We talk about gridlock, those dreaded instances of “carmageddon,” and the poor layout of the city and its road infrastructure. Yet most of Baton Rouge still hunkers down inside cars every day, determined to get through rush hour the only way we know how.
Our ill-placed love of the road shows: The non-profit research group TRIP released figures in March that say Baton Rouge drivers spend $2,466 annually because of congestion, deteriorating roads and otherwise unsafe driving conditions. Our individual costs are the highest in the state.
On the flip side, though, there are people just like you and me in Baton Rouge who actually ride their bikes to work every day. Crazy, right?
What’s really crazy is their commute to work is probably less stressful and much healthier than yours.
We talked to Mark Martin, local bike advocate, member of Bike Baton Rouge and a guy who gets around chiefly by bike, for his tips.
SIGN OF THE TIMES: Still think Baton Rouge isn’t a bikeable city? Here are some things that might change your mind.
• The North Boulevard portion of the Downtown Greenway was finished earlier this year, providing a gorgeous walking and biking path through downtown. The next phases of the Greenway will connect it to City Park.
• The city is rolling out a bike share program this fall with the first phase including 500 bikes at 50 docking stations.
• BREC’s master plan aims to close the gaps between bike paths and shared bike lanes throughout the city, making it possible to get virtually anywhere by bike.
• Groups like Bike Baton Rouge, Geaux Ride and the Wonder South brand host regular events that include group bike rides day and night.
• The Government Street redesign will soon make it much more bike friendly in response to community support.
• Mark Martin, who we interviewed for this story, hosted his 225th visiting cyclist (actually, a family of four from Iceland) through the online community Warm Showers. He’s hosted touring bicyclists from China, France, England and four different states who have stopped here on their cycling trips. They all got to enjoy the city by bike, he says.
MARK MARTIN ON HOW TO RIDE IN BATON ROUGE:
• Get a bike and learn how to operate it safely.
• Worry about the cycling gear and the helmet after you’ve mastered the bike. “A helmet is not going to protect you from yourself.”
• Study a map. Don’t use GPS or Google Maps to show you the way—they can’t often be trusted for correct routes.
• Begin with small trips to learn navigation and build up to longer distance trips.
• Explore the streets to discover which routes work best for you.
• Don’t treat it just as exercise. Use your bike to get you places as an alternative to your car. “It’s not punishment.”
• “If you discover through all this that it would be really nice to have some kind of infrastructure to help you ride your bike from your neighborhood [to other places], tell the people of the city that you would like to see that happen. They’re tired of me telling them.”
• For more info, check out Bike Baton Rouge, bikebr.org, and the city’s online biking and pedestrian tool, brgov.com/BikeBR.
Click here to get back to our Baton Rouge home base.
This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.
