Campus

Street Highlights: Myrtle Dr, Dalrymple Dr, Stadium Dr

In this installment of Bicyclette Rouge we take a ride to the campus of Louisiana State University. Not only does this University house the hallowed halls where the brightest minds in South Louisiana go to learn, but it is also home to the even more hallowed Tiger Stadium, also known as Death Valley.


Confession: I have never been to an LSU football game. Granted I have watched on TV and even tailgated around the premises, but in my four years schooling there and the subsequent four years residing here in Baton Rouge I have failed to attend. I just can't get too excited to see kids many years younger than I run around fields as they also try to get an education.

However many people do. I hope to show you a great bike path, which is already in place, and maybe a few tricks to navigate safely on game day. Though know now that my destination is not yours. As in many times before, and many times still, I journey out on any given Saturday to the offices of KLSU radio station; B-39 in the basement of Hodges Hall on LSU Campus, in the Shadow of Tiger Stadium.




You'll see a familiar theme leaving my neighborhood. As usual I navigate to a light to cross Government street and quickly duck into a side street and zig-zag Southwest to the Garden District.










While attending college there I worked at the campus radio station, KLSU. I worked there for three year starting my sophomore year and did mostly DJing, but also rose to be Station Manager. As one of the perks of my managerial position I got to host a specialty show featuring country music, The Cosmic Cowboy. It was once called Truer Sound when I took it over, but the name stuck and now my good friend, Android Loyd, hosts. It's his show now, I just enjoy sitting in and sharing music. I bring my laptop computer, some CD's, and a couple of vinyl in a nifty little trunk/pannier on my rack.






Ducking into Garden District via Myrtle St, as I do on a daily basis, I will now pass by what will soon become a milestone on my daily commute; my old friend, Rikki, just placed a very generous bid on a house here on Myrtle Dr. I think she has it now, but you know how these things go. It can go either way. I will pass by her house now on my way to work. Which is strange because at one time I drove by her house at a different location on a different commute.




Myrtle will take us through the serene Garden District and onto our main artery to campus, Dalrymple Dr. However, it is called Park St where we are, and changes shortly. It is a very popular street and a lovely bike path was built along it all the way to the gates of LSU campus.




Lovely might not be the right word. Parts of it are divine. The newer part that runs through the Garden District is well paved and organized, but older parts near the LSU lakes are in drastic disrepair. If you can see where I-10 hits Dalrymple you know the cut-off point. I don't know what the planners of this city were thinking. At one point they have two lanes of bike paths, one going north with traffic and one going south. Then we hit the highway and there is a stop sign on the bike path marking a bike Xing zone so that we may merge across traffic into the other bike lane.








When you hit the narrow lane between the two larger lakes, you have passed through the entrance to campus. At this point many people take a right at a light onto State Street. State is another hippie ghetto of LSU campus. Many students live on the periphery of campus here as the rent is cheap and the parties unending. But to get to Tiger Stadium itself, or the station in my case, we will stay on Dalrymple into the belly of the beast.









Crossing the major intersection, Highland Road, puts us deep into campus territory and mark the end of our bike path. The sidewalk is nice and smooth and a myriad of parking lots connect the different areas of campus, but sidewalks are for tailgaters and anything with wheels belongs on the road. Out of the Sidewalks an onto the Streets! If there are no cars on the street the ride can be smooth, but there are always cars on the street on game days. Anyone who has been in the area during an LSU football game can tell you that on any given Saturday the infrastructure of Baton Rouge is severely tested. Parking is auction off to the highest bidder or improvised semi-legally and sometimes both. Do yourself a favor and use pedal power.


As busy as it seems, stay on Dalrymple. It curves to the left at the old Huey P Long Fieldhouse. Eventually the LSU guards will secure the area and block off vehicles of the 4-wheeled variety. One day I needed to report to the station so a friend (Rikki coincidentally) dropped me off as close as possible and I walked the rest of the way. That day I naively wore a black shirt and at this exact location I was a small, black gnat amidst a sea of purple and gold. I am confident I was visible from space.



You will come to a cute little round about and there is Stadium Drive. Down this hill on the right is the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (PMAC) and Mike the Tiger's Cage, on the left Tiger Stadium and the basement of Hodges Hall home of KLSU radio Station. Have a good time on campus. Enjoy the majestic oaks and the beauty of LSU. Don't dink and drive and if you are so inclined, tune into 91.1 KLSU radio station for some good olde timey music. Keep in mind, however, that KLSU cannot legally broadcast any Tiger football related material, as that is contracted to another radio station.





View Larger Map