To all our guests from near and afar:

Thanks for coming to 2 Broke 4 the Worlds and welcome to our fine city. The Big Easy, The Crescent City, The City Sobriety Forgot, The Dirty Dirty. We call it many things, but most of all, we call it home. We are stoked to have you here in our city, on our sofas, and thrashing our streets. Hospitality is what we do and we are glad to host and want this to be an awesome time for everyone. Let us know if you have unanswered questions, or need anything. It can probably be arranged, no matter how depraved or illegal it is. Remember, New Orleanians love having guests, but we hate tourists. So have fun, mind your P’s & Q’s, and be a good guest, not an obnoxious tourist.

If you are still reading this we assume that you are not a local so, let us start by saying how much we appreciate you traveling to participate in the first (annual?) 2 Broke 4 The Worlds! As you know we aren’t your mom and we aren’t your lawyer. Even if we are friends we’d rather not have to bail you out of jail, visit you in the hospital, or hold your hair out of the toilet so here is the quick 411 on how to do things right down here.

“The drivers down here are pretty reckless and do not give a

shit. You know those videos of lab animals going outside for the first time in their life? Thats how it seems some drivers act when they encounter someone on a bike. Downtown’s not so bad, but further out it gets weird. I highly encourage helmets.

Also, it’s completely flat here. Some parts are even below sea level. So if you want to change to a stiffer gearing there’s no hills to worry about.

Decently bright lights are good to have especially out of the Downtown area. Lots of streetlights don’t work.

Be aware of your surroundings. Some neighborhoods you can go two blocks and instantly be in a sketchy area. Really though, people can and have been mugged in any area at any time. I just don’t want y’all’s shit stolen, so be aware.”

Lay of the Land
The city was born along the Mississippi River and moved North toward Lake Pontchartrain over time. North/South differentiations are frequently made with the terms “lakeside” and “riverside”. The oldest parts of the city, and possibly the worst streets, therefore, are found in the river areas. From East to West, the Bywater, Marigny, French Quarter, CBD, Warehouse District, Garden District, Irish Channel, Uptown, and Carrolton line the river. These areas can be more generally divided into Downtown (Bywater to CBD/Warehouse District) and  Uptown (Garden District – Carrolton), with the Interstate overpass being the dividing line. Uptown is upriver of Downtown, and vice verse. Because of the way the river bends, streets that run “parallel” to the river are shorter the closer you get to Mid-City and City Park. This means, oftentimes the fastest way to get somewhere is to cut back in (north below Mid-City, South above) towards the center of the city to take a shorter East-West course to your desired North-South thoroughfare.

I think of the city as being much like a dartboard or a wagonwheel. City Park (2nd biggest park in the US, after Central Park!) is the bull’s eye, or the hub of the wheel. At the South side of the park is Mid-City. Bayou St. John begins (or ends?) at the base of Jefferson Davis Parkway, and meanders North towards the lake, winding its way down the East side of the park, until it connects to Lake Pontchartrain. From Mid-City, any other area of the city is accessible in a very short ride. North-South(Roughly) thoroughfares such as Esplanade, Orleans, Jefferson Davis and Carrollton connect the park and Mid-City to different sections along the river.

North of Mid-City, surrounding the park and lining the lakefront are the lake neighborhoods. This area is largely residential. While it boasts some really gorgeous views, there is not much going on out here besides seafood restaurants and the University of New Orleans.

Event Locations
Half Moon – 1125 St Mary St  New Orleans, LA 70130. Half Moon is in the Lower Garden District, where Magazine Street collides with (or tears itself away from) Camp Street and becomes one-way. It is on St. Mary, 1 block on the lakeside (North) of Magazine, 1 block East of the split. Half Moon has Skeeball and a kitchen open really late, plus a nice patio.

Jackson Square/St. Louis Cathedral is a frequent starting point for alleycats. The Square is located on Decatur Street (700 block), across from the River in the middle (East-West) of the French Quarter. Bikes are not allowed in the Square or the streets adjacent to it. Alleycats often start between the Cathedral and the Square, or in Pirate’s Alley or one of the other alleyways connecting the pedestrian thoroughfares to regular streets. Occasionally the cops will hassle you for being on a bike in these pedestrian areas, and at an alleycat last Fall, scooter cops attempted to stop racers on their way out of the Square. Good try, fellas.

R-Bar – 1431 Royal St  New Orleans, LA 70116 -On the corner of Royal and Kerlerec, R-Bar is the only bar I know of where you can also get a haircut ($10 gets you a shot and a haircut. Score!). A couple blocks south of the madness of Frenchmen, this place is open way late, has a well stocked bar, and is frequented by a good crowd. They are always playing really freaky movies, so if you’re not feeling really chatty just get weird with the TV. Across the street there is a sweet porch-plus-stoop affair on a house that is well kept, but permanently uninhabited. With the Esplanade Mini-Mart right down the street, this is one of my favorite brown bag spots.

Tools of the Trade
Need some spare tubes? Want a new frame to take home as a souvenir? Whatever it is, you can find it at one of these bike shops, our top choices in their respective areas.

DOWNTOWN
Bicycle Michael’s – 10:00-18:00OPEN ALL WEEKEND! Closed Wednesdays
622 Frenchmen St  New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 945-9505
This is one of my favorite shops in the city and this year they are celebrating their 30th anniversary. I went to high school with Michael’s daughter and have been going here for a long time. These guys are always down to sponsor alleycats, etc for YYR, including Friday night’s Goldsprints at Half Moon (Thanks guys!). This is where I go to buy (or order) STUFF. They have tons of parts and accessories, literally anything you could want, across a lot of brands and price points. On top of that they employ a solid bay of mechanics.

MID-CITY
Bayou Bicycles – 10:00-18:00 Closed Sunday
3530 Toulouse St  New Orleans, LA 70119
(504) 488-1946
This is where I take my bikes to get work done on them. Consistently awesome service by really nice guys. We ride with a few guys from this shop all the time, and we know that they know their shit. You can get anything you need here, but because they are a Specialized dealer, the majority of the inventory is Specialized stuff. Lots of really high end machinery to ogle if you’re into that sort of thing.

UPTOWN
The Bike Shop New Orleans – 10:00-18:00 Closed Sundays
4711 Freret St. New Orleans, LA 70115
504-265-8071
An extremely approachable bike shop staff, and generous sponsors of YYR’s last alleycat. When people tell me they are looking to buy a bike, I send them here. Outside of Craigslist, I think this is the best place to shop used bikes. This shop is pretty new and while they stock all the essentials, inventory here is hit or miss. Being a used bike shop on the outskirts of a college campus means this shop caters to more casual cyclists not looking to break the bank, so no really fancy stuff here.

OTHER
Plan B: The New Orleans Community Bike Project
Mon 17:00-21:00 Th 16:00-20:00 Sat 11:00-15:00 (Fri = Ladies, trans, sissy only 17:00-20:00)
Plan B is a community bike shop.  You can go here and use their stands and tools to wrench on your bike. This is free, although donations are always cool. They also have a motley assortment of parts for sale. Many a good bargain can be found, although many of the parts fall into the beater range of the quality scale.