday through Saturday.  Operating hours are reduced on Sunday.  London's transport map is divided into six zones with Zones 1 and 2 in Central London and Zones 6-9 covering the outer edge of the capital.  Over 3.3 million people ride the Tube each day, all of it underground. Each and every day scores of people are in London’s Tube.  But now a new idea is coming forward to…

“Get people out of the tube.”  That’s what London Mayor Boris Johnson wants to accomplish with an ambitious new bicycle initiative in the heart of the UK’s largest city.  After 150 years of encouraging people to walk the steps down to the Tube’s platforms, Johnson wants Londoners to stay topside and go for a ride.  Johnson, the wild-haired 48-year old Mayor announced last week a grand plan to invest nearly £1 billion to create a new and improved bicycle system in the capital.  “The big thing is to make London the most attractive city for cyclists,” said Johnson and not just for the lycra-wearing cyclist but for the “guy in a suit commuting to work.”  
 

Johnson hopes to deliver a clever network of bike lanes and trails beginning with “quietways” (existing roads less traveled by car will have speed limits reduced to 20 m.p.h.) from the outer suburbs that will bring people into the downtown.  Johnson mentioned that already cycling is up 20% in London without any major improvements and he is hoping this new system will keep people riding and encourage others—“someone with a bike in a cupboard”—to choose the bicycle.  The ultimate goal is to make cycling as a form of transportation “more attractive and safer,” said the mayor.  The quietways will lead to a much more improved “bicycle grid” in the center of London from which any destination in the city is possible.  The middle of London will have a 15 mile bicycle “super highway” and what Johnson claims will be the “longest urban cycle highway anywhere in Europe.”  

Cars are still the problem.  Oftentimes riders find them parked in the bike lanes and car drivers and bike riders are still searching for common ground in terms of right-away and proper yielding.  Is London a cycling utopia?  No, but with £1 billion it may be possible to build something that works.  Johnson, ever the bicycle advocate, revealed the day after the new bike system announcement that he is looking for all new e-bikes for the London Police.  The electric mountain bike or “e-bike” (pictured) would be battery powered and able to go faster than a criminal on the standard pedal-powered bike.  These new machines can even climb stairs.  With a full suspension and aluminum frame, the bike has a 36 volt battery and weighs in at 20.5 pounds.   The mayor sums it all up: “With criminals increasingly using (ordinary) bikes, e-bikes will keep the police one step ahead."

Please visit our website.  We love the Steel Line of Bikes from Bianchi.  Read our Bicycle Review at www.stickybottleteam.net.