Bike Omaha System Officially Open

With the ceremonial shredding of a ribbon, Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle officially declared Omaha's on-street bicycle route system open.

Read more about it on the Bike Omaha blog, including a route map, photos and video from the event.

Omaha Urban Cycling, and Early Look at 16th Street Bike Lanes

Tuesday over lunch I ran some errands by bike, and also rode up and down the new 16th Street bike lanes with the camera recording video from the handlebars.

Presented below are two videos with my comments added in.

The first video is me simply riding South 16th Street from Leavenworth Street to Douglas Street. This section is along a sort of "greenway". In the 80s, Omaha revitalized this area to make it attractive to shoppers, but it never really caught on. Most of the storefronts are empty, and the only real foot traffic there are people waiting to transfer buses. Almost all MAT routes transfer along this stretch of 16th Street. Here's a link to an interesting news story about future plans to turn 16th Street into a home for artists and galleries, with an eventual return of shops.



The second video is of me riding from 13th and Jackson Street to Capitol Avenue, then down the new bike lanes on North 16th Street to Cuming Street and then back to work. This one shows some typical stop and go traffic, and then a disturbing incursion into the new bike lanes. To the motorists' credit, the lanes are new, there are no signs up about them, and the traffic and parking lane work isn't done yet. The city took the pre-existing four lane road and converted it to two lanes, with a center turn lane, and a lane of parking on the outside. I'm sure motorists are used to driving in what is now a parking lane, so they are confused.



In closing, I'd like to say that the bike lanes are a small part of a much larger plan. They should not be regarded as an end product of the cycling transportation plan of Omaha. People will get used to them, cyclists will start using them, and the city will gradually come into its own at a truly bikeable community.

Also, please note that the videos are not created to serve some sort of vanity purpose for me. I want to show others what it's like to ride in Omaha on the streets, in hopes that others might take it up. Please let me know what you'd like to see in a bike video and perhaps I can get some interesting on-street footage.

Bike Commuting in Omaha: A Video Perspective

I've been commuting to and from work by bicycle for almost a year now. In my experience, it's always been a safe activity. I've not encountered many aggressive drivers. In fact, more often than not, I am passed with caution and occasionally waved through intersections by motorists who have the right of way. I've even received random words of encouragement.

Now I have proof that bike commuting in Omaha is a relatively safe mode of transportation. Using a home-made camera mount for my handlebars, I used a low-end digital camera to record a video of my ride home yesterday. In this video you will see many safe overtakes by automobiles, and general respect at traffic signs and signals.

The video runs about 10 minutes. I have edited it for time by speeding up the video to double-time. I also removed a little bit of some long stretches to help get it under the 10 minute limit imposed by YouTube. I added some annotations to provide some extra information and to try to keep it interesting. The distance is five miles, and the ride was about 25 minutes.

Over time, I may add some more videos showing early morning or night commutes, showcase area trails, and commuting in a variety of weather conditions. Feel free to leave comments, either here at the blog or on the YouTube video (direct link).

Omaha Cycling News Update

Thursday, March 26, 2009 I pedaled my bike to the First United Methodist Church at 69th and Cass to sit in on their monthly Sierra Club meeting. The topic was "Bicycling as Commuting" and was presented by many notable local authorities on the subject of cycling, community, and health.

First to speak was Stuart Shell, with RDG Planning and Design and a board member of the Community Bicycle Shop of Omaha. Stuart introduced the CBSO and reported on the wonderful work that they do to mentor Gifford Park children by teaching bike mechanics and promoting bike safety to the community.

Up second was Kerri Peterson, Executive Director of Our Healthy Communities Partnership. She spoke about how cycling can help treat some of the health problems affecting our society. Many modern health issues stem from inactivity. Other health issues are related to urban pollution, most of which comes directly from automobiles operating within the neighborhoods in which we live.

Finally, Marty Shukert, also with RDG and former Director of Planning for the City of Omaha, provided an update on the Omaha bikeway, tentatively called "Bike Omaha." Among other things, Marty mentioned:

• a logo has been designed to use on signage. It appears to be a circle with the top half showing a stylized image of the soon-to-be iconic image of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, and the bottom half showing a spoked bicycle wheel.
• the northen part of the 20-mile bikeway will be called the Fontenelle Route and will be the first part to be marked, possibly this year
• the central part will be called the Aksarben Route, and will include a sidepath "climbing lane" up Leavenworth between Saddle Creek Road and Elmwood Park. This will involve construction of a new sidewalk/sidepath
• Woolworth Avenue running through the Field Club will get proper shoulders
• the proposed Saddle Creek Road relocation project includes a bike lane
• the City of Omaha will consider incorporating bike lanes/paths as part of the transportation plan when building new roads, and more importantly, on reconstruction projects. This may be a shift in thinking where previously the City might not allocate street money to bike facilities unless bike money was specifically provided.

Before adjourning, another gentleman, whose name I didn't note, spoke on the Nebraska Legislative Bill 134. LB134 is a proposed change to the statutes of Nebraska that restrict natural resource districts in their ability to construct trails unless said trails are along a flood control system. This bill is in response to a planned path to connect Omaha and Lincoln via a trail. If this is important to you, please consider contacting your state legislator and ask them to vote no.

Some great things are happening in Omaha with respect to cycling as transportation. Be sure to get out and participate in the cycling community, and as always, keep pedaling.

Stuart Shell speaks about the Community Bike Shop of Omaha.


Kerri Peterson talks about the importance of living an active lifestyle.


Marty Shukert presents the latest information about Bike Omaha.



A possible design for the Bike Omaha logo and signage.


Proposed routes for the Bike Omaha system.

2008 In Review

2008 was my first year as a full time bike commuter. I'll use this post to close out the year, and speculate about what 2009 might bring.

The Beginning

July 14, Monday
In a lunchtime conversation with my friend Jeff, I learned that he had bought a new Cannondale F5 mountain bike over the weekend. That got me thinking about cycling. I had commuted for the better part of a Summer in Huntsville, Alabama in my late teens, so I was already familiar with the process, but didn't really know much about the equipment and techniques.

July 15, Tuesday
Schooled myself about what kind of bike I needed, and learned about bike commuting through sites like Commute By Bike and mapped potential routes using Map My Ride.

July 16, Wednesday
Walked into the Trek Omaha store and clearly stated what I wanted to do. They put me on a Trek 7300 with lights. They were out of racks, so I had to come back over the following weekend and pick it up.

July 17, Thursday
My first commute to work. This was a life changing event.

And then a lot of days...

I won't log every day here. I just wanted to recall how quickly this all came about. I'll summarize and say that in the same week that I got my bike, we got a MT 220 for my daughter, and the following week pick up another 7300 for my wife.

Over the Summer we participated in the Corporate Cup Challenge and took many pleasure rides. One way we found to encourage our daughter to ride was to buy her a book at Border's after every five rides, or to ride down to the neighborhood Arby's for a soda and some curly fries. Emily says that her friends almost didn't believe her when she described riding 20 miles in one day.

Commuting To Work

According my logs at Map My Ride, I've ridden a total of 1,554 miles since I started. If I keyword search on "commute," I see 1041 miles.

If you figure that my truck gets 20 MPG, then I've saved 52 gallons of gasoline. When I started bike commuting, gas was near $4 / gallon. Now it's under $2. If we say gas, on average, was $3 /gallon, then I could estimate that I've saved $156.

Parking downtown can be free, if you walk far enough, or $3 to $8 a day. Monthly parking at my employer cost about $80 a month. If we say that I've saved $3 a day since mid July, and that there are about 20 working days on average each month, then I've saved about $330 on parking.

Estimated saving in gas and parking for cycling to work are approximately $500 for my first half-year. You can see that it doesn't take long to pay off the cost of a decent bicycle.

I started July 17 at 213 pounds. Yesterday morning I was at 196 pounds. That a net loss of 17 pounds. Other than cycling, I'm not doing any extra exercise. I'm eating more, and feeling better. My blood pressure is well below normal, and my resting heart rate is lower than average. At my fattest several years ago, I was near 250 pounds, so this 196 feel good, though I know I can do better.

An Intro To Long Rides

In early October, my wife, Roxanne and I rode from our house, over the BK Bridge, and to the trailhead of the Wabash Trace. We rode a couple of miles down the trace and then came back home. Round trip, this was about a 42 mile ride. We simply ran out of time, having other things that needed our attention at home, or else we could have enjoyed more time on the trace. This ride proved to us that we could do some light touring. We're cooking up plans now to ride more of the trace, possibly staying overnight in a hotel or camp site somewhere along the way.

Utility Cycling

Roxanne and I both have rear racks. We also have a couple of the Trek Interchange Grocery Bags that can hold an amazing amount of groceries. If we completely load up with panniers and use bungee cords for stuff on the rack, we can each carry about 50 pounds of goods. In the warmer weather, we made several trips to our local Hy-Vee about two miles away. It's mostly downhill there, and uphill back. For the purposes of carting groceries, it would be nice if it were the other way around, but such is life.

Many trips and errands were made by bike. These include:

• eating out
• hardware store
• eating out
• bike shop
• eating out
  
• drug store
• eating out
• book store
• eating out
• visiting family
• eating out
• attended baseball game
• eating out
• optometrist
  
• and some eating out

Had Some Adventures

I've changed a flat, added studded tires for snow and ice, learned more about multi-modal bike-bus commuting, learned basic bike maintenance, become interested in bicycle/pedestrian advocacy, made some maps of the upcoming bike route system, discovered several routes and interesting neighborhoods between home and work, learned how to dress at -8°, learned a bit about my own body, and generally, learned that I can do anything that I set my mind to, all the while having a great time.

I even had a chance to glimpse how utility cycling is done in other places.

Getting out of my car and on to my bike in 2008 has literally been a life changing event.

Made Some Connections

Through cycling, I've been introduced to some incredible people, some I've met in person, and many only though the blogosphere. These folks have been encouraging, and even mentor-like in their passing down of hints, tricks, techniques and cycling specific knowledge.

Here's credit where credit is due:

• Jeff - I've known Jeff for perhaps 10 years. We both work downtown and meet often for lunch, trading bike stories, and encouragement. Jeff is a life long mountain biker, and commuted during the summer three days a week, at over 37 miles a day! We would sometimes form a "bike pool" and ride out of downtown together.

• Brady - I found Brady's blog when looking for information about cycling and bus transit. I'd never met Brady before, but knew who he was, as we both work for the same employer. He's often a first commenter on my blog, and we chat a little in the gym at work. Through his own blog and comments on mine, I've gotten invaluable information on gear and techniques for commuting.

• Munson - His blog is also a valuable source of information. In competition with Brady, Munson often comments on my blog posts. Munson seemingly has mastered the art of thrifty and resourceful riding. I think of him as the MacGyver of cycling. He knows all about gear and how to extend the usefulness and life of gear.

• Biker Bob - I met Bob briefly at a lecture on bicycling at UNO presented by Andy Clarke of the League of American Cyclists and John Burke, CEO of Trek Bicycles. Bob blogs a lot about cycling and also leaves useful comments.

The Omaha bike commuting has several bloggers, and many of them are exceptional in helping out folks with constructive and encouraging comments, as well as advice about routes, technique, and gear. I'm certain I am leaving some off, but here's a list:

• MTB Omaha
• Eric
• Bike Omaha
• Dale, T-Bone and others at Omaha Commute
• MOD

I look forward to meeting new cycling folks over the next year.

Looking Ahead To 2009

I can't really predict what 2009 will be like. I plan to get some dual purpose platform/clipless pedals and some proper cycling shoes. I expect to continue to ride to work everyday. I also expect to get out more on the weekends for some exercise and pleasure rides. If the last half of 2008 saw me at about 1,600 miles, then I think 3,000 to 5,000 miles wouldn't be out of the question for next year.

I'd like to bike more with my family, especially if we can get our teenage son to come with us.

In general, I just expect to continue biking it whenever I can for work and errands, and to perhaps do a little better on the exercise and diet front. I'm already vegan, but you'd be surprised how many junk foods are vegan.

Changes on way to ease Omaha's bike traffic - Omaha World Herald

Changes on way to ease Omaha's bike traffic

BY RICK RUGGLES
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Published Sunday, October 19, 2008

Omaha turns crabby when it comes to its treatment of bicyclists, the chairman of the city's bicycle advisory committee said Saturday.

Marty Shukert told the 2008 Omaha Bike Summit that this should begin to change with the addition of bicycle lanes and signs on certain streets next year.

The Omaha Bike Summit, organized by Bikeable Communities and Activate Omaha, was held at the National Park Service headquarters on the riverfront. About 40 people attended the morning sessions.

Shukert, chairman of the bicycle advisory committee created this year by Mayor Mike Fahey, said in an interview that Omaha currently rates poorly in its treatment of bicyclists.

Although the city has a good trail system, it has no lanes or designated bike routes, has poor bike racks and minimal bike parking.

Many motorists exhibit bad etiquette toward bicyclists, and some bicyclists have bad etiquette toward motorists, he said.

Shukert told the group that his consulting firm, along with Activate Omaha, has established a 20-mile bicycle system for east-west travel through the city. The map of the system is available in limited numbers at bicycle shops, Shukert said.

The advisory committee will recommend bicycle lanes and stripes, street signs, bicycle symbols painted on streets and other strategies to improve conditions for bicyclists. Shukert said two foundations have contributed a total of $600,000 for those items.

One is the Peter Kiewit Foundation, and the other asked to go unnamed, Shukert said.

Joe Gudenrath, a spokesman for the mayor, said several City of Omaha representatives are on the advisory committee.

The mayor wants the city to be more bicycle-friendly, so the proposals will receive serious consideration, Gudenrath said. Further, the $600,000 in private money will make it easier to implement those recommendations, he said.

"This is something that the mayor has taken an interest in for a number of years," Gudenrath said.

Shukert said he hopes to see paint on streets next spring.


• Contact the writer: 444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com

Omaha Bikeway Progress Report - Marty Shukert

Marty Shukert, a planner with the design firm of RDG Crose, Gardner, Shukert Inc., presented an update to the City of Omaha's plan to develop bike lanes and bicycle boulevards at the recent 2008 Omaha Bike Summit. Mr. Shukert was kind enough to give me permission to record and post his presentation on the Redd-Shift blog so that others may also enjoy it.

For a quick summary and an answer to the burning question of "When?", I will say that Mr. Shukert said we may see painted lanes and signage beginning in the Spring of 2009.

For more detailed information, please watch the video below.



For those of you who take your media on the go, download this for your portable media player (iPod format).

I apologize for the poor video quality. This is an amateur recording and did not faithfully capture the professional quality of the presentation. However, it is my hope that the information will be of use to the Omaha cycling community.

Special thanks for Activate Omaha and Bikeable Communities for organizing and sponsoring the 2008 Omaha Bike Summit, and to the National Park Services for the use of their meeting facilities at the Riverfront.

Omaha Mayor Fahey Kicks Off Bike to Work Week, Announces New Bike Plan

This is old news. However, in looking for resources on cycling in Omaha I came across this multi-contributer blog devoted to bicycle commuting in and around Omaha. This particular entry consists of citizen video and photo reporting at its best, made back in May 2008 when the Mayor kicked off the Bike To Work Week and the Activate Omaha Bicycle Commuter Challenge.

Check out the videos here.