The view from a bike seat

I have lived in Omaha most of my adult life.  Up until about 5 years ago, the only parts of Omaha that I was familiar with included the places I could see from Fort, Maple, Blond, Dodge, Pacific, West Center, and the Interstate.  If I couldn't get there quickly by car, it was not a place I would typically visit.  About 5 years ago I started bike commuting.  Since then I've seen a lot more of the interesting, but slightly less traveled, places in Omaha.  Now that I've started seeing Omaha from a bike seat, it has been amazing to see how much of Omaha's interesting places I was missing.

The next time your out riding and see one of those "interesting" places in Omaha, snap a picture and send it to us at omahabikes AT gmail DOT com and we might post it here.

Here is a picture I took on my way to work today.  Does anyone know where I took this picture.

Omaha Bike April Handlebar Happy Hour

The next Omaha Bikes Handlebar Happy Hour is Friday, April 30th at Rick's Cafe Boatyard, 345 Riverfront Drive on the Lewis & Clark Landing. Happy Hour at Rick's is from 4:30 to 6:30. This is scheduled as a monthly "Ride To" destination for an informal gathering of the cycling community. Hope to see you there!

Handlebar Happy Hour - TONIGHT

The next Omaha Bikes Handlebar Happy Hour is tonight at the Liv Lounge in Aksarban Village.  You can find all the details HERE.  Hope to see you there!

slow down, and give your 2 cents

Went to Barnes&Noble at Oak View a few weeks ago and perused the magazines looking for something to broaden my horizons. Bought and read Good, Issue 018, Winter 2010, http://www.good.is/issues/issue-018.

The theme of issue 018 is "Slow Down". It contains a good cross section of thinking in, and about, the slow movement, http://www.slowmovement.com/.

One thing I've noticed: the more I commute by bike, the slower and more relaxed I drive a car. I average about 30 mph city driving (mileage/engine time) and about 12 mph commuting by bike. Those who average 20 mph biking are not commuting, they are racing. If you want to commute by bike, figure about three times the travel time of a car for a comfortable, non hurried commute.

One of the benefits of biking not often mentioned is the necessity to slow down. With most people's lives too full of stuff, speeding by car to somewhere because they didn't plan enough time to get there, a slower lifestyle connected through commuting is healthy for the mind and the body.

The second article in Good, Pushing the Limits, discusses Portland, Oregon's assault on urban sprawl, what it has produced, what is at stake. Next to improving Omaha's biking infrastructure and changing the car-centric level of service for transportation, a sustainable urban design is key.

Urban Form and Transportation(pdf) is Omaha by Design's draft proposal for new guidelines. Active transportation (biking and walking) starts on page 24. One problem I see is that goals for moving cars more efficiently (car-centric level of service) are at odds with active transport. Car transportation (Leavenworth for example) has to be slowed down (lane diets) and made more expensive (gas prices) to make active transportation more attractive and increase participation.

Comments are still being taken on the proposal, click contacts on http://www.environmentomaha.com/. Please read at least the Active Transport section of Urban Form and Transportation, if not the entire document, and give suggestions and encouragement.