Our shows have been great here! I feel like we are a well-oiled chain turning round and round on the bicycle of the stage when we perform now. It will be hard and sad to let go of our creation, but the only constant is change and the day of the dead is past and so is our show. Except for one more time around in Baton Rouge! I am so glad we got a chance to separate and now come back together for a final pedal together to one more location.

Last night we met up with a bunch of bikers from all over the country and world down by the river to play. It was dark and windy and there was a lot of confusion about where we were supposed to be, so we just picked a spot and the tougher members of our audience sat on the cold ground with their bikes parked near by. As I was performing, I noticed a tall-bike that looked like a fish parked across the way from where we were, a little red light for its eye. People in our group were mad and feeling dissed by the distraction and pulling apart phenomena I just described above, when the time for the show was just NOW and we busted it out with so much passion and power that I could hardly sleep.

After the show, I heard that one of the people there was biking down to South America, and that others were there from Canada, pedal-powered. Bike culture is strong in New Orleans and distance-bikers seem to be drawn here. I visited the common ground community bike shop and got an interview with one of the organizers the other day. Bikes just make sense as a real form of transportation when the public bus system isn't working. Many, many people jumped on bikes after the storm because it was the only way they could get around in any sort of speedy fashion.

I'll send out one more email from baton rouge, but thank you for reading my stories and accounts and for all the love you have sent us as we pedaled.

love, thistle