Omaha Bike Commuter

Waiting and Waiting to Get Back to It

2012-01-18T16:01:00.002-06:00

Hello all,

Sorry the posts have been sparse as of late. First, it was the holidays, then I got ill with some sort of flu (I think of the swine variety), and lastly, we've seen negative temps in the morning.

I promise to get back on the bike soon. I won't let you down. Until then you can read about good news in bikes:

Here

and

Here

Good job guys.

Linktacular Local Bicyclular Blog

2012-01-11T13:45:00.001-06:00

Today we return to the local cycling situation. Here in the Big O (Sorry if you thought I was speaking of this Big O) we host the World Series every year. Not the big show but of the NCAA variety. For the Big O, it's a Big Deal. It brings a lot of people to town who like to drink a lot of booze and eat a lot of food and pretty much rape and pillage with impunity. Last year was the first year this event was hosted in a new downtown ballpark. A really nice place that replaced an aging relic out south.

With the surrounding, dinning, lodging and entertainment, this new ballpark couldn't be situated better. But Omaha likes to make things difficult. Omaha wants to limit access for pedicabs and horse-drawn carriages to the area around the ballpark. The easiest and quickest way to connect the ballpark to the Old Market, which is the city's dinning and entertainment district, is now being asked to step aside for the overpriced, less efficient 4-wheeled variety of the same transportation. This ban only applies during the World Series.

Not so fast though, the city council has decided to delay the vote on the ban.

This city has a car(d)-on for some reason. How about going the opposite way and banning cars/suvs/buses from the area around the ballpark and giving the fans a pedestrian friendly event. The Old Market area, the Midtown Crossing area, the Aksarben area are developments in Omaha that should be closed to car traffic affording a pedestrian friendly enclave.

Anyway, i hope to see the city do the right thing. I doubt they will, but a compromise is better than a nopromise.

Down in the capital city, the city council did the right thing and left a downtown bicycle lane alone. The lane is not a favorite among cyclists or drivers, as the lane is down the middle of the one way street. But a lane is better than no lane.

I like to link to the comments section of these types of articles as the worst of the pro-car anti-bike zealots make me laugh. See the comment section here (story here).

Ride safe.

Due to an extended illness ...

2012-01-10T11:47:00.000-06:00

... I have been unable to commute via two wheel human powered safety bicycle. I have been commuting this week via a big huge petrol guzzling SUV.

Everyone in my house is sick. Sick wife. Sick child. Sick me. It's called a circle of sickness. And as a bonus, the weather is supposed to turn to crap starting tomorrow. Finally, a winter.

Anyway, here are two pics I took the past two days:

Let the Sun Shine In

2012-01-05T16:19:00.001-06:00

What a day. According to my phone, it is 66 degrees F. Really wish I was out on the mountain bike trail instead of sitting in my cubicle. Booooooo. At work, we have a nice patio where people can eat or hang (or smoke, blaaaaa) and it butts up to the multi-use trail. I went out and relaxed for a bit. Counted at least 20 cyclists streaming by. Jealous.

Biking in the New Year

2012-01-04T11:13:00.000-06:00

Bike lanes seem to be the new hot topic here in Omaha and Lincoln. Whether it's adding, keeping or destroying the lanes, the real entertainment happens when you read through the comments section of the articles.

Here is an article out of Lincoln about keeping the bike lane in downtown. I think it's great that they want to keep the lane, although it's a ridiculous design stretching down the middle of the road. Not many cars or buses give riders a second thought and cross through or drive in this lane. Still lane is better than no lane.

Here is an article from Omaha's paper about adding a protected bike lane to the downtown streets. I am not a huge fan of protected bike lanes as the shield cyclists from the view of motorists until the intersection, which is the most dangerous place. But again, I am happy the discussion is out there.

As with both articles, be sure to check the comments for great arguments coming from the cagers.

And last but not least, Yehuda and the Kickstand Gang are back with fresh strips Monday through Friday.

This time you need to join the club. It's $1 a month and well worth it.

Ride safe.

Back and as Lazy as Ever

2012-01-03T10:13:00.000-06:00

Hello one and, well, one or maybe no one. Hello ... o ... o ... o ...

Sorry for the lack of posts during the past week or so. I had a busy holiday. I was sick as hell. I got married to my wife for a second time. I had 10 days off of work. During the 10 days, I rode my bike 0 days. I got fat and lazy during the holidays. Welcome to America!

Above is the view of the parking lot at work that I parked my vehicle that I drove into work today. Fat and Lazy start to the new year, like a good American.

Hope everyone had a great holiday stretch and now GET BACK TO WORK!

Due to Illness ...

2011-12-23T10:39:00.000-06:00

I will not be posting anything today. And sorry about the week. Stomach illness.

While you wait, why don't you check this out:

No thanks!

Nooner

2011-12-20T15:52:00.000-06:00

Not that kind, perv.

My cage had to go into the shop on Sunday from what appears to be too little driving. Well today it was fixed. I decided to hightail it outta work early to go pick her up. It was an 8 mile route. The temp was 30 and the wind out of the north. I did the route in 40 minutes, which is OK considering it may have well been the Alps.

Oh how it must be nice to be a commuter in a flat city.

Here's how the day started:

And here's how the day ended:

Peace out hommies.

What, Who, the Bazooka was who ..

2011-12-19T11:27:00.000-06:00

... and to my rescue was the S1W. Hello all! Yes it has been awhile since our last encounter. But I am back. So, no need to fret. I will hold you and cuddle you and call you George.

Anyway ... we had a bit of bad rainy cold weather here and I decided to keep my health for the holidays. But I am back in the saddle again.

It was a bit slippery this morning out in the streets. I witnessed a cager take a corner at high speed and lose it on the black ice. The car was about 50 yards in front of me. The back end fishtailed at speed, he over corrected, the car fishtailed the other direction, aimed right for a telephone pole, he corrected again, missed the pole by inches and shot into oncoming traffic. Luckily the oncoming traffic saw what was happening and slowed, then stopped. This guy had at least 3 misses by inches. WOW. Good morning. Finally, he aimed the car down the road, in the correct lane, and went on to change his poop-stained pants.

My ride was much better.

Peace.

Due to Rain ...

2011-12-15T13:26:00.000-06:00

... I have decided not to post yesterday. Today's post will also be limited due to:

But don't let that stop you if you're thinking of venturing out into the thick of it.

One reason to head out today from 7-9 pm is brought to you by the good people at the Community Bike Project Omaha. Don't know who the Community Bike Project Omaha are?? Well get over here and read up. They're a great organization helping spread the goodwill of bikes to those who may not of experienced it otherwise.

Hey guys and gals, RIDE SAFE AND HAVE FUN!

Fenderlicious

2011-12-13T12:27:00.001-06:00

Thanks to a pairing of Groupon and Greenstreet Cycles, I FINALLY gots me some fenders on the winterbike.

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to purchase instead of fabricate. The fabrication attempt consisted of old fender hardware and bent clothes hangers. This is as far as I got:

The next step was to acquire either coroplast or landscaping boarder for the actual fenders. I still like the idea of coroplast. It's lightweight and cheap. BUT, it seems like a chore to go out and find some (SEE: lazy)(Just you wait until next November, though!!).

Then, I realized I had a Groupon sitting unused. A quick call to the LBS to check the stock. Boom.

Hours later, I had the last set of Planet Bike Cascadia 29er Fenders.

Hours after that, and after some cramming and knuckle scraping, I had the fenders installed.

I have to admit, I veered toward the puddles on the commute to work this morning. Worked as intended as expected.

I will randomly post updates on how they hold up through the winter.

Until then ride safely, and keep the rubbery side on the ground.

Post Postponed until Tomorrow

2011-12-12T15:36:00.001-06:00

I didn't get much sleep this weekend due to a 2 year old insomniac. I did attempt to mock-up a set of fenders for the winter bike. BUT, in the end I decided to go with the Planet Bike Cascadia 29er Fenders.

Pictures to come, I promise. As for now, sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

When Hell Freezes Over ...

2011-12-09T15:16:00.001-06:00

What a mess. When you commute to work in weather like this AND you don't have fenders, your bike ends up looking like this:

Nice coating of snow and sludge. So, this weekend I might busy myself coming up with a 29er DIY fender set. I have two old sets of fenders and hardware in the parts bin, so that's a start. Also, we have plenty of empty $6-a-gallon organic milk jugs (Only the best for the baby!).

I will post updates as the project proceeds.

It may have been an ugly ride up, but once I got into the park the ride took a turn for the better. I love the downhill portion of the ride, through the snow. Once at the bottom, parts of the park looked like this:

As you can see, we got a wee bit of snow.

The sun is out now, but the temp is still well below freezing. I may take an alternate route home, just to mix it up and stay on the flatter portion of the planet.

Don't forget tonight is the Omaha Bikes winter bike and see the lights and eat burgers and drink beer ride.

So get out there and ride, but do it with some decorum and safety please.

Living in the Majority

2011-12-08T11:23:00.001-06:00

Caged it in AGAIN today. It does give me a change to run some much needed errands (See: wife needs groceries).

Also, we are due for another snow storm this afternoon.

By the evening, the bike rack could look like this:

So, I can't wait for tomorrow's commute! I absolutely love riding in the snow. It's like playtime.

Biketacularness!

2011-12-07T10:03:00.001-06:00

Good morning fellow commuters in arms. Heat wave coming through today. We can expect highs in the low 30s! Wow. It was another fun ride in this morning, through the snow laden fields. It feels good to feel like a kid on a bike again.

The street crews did a great job following the snow storm and most of the main arteries are a clear as a sun-streaked summer day.

If you're looking for something biketacular on Friday night, Omaha Bikes is riding around looking at Christmas lights. They have 3 different routes to choose from.

While kicking it around on Omaha Bikes site, I noticed they have a Winter Cycling Guide. You may as well check that out too while you're there.

Have fun, stay warm, and keep the shiny side up (unless of course you have shiny studded tires, then keep them down.).

It's Why They're Called the Better Half ...

2011-12-06T13:20:00.001-06:00

Well, another day I did not commute in. I did see two riders braving the cold this morning. I wanted to ride but ~~my wife~~ I decided under 10F is my limit.

I guess that means I should go on a grocery run today now that I have the cage. She'll be happy about that.

A little reading in absence of a true post ....

Salon.com asks, Don't cyclists deserve scorn?

Monday Funday

2011-12-05T09:59:00.001-06:00

Well well well. As you can see we had our first snow storm of the winter riding season. You know what that means, that's right, Winterbike! Great ride in today.

It was just like back in the snowboarding days. In fact, I had all my snowboarding clothes on except the pants and boots.

I rode my usual route, Leavenworth Street heading west. The road was dry and without any snow or ice. Great job plows. Once I got up the hill to Elmwood Park, instead of taking the route I crashed on, which looked covered in ice, I cut down a snowy hill. AWESOME! The rest of the ride, the plows had cleared a nice path. The only other person I saw out of their warm car was the old man walking in the park with whom is always nice enough to wish me a good morning.

Out of the Office due to Illness

2011-12-02T13:19:00.001-06:00

Sorry I couldn't post yesterday, but I was down with a stomach virus. Still feeling a bit ~~wussy~~ woozie today, but I made it in to the office (sans bicycle). Not much to post. So, feel free to catch up on some updates regarding the bicycling community in Omaha.

And check out the Greenstreet Cycle's Greensprints this Saturday at House of Loom, located at 1012 S. 10th St downtown across from the Durham Museum.

Always an Excuse to be Lazy ...

2011-11-30T09:20:00.001-06:00

So, I did not ride today. BUT ... I have great excuses (plural!). I need to go across town to the store and, the big excuse, I wasn't feeling great this morning. Not sure if I am getting sick or not, but definitely felt like shit.

Yesterday, while reading BikeSnob's latest post, I came across a nice little sumation of feelings drivers project toward cyclists.

“…most drivers don't like you when you're on a bike because:

1) You are what you "own" (or, as is more often the case, lease from a bank);

2) The more money you spend on a vehicle the more human rights you have.

3) Anybody smaller and smarter than you deserves to be punished.”

I think he nailed it.

Holy Cow! He's Back ...

2011-11-29T10:35:00.001-06:00

So, I hope you all enjoyed the break. Back to business of the bicycle business.

What I did over my holiday break:

1. Drank a lot of good wine
2. Ate a lot of good food
3. Spent time with a lot of good people
4. Drank a lot of good wine
5. Replaced the drivetrain on the Bianchi.
6. Drank a lot of good wine

Not necessarily in that order.

Is this good news for Omaha? Not sure how I feel about bike lanes separated from traffic. They are great on the stretches of road, but a nightmare at intersections. And what about sharing them with walkers?? In Poland, the bike lanes were on broad sidewalks. It was a constant problem dealing with pedestrians. Bicycles are vehicles and need to be treated as such, not separated and kept with walkers.

Anyway, it's now Tuesday (but feels like a Monday) and I am back to work. The legs were feeling it this morning on the hills. I guess that's what 5 days out of the saddle and a lot of good wine will do.

Crash and Burn

2011-11-22T11:25:00.001-06:00

Well, well, well ... guess who I ~~saw~~ heard on last night's commute home. Yes, you guessed it. Angry-three-lanes over-going the opposite direction-yelling-guy. You remember him ...


I use a sheet to hide my shame.

I knew it was him as I looked back over my shoulder and saw his cute, little, baby blue SUV. This time he shouted something like, "I want to screw you through a sheet."

Obviously, being the married guy I am, I continued on my journey home.

That was then and this is now. This morning I had the unfortunate privilege of slamming my body and bike into the ground at about 20 mph on a downhill curve. Great way to start the morning. Oh yeah, right in front of a bunch of construction workers. At least they asked if I was OK.

I ended up with a few scrapes and soreness, and the bike came out better with only a small rip in the seat.

Here's to popping aspirin all Holiday weekend.


Coming around the pole on the wet pavement AND DOWN!

My God it's Monday

2011-11-21T10:54:00.001-06:00

Late November and it's getting cold. The temp hit the sub 20 mark this morning on the commute in. Still, I saw two commuters. That's only two less than the average I witnessed riding in the summer. Also, I noticed the Activate Omaha Winter Commuter Challenge has 95 riders registered as winter commuters. Pretty nice number. We shall see how this number holds up over the coming weeks.

Stay warm and ride safely.

Funtastic Friday ...

2011-11-18T11:27:00.001-06:00

Yo! Not much to write or post about today. I didn't ride to work today, I drove. I have a cross-town errand to run, and well, don't really feel like two-wheeling it to take care of them.

Yesterday, on the commute home, I had a fun road-rager incident. As I was riding EAST, a driver in an SUV heading WEST decided it was his public duty to shout, "GRAB A SHEET!" or at least that's what it sounded like. I quickly looked back over my left shoulder to see what he looked like, to file away for future reference.

I saw this:

I might be mistaken, after all, he was two lanes away and heading in the opposite direction.

Ride safe and have a great weekend.

Tall Order

2011-11-17T12:41:00.001-06:00

Below, you will find the longest head tube I have seen in person. Add the stem and this person must measure in at 7 feet. Wow.

Anyway, good to see another bike at the rack this morning with temps hovering in the low 20s.

Somethings You Just Know ...

2011-11-16T11:43:00.001-06:00

... And one of those things is you don't run industrial strength sprinklers in November. Wasting water on this level is akin to slapping the face of those whom cannot obtain--or must fight for--fresh, potable water.

This water pours out of the sprinklers while the temperature hovers at 24 F. Ridiculous.