American Sideshow Has Fallen For...
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New Orleans Bicycles
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There’s no doubt about it, New Orleans is a sensual, steamy, slightly sinister and always entertaining city that is best seen on two wheels rather than four.  We’ve had our share of disaster, but to live in this city is to love it.  Maybe that’s why we peddle our rusty bikes the wrong way down Charter Street, we’re too busy breathing in all the troubled beauty to care about anything else. 

You’ll be able to hold this emotion in both hands with New Orleans Bicycles, a photographic smorgasbord of the Crescent City’s most democratic and expressive mode of transportation.  These bikes reveal the true character of this city - neither glitzy or pretentious, often decrepit and deflated - but always full of passion and flair. 

In a candid interview, I had the good fortune of speaking with the book’s creators, Mary Richardson and Nicholas Costarides.  It turns out they know a thing our two about our city’s two-wheeled street vixens. 
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Sideshow:  Your book is a beautiful display of both the beauty and decay of New Orleans.  What brought you to the city in the first place?  Was it jazz, booze, the love of a strong woman, or just the intoxicating waftings of a hot muffuletta?

NC: Thanks. Technically, I moved to New Orleans because of an unlikely job offer. But what really brought me there was a desperation to change my stale environment and force myself to do something completely different. Walking/ biking around New Orleans was very inspiring and felt like a rebirth. Even sitting in a simple coffee shop seemed very special to me. I appreciated the fact that the city was not trying to be weird for weird’s sake or searching for the next big thing. Everything was very organic and natural and the best aspects of the city were practically free.

MR: Thanks very much, we think so too. As far as being drawn to the city, it’s always been in my radar. I’m from Louisiana originally. I grew up in a small town on the bayou. The town is pretty sheltered, and even though it was only an hour’s drive, growing up it seemed far away. So to me, New Orleans seemed this mystic, crazy, fantasy land that was basically in my backyard but yet somehow unreachable. I left home when I was 17 and ended up in New Orleans three years later. I immediately adopted it as my hometown. It’s the accepting nature of the city, it’ll take anyone and everyone. I’ve never felt so uninhibited in my life.

Sideshow: Because the city is surrounded by water, New Orleanians have always felt somewhat isolated from the rest of the country, resulting in our infamous laissez-faire attitude.  Do you think that’s what gives us the freedom to express our selves so freely? 

MR: I don’t know if I think the surrounding water is what contributes to the detached attitude. I think it’s more the lifestyle that just perpetuates itself, and the economy. When you’ve got this booming, bustling city full of money that consequentially draws in young “mover-and-shaker” types, who in turn create and demand certain social standards and also keep up with all the hype in New York and the West Coast. When that segment of the population is deleted from the picture, there’s really not a whole lot of pressure to chase after pop culture. That’s my best guess why it’s become such a haven for creative types and those who want to escape metropolitan lifestyle without living in the middle of nowhere. I guess that’s where the isolation comes in. But to me, that’s a good thing. I mean you can’t go to New York and not be “tapped in.” People just wouldn’t understand you.

Sideshow: Like an obsession with a first love, most bike owners have a style preference they stick with forever. Are you two more “banana seat with daisy basket” or “ten-speed nut-splitter with titanium toe clamps”?

MR: Well, the only bike I ever had in New Orleans was this old white Raleigh road bike from the ‘70s. It was a huge clanker and a lot of it was held together with springs or pieces of wire. I didn’t really decorate it but it had been around the block. I think it had 10 speeds but I never tried to switch them. I knew it wouldn’t survive in Atlanta so I left it to my roommate, but unfortunately, it died in Katrina. RIP. Now I drive a blue Peugeot touring bike, also from the ‘70s, but it’s in pretty good shape, so it can handle the hills. I guess I’m a sucker for that decade.

Sideshow: New Orleans Bicycles was completed before Katrina, but released a year later.  What went through your minds on the morning of August 29th, 2005?

MR: I can’t possibly name all the things that were racing through my head, but the big ones were: Is my family okay? Are my friends out safely? Will I ever see that city again?

NC: I was shocked. People in New Orleans were way too proud to believe that this event could actually happen. Then I was completely nauseous from watching our government fail on every level. So many people suffered and perished because a few elected people could not make some very simple and obvious decisions.
 
Sideshow: As far as photogenic treasure troves go, your book really struck it rich.  While you were working on the project, did you come across any other subjects in town that you felt the need to immortalize?

NC: Again, thank you. There's so much in New Orleans that's worth documenting. It’s the things that are allowed to exist, either because of neglect or because only New Orleans culture would allow it to, making it unique to that city. All things that would not be tolerated or functional or possible in other cities is what we like to focus on. The roots of oak trees busting through the sidewalk, old crumbling homes that should be abandoned…the list goes on. All these commonplace, man-made things that coexist and eventually merge with the swampy environment. It transforms into a unique visual vocabulary. Bicycles are a part of that.

Sideshow: Andrei Codrescu is easily the most passionate and lyrical spokesman for this city.  How did you get a man who drove a 1968 Cadillac across America’s heartland to write about the more humble “two-wheeler with tinsel”?  Did it in any way involve a double absinth at Molly’s?

MR: That’s funny, I didn’t know about that trip. But there was no coaxing involved on our part. I think you can tell from Codrescu’s essay that he has a number of personal connections to the bikes through close friends. And being the spokesman that he is, I think it was natural for him to want to use his voice to recognize the role that bikes play in New Orleans.

Sideshow: New Orleanians love to gab.  Which bicycle owner had the best story and how many involved either a lost love, a police “altercation,” or the secret ingredient of their Momma’s gumbo?

NC: We actually didn't talk to the owners. Part of that was shyness.
Another factor was that we didn't want anyone to tell us to stop.
Also, these bikes speak for themselves in a way that the owner
couldn't do with words. These bikes tell you what their name is, what they've been up to, what they're like. The story is all there and it's ok if it doesn't match reality.

Sideshow: If this book instigates a bicycle revolution, what will be the title of your manifesto?

NC: A manifesto seems so cold.  I would make an effort to write personalized letters with intros like "Dear Kate, your Saturn dealer doesn't really love you..."

MR: If I had one wish it would be for a bicycle revolution to happen in my lifetime. As far as a manifesto, if I wrote it, it would be this:
Bicycles: The Past is the New Future.  As poster-children for self-reliance, we recognize that bicycles will take you as far as you have the strength to go. In this recognition, we become more powerful than if we were armed with money and weapons. By refusing to contribute to a culture of waste, consumerism and incessant want, we wish to end war and competition between ourselves as Americans and with other countries. We refuse to partake in all activities that make us weak and scared and vulnerable to corruption. We refuse to indulge in unnecessary luxuries that destroy nature and perpetuate lust for money and possessions. We pledge only to consume what we need and to utilize only our own energy as transportation. Also, we also pledge to apply this philosophy of self-reliance and non-consumerism to other areas whenever possible, including horticulture, philanthropy and craftsmanship.

Sideshow: Can you sum up this magical city in one juicy sales pitch for anyone who is still on the fence about a future visit?

NC: It's impossible to sum up New Orleans in a few words or even a few pictures. The city just can't be pigeonholed like that. But even with that said, New Orleans is the most beautiful metropolitan city in America.  
  
                      New Orleans Bicycles by Mary Richardson and 
                Nicholas Costarides with an intro by Andrei Codrescu  
             Mark Batty Publisher, Page Count: 128, Size: 8 x 9 inches 
          Format: Paperback  Publication Date: December 2006, $14.99  
           ISBN: 0-9779850-0-8  Category: Urban Studies, Photography

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Diana Grove's American Sideshow doesn’t have a bicycle yet, but when we get one, you can be sure it will be decorated with plenty of Barbie heads and metalic fringe.