Recovery czar, Ed Blakely, will take a bike tour of Gentilly on Saturday to chart a course for the revitalization of the neighborhood. He will be joined by New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, who will focus on points of interest along the route.

Blakely said in January that after reviewing preliminary neighborhood plans, he intended to bicycle through the city's neighborhoods, talking to residents and getting a detailed view of life in Gentilly, eastern New Orleans, Lakeview and the 9th Ward. This will be the first of those bike tours.

The tour begins at 11 a.m. at a shopping center on Elysian Fields Ave at Gentilly Blvd. Cyclists will head west, turning right at Norman Mayer Ave., then merge into St. Anthony Avenue. They will then head north and make a right at Mirabeau Ave., then continue to Elysian Fields and turn right again onto Gentilly Blvd. The tour will end at Dillard University???s Chapel.

Residents who are not interested in biking may attend a briefing at the Dillard chapel at noon, where Blakely will discuss his impressions and gather input from residents.

All Gentilly residents with bicycles are invited to join in. For more information call Hedge-Morrell???s office at 504-658-1040.

Labels: bike tours, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, recovery