No Bacon. What About Burritos? 60 Miles to Shenandoah

Bacon Rides may be done for 2010, but what about a ride out to Shenandoah, Iowa for Mexican fare and Coronas?

My bike riding brother, who went from 300 pounds to 175 in only 10 months (no joke) by riding bikes, will be in town next week, and I want to show him a good time. I'm planning a Sunday ride out to Shenandoah and back. Of course, you're invited!

With the crisp morning air, autumn leaves, and warm afternoons, this is an awesome time of year for long rides down the Wabash.

Please see this link for more details.

Omaha to Shendoah

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Bike Lift

Phenomenol People Movers: 

from WebUrbanist by Delana

16 people liked this

[ By Delana in Architecture & Design, Travel & Places, Urbanism. ]
Much to the disappointment of pretty much everyone, we have yet to perfect the science of teleportation and no one has bothered to invent Futurama-type human pneumatic tubes. Until those things become reality, we are stuck walking, biking, or riding almost everywhere. At least these three human transport systems are weird enough to be interesting, which will just have to do for now.

The Trampe Bicycle Lift

(images via: Trampe)

In bicycle-friendly Trondheim, Norway, a curious contraption adorns a steep hill. It is the world’s only functional bicycle lift, designed to help bike riders ascend the hill quickly and easily with a minimum amount of stress on their muscles. Built as a sort of working prototype, the Trampe (meaning “to stomp” in Norwegian) Lift was installed in 1993.

(images via: Trampe)

Inspired by Trondheim’s large student population and very hilly topography, the Trampe’s inventor, Jarle Wanvik, first came up with the bike lift idea in 1992. He envisioned the lift working like a ski lift, taking bikers from the bottom of a hill to the top with a minimal amount of effort. Since Trondheim had recently invested large amounts of money in a number of pro-bicycle city improvements, the Public Roads Administration loved the idea.

(image via: Trampe)

After choosing a manufacturer and working out the details of the plan, Wanvik and the Municipal of Trondheim chose a suitable hill. The hill that would eventually become a bike commuter’s dream and a tourist attraction for the city is located near the town center and leads up to the university campus. The location is perfect for students and commuters alike. Keycard passes for the lift cost 100 Kroner per year for residents, but one-time cards are free for tourists.

(images via: Trampe, Wikipedia)

The bike lift works in a very straightforward way: a cyclist puts his right foot on the starting point with his left foot still on the left bike pedal, then inserts his keycard in the card reader machine. After pushing the “start” button, a footplate emerges behind the right foot and begins to propel the rider up the hill. It looks precarious and tiring, but the trick is to keep the right leg extended behind the body, shift the body weight to the footplate, and lean slightly forward on the bike. Riding the lift in this way, says the manufacturer, prevents any fatigue and makes for a pleasant assisted uphill ride.

(image via: Trampe)

So why isn’t this great idea employed elsewhere in the world? According to the official Trampe website, it’s not for lack of interest by other cities. The idea has been well received by locations all over Europe, Asia and the US, with many cities promising to install one in the future. But before that can happen, the overall bicycle infrastructure has to be ready to support such an endeavor. For many cities, that means installing dedicated bike lanes on the streets before undertaking an ambitious project like a bike lift.

Last Chance for Bacon Ride in 2010

Bacon Ride anyone?

This Sunday, September 26, is the last day that the Platte River State Park restaurant will be open for visitors. That means that it's the last chance for a Bacon Ride until next season.

Who? Anyone who wants to ride 74 miles of mixed bike paths, street and gravel for an all-you-can eat breakfast. Bring $10 for the buffet and a tip.

When and where? Meet at 6:30am Sunday at the Wohlner's in Aksarben Village. We should be back in Omaha by 1pm.

How? See the following maps and cue sheets for the routes:

• 33 miles from Omaha to PRSP
• 41 miles from PRSP to Omaha

The pace will be relaxed, and we'll try not to leave anyone behind. However, know your route and have a contingency to get home, just in case. Be prepared to fix a flat. Bring nutrition and hydration in case the ride goes long. It may be cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon.

Despite the Bacon Ride name, there are many options for vegetarians. :)

Thanks to MOD for the original Bikely map, on which this route is based.

Hey EB?

You there?

tap, tap, is this thing on?

Bacon anyone?

Anyone down for some bacon tomorrow?

bacon

Bacon Ride. 6:30 Sunday @Wohlners you know the drill. This is self supported ride be self sufficient.
See ya there

Sunday Bacon Ride

Ivan Basso Likes bacon, the reason he smiles has nothing to do with enjoying biking. It's his love of pork belly that has him going tough. yes it's true. Do you want to be like him or do you want to be like him and eat some bacon. Now is your chance. Sunday will be the first bacon ride. Meet at wohlners around 6ish am. Leave 6:30 am. Here's the route . Anyone is welcomed the weather looks perfect we should be back noonish.

Mills County Gravel Adventure

I forgot this is going down this saturday
With DK coming up time to ratchet up the gravel miles. If you are interested in 100 miles of gravel and some casey goodness. Guess what you in luck. Here is the route. Meeting place will be scooters downtown on 12 and howard. Meet 7:00 am roll out 7:3o am. The mileage from scooters will be about 110 miles or so nothing crazy on the docket.

• You can turn around anytime
• Bring enough stuff to fix your bike in case of failure
• Bring enough food/water for yourself

EB is 26

Come hang & drink beer from a keg with me.
Bicycle hill sprints up alleys,blvds & a whole lotta fun as the night wears on!

Starts: 8ish
Where: 523 N. 33rd St. (in the back)
Why: You only live once

RSVP here

Movie Night v3.0

Bummed I'm going to miss this one. 23 Days in July had just come out when I was really getting into racing. Great film, hope everyone can make it out.

Sunday, May 16th
The Waiting Room, Benson
7:30PM

Tip you bartender...

Thanks again James for getting all this together

Hey It's May

What is YOUR vision of Nebraska’s Transportation System?
Take the Survey!

Interesting things happening this week-

Bus Challenge Meetup
Thursday, May 6, 2010
4:30 p.m.
Parliament Pub in Midtown Crossing
Come in a bus, on foot, or on a bike (you can drive your car too. We'd just like to see you anyway you can get there)

...and...

Bike Commuting Clinic
Saturday, May 8, 2010
2:00 p.m.
Greenstreet Cycles (Mike Fahey St. in North Downtown)

...followed by...

Courteous Mass (similar to a Critical Mass, but nicer. And legal. And not religious in nature)
5-mile, family-friendly bike ride through downtown
Starts following the Commuting Clinic (probably beginning at 2:45 or so)

Swanson trail conditions

Anyone been out to Swanson to check trail conditions?

TIV6= EPIC

Personal Blogging is coming Back...

SKULLCRUSHER

Garage sale

Got a pile of bike parts that need to be thinned out.  Check out the link to see if I've got anything that you need.

Bicycle Delivery is Back

AFK Bicycle Delivery begins Friday April 16th 8pm-2am
This year we're teaming up with Dundee Cycles
Check em out http://dundeecycles.com/

Tour of Dirt Roads 4.18.2010

Tour of Dirt Roads III

The first 75 folks will receive a limited edition PCL ToDR III magnet (ToDR II magnet pictured above)

Date: Sunday April 18th
Start time: 8 AM
Start location: Meadowlark Coffee

The ride will leave at 8 AM sharp. Please try to arrive by 7:45. If you want coffee I suggest 7:30 AM.

The route was pre-rode today and it is currently in flux. We will post the route soon.

This is a ride, not a race, but expect some folks to ride fast'

Lets bring a crew from Omaha

Perhaps pedal there Saturday. Hang. YiaYia's.Crash @ D st.

Or drive early Sunday morning

Whaddya think boys?

-All of the above words were issued by the moist -n-tasty Cornbread and lifted directly from the PCL.

omaha-lincoln-omaha

So this has been bouncing around in my head for about a month now. And I was inspired by MOD's century club posting as well as trying to get some more miles in for DK200. I would like to put out there an Idea that I have. 130+ miles in one day between two cities. Object is to get to yia yia's and have some sweet pizza and bread and comeback.
The tenative date for the even would be April 24th info

• Wohlners 8 am start.
• Follow bacon route and gravel along mopac
• Rain date well if it rains then this might have to be put off fore later during the summer
• This will be long day affair
• All welcome*

* All are welcomed yes but you are responsible for yourself. Golden rule is in effect if someone needs help help him out.

Turds for Gold Update

So did anybody send any shoe to Chromes Turd for Gold shoe swap? If you did here is an update on the progress. Kinda cool what they are doing with them. Read and enjoy.

I sent in a pair and can't wait to get my new kicks!!

Daily Grub to offer half off one single item if you pedal there.

Some of you may remember back in August there was this fantastic vegetarian eatery at the Empty Room in NoDo, called Clean Plate. Clean Plate is now the Daily Grub.

According to their website,Daily Grub is a farm to table vegetarian diner and juice bar. French press coffee, freshly made juices and smoothies, homemade soup, bread and daily special tacos are served during the week with a waffle heavy brunch menu on the weekends. It’s all your favorite food cart fare in one neighborhood place.

Daily Grub is located on the Northwest corner of 2oth and Pierce Streets.


Hours of operation Wednesday-Friday 8am-2pm
Sat/Sun Brunch is offered from 10am-3pm


Now all you eager puppies will have to wait until April 21st ya here, because that's when they open.

Dear Member of the Omaha Metro Active Transportation Community

We just posted this over at the Omaha Bikes blog.  You may want to take a look if it interests you:

Many of you have noticed that almost no new trails have been opened on the Nebraska side of the metro area for a long time. Many major trail projects are designed and fully funded, including the West Douglas County Trail from Waterloo to Valley, a major part of the Riverfront Trail, the western end of the East-West Trail that will connect the Keystone and Field Club Trails, and Papillion’s 72nd Street Trail. These are very important projects for our active transportation community and would also create millions of dollars of new construction activity. Yet nothing seems to be happening. Why?

Anyone looking for a 26" hardtail?

~Begin shameless plug~
My giant XTC is looking for a new home. The details are here. It's listed at $400 but I'll let it go for $360 if you ask nice.

~End shameless plug~

Busy week at Omaha Bikes

If you haven't stopped by the Omaha Bikes blog or the OmahaBikes twitter lately, you may want to pay a quick visit. Several of the Activate Omaha and Omaha Bikes team are in DC this week at the National Bike Summit. Omaha has received several awards and mentions during the summit. Omaha was even mentioned on the BikePortland blog...sweet. Julie and Matt have also been reporting in from the summit via the blog and they plan to post a bunch more stuff in the coming days.

Good times!

Omaha Sprints was a success!

Check out some of the photos HERE.

And top results posted HERE.

Thanks to all who showed up and who participated.  Keep an eye out for more in the future.

OMAHA SPRINTS!

Hey everyone, if you have the evening free don't forget about Omaha Sprints at The Bike Way tonight.

Registration is at 5pm and go is at 6.

Free to sign up for the sprinting action.

Check it out.

Handlebar Happy Hour, TONIGHT!

OmahaBIKES is having a “Handlebar Happy Hour” tonight at the Slowdown, starting around 5:30ish, and we’d love to have you there!

We are particularly interested in getting the midtown/downtown commuting crowd around the table, as we will have some new maps from Marty Shukert showing potential changes/tweaks to the Bike Omaha 20 mile loop routes, and we would like to get your input.  Specifically, we’re looking at the “red” route that will take you from downtown to the Benson area, and the “blue” route that will take you from downtown to Aksarben via Leavenworth.

We will also take your thoughts on bike parking and potential locations for bike racks.  (You can “ooh and ahh” at the new rack that was just installed in front of the Slowdown last week, too!)

Hope to see you there.

Omaha Goldsprints

I saw this posted on the Nebraska Adventure Group website....

The Bike Way will be hosting it's version of roller races using the CompuTrainer 3D program, February 27th, registration @ 5pm. Go @ 6:00 pm.

The Low-down:

-Random pairings
-Best two out of three races - one minute rest between
-Double Elimination
-Will have Women's category
-Prizes for top finishers
-BYOB
-Spectators welcome

And best of all this event is FREE. We will have to limit the field at some point so please call in and/or show up early to get registered. So come on out and lay your claim to braggin' rights in Omaha.

We will also have an informal after party at the Liar's Club near by.

The Bike Way

15115 Industrial Rd
Omaha, NE 68144
402-392-2390
Sat 5:00 PM

KC Sprints Video

Perhaps a promo video of sorts? I just finally got around to putting the video together I shot from the evening. Enjoy.

Red Lights

Koleninia

Kolelinia is a concept for riding our own bikes on a steel wire, a new type of bicycle-lanes…

Kolelinia is a city fly attempt.

Is it possible to achieve a completely new level of transportation with minimum resources?

This idea doesn’t isolate the bike stream from the streets, this only makes the connection for impossible zones between existing bike-lanes.

Could be a bridge type, a longer transportation line or a special designed and independent touristic line. Of course it is too early to talk about mass use.

Omaha bicyclist dies of injuries

By ROSS BOETTCHER
World-Herald Staff Writer
From: http://www.omaha.com/article/20100130/NEWS01/701309851

A 57-year-old man riding a bicycle died today after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver in south Omaha.

Police identified the dead man as Jose Sandoval of Omaha.

Witnesses said Sandoval left the Super Laundry laundromat near 37th and Q Streets about 9:45 a.m. on his bike.

He was crossing Q Street just east of 37th Street when he was struck by a westbound Dodge Dakota pickup truck, police said.

The driver sped away from the scene, swerving and speeding through traffic before striking another automobile, witnesses said.

Police later arrested the driver at his Omaha home. He was identified as Tomas De La Cruz-Prado, 19.

He was booked on suspicion of felony motor vehicle homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

Sandoval was taken to Creighton University Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.

Moises Jutierrez, who said he called 911 and tended to Sandoval after he was struck, said the man had a wound on the back of his head and was bleeding from his nose, mouth and ears.

“He was moving and conscious but wasn't talking,” Jutierrez said.

Police said Sandoval was not wearing a helmet.

More stories:

• WOWT - Bicyclist Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver
• KETV - Cyclist Dies After Truck Collision
• KMTV - Driver Kills Bicyclist and Takes Off
  

Movie Night this Sunday

The Greatest Show on Earth is a flick following the 1974 Giro D'Italia. The showing is free at the newly revamped Waiting Room in Benson. Hope to see you there.

Interesting use for pedaling.

This photoset from BBC shows that pedaling can be used for a great many things.

I wonder if Google is hiring locally.....

Monkey Around With The Guerrilla Trail Crew

What are you doing Sunday? Maybe you'll be recovering from a good pedal mashing on sunny and warm (high 30s?) Saturday. Maybe you'll be wanting to finally get out of the house after weeks of being snowbound and stir crazy.

If you want some easy riding that includes some upper body strength training and lots of comradery, consider spending a few hours monkeying around with the Guerrilla Trail Crew? In addition to working out your arms and back slinging wet, heavy snow with a shovel, you'll be working out your heart by giving a little something to the community.

Maybe you don't ride trails, but a lot of people do; for fitness, recreation, and transportation. This sort of volunteer action also helps send a message to the community and to local officials that people care about access to the trails all year long.

Learn more about Sunday's Guerrilla Trail Crew action at their website, guerrillatrailcrew.blogspot.com.

Get up to the minute information on the GTC on Twitter: @OmahaTrailCrew.

Bike Racks in Omaha

Activate Omaha has been working diligently to get bike racks installed around Omaha. The city is going to install them, but we need your help to decide where to put them! I started a google map to collaborate this project. Simply add a pin to a spot you think you want it. If a pin is already there, add another! This way we can keep track. Try to find 10 spots in Omaha that would be good. If you can, tell us why it is a good place for a rack.

Click this link to get to the map. Thanks for your help!

Foggy Late Night in Elmwood

Want to ride?

I know that it is a whole week away but since I got registered for the DK200 I am starting a ride schedule to help build my endurance.  Anyone is welcome to join me on these rides.  Check it out.

KC Sprints in Lincoln next Saturday

That's the 16th...of January. Lincoln...not Omaha. @ Duffy's Tavern, downtown, 14th and Zero St.

4 PM sign up
5 PM start

Head-2-Head single elimination tournament or Grudge Match call outs for bragging rights

$5 tourney
$2 grudge match call outs

Drink Specials, I reckon some tall boys will be consumed.

KC Sprints homepage here.