Man, I just checked out Trailforks and wow, Louisiana is definitely not a MTB-friendly state. Holy cow.
If you have a car, and willing to drive to Baton Rouge to ride dirt, I'd start here:
http://www.bramba.org/
But I was not able to find you a bike rental in BR. F that town.
Ok back to Nola. I have rented a bike there before. But it's been so long I don't think that shop is in business any longer.
The city is not ultra bike-friendly. I would consider something like this worst case:
https://nolacycles.com/
Just to get around and enjoy it.
Actually maybe it was this shop. No pics so I can't say for sure.
https://www.bikerentalneworleans.com/bicycle-rental-rates/
But they do have road bikes there.
I have 2 coworkers that live there so I can ask them if they know anyone who rides and if so, to try to hook you up with a group of some kind. It's a long-shot, but if you want I can send an email to them.
I was down there for a week about two years ago and brought my road bike. I had previously ridden from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.
The riding down there is pretty horrible. Those Saturday morning rides may be OK but they seem to be an out-and-back from the city.
My 46 mile road ride doing basically the perimeter of New Orleans proper and going through the city park, riding on the levee https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1084070780
It mostly sucked, urban areas, airport road nearly getting killed by cars going 80mph. Interesting ride but not worth doing again.
IF you bike down there I'd treat it more as a sightseeing ride than anything else, not a great road ride, not a great workout. The bike did allow me to see parts of the city I wouldn't normally have seen such as City Park. Also it's a nice way to get around the Garden District, see the river/levee, Tulane etc.
It's too flat and wet down there for MTB.
If I was going back down I'd be more than happy to have a singlespeed comfortable bike just to cruise all the quiet neighborhoods.
Thanks for the info. We are there for four days, but I haven't missed riding on a Sunday since 2015. I want to keep my streak going. I will probably try to get out on a Sunday morning at 6:00am, so hopefully it won't be too traffic-y. That does look like an interesting ride. I may try to do your ride..I was down there for a week about two years ago and brought my road bike. I had previously ridden from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.
The riding down there is pretty horrible. Those Saturday morning rides may be OK but they seem to be an out-and-back from the city.
My 46 mile road ride doing basically the perimeter of New Orleans proper and going through the city park, riding on the levee https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1084070780
It mostly sucked, urban areas, airport road nearly getting killed by cars going 80mph. Interesting ride but not worth doing again.
IF you bike down there I'd treat it more as a sightseeing ride than anything else, not a great road ride, not a great workout. The bike did allow me to see parts of the city I wouldn't normally have seen such as City Park. Also it's a nice way to get around the Garden District, see the river/levee, Tulane etc.
It's too flat and wet down there for MTB.
If I was going back down I'd be more than happy to have a singlespeed comfortable bike just to cruise all the quiet neighborhoods.
This is the most awesome thing ever!!!!!You might want to try spinlister. It’s the Airbnb of bike rental.
Thanks for the info. We are there for four days, but I haven't missed riding on a Sunday since 2015. I want to keep my streak going. I will probably try to get out on a Sunday morning at 6:00am, so hopefully it won't be too traffic-y. That does look like an interesting ride. I may try to do your ride..
It looks like there are a couple of roads that parallel that road. i will double check the route with a Strava heat map and see how it goes. Thanks again for all the info. If you think of anything else, don't hesitate to let me know.Note that I went through the airport road, pretty clear on my map. It was the worst part of the whole ride and I would avoid it if possible.
-WWII Museum is awesome
-Find a Crawfish Boil if possible
-See the different parts of the city. I enjoyed staying in the Garden District for a week on the trolley line.