Any Omaha Nebraska Commuters?

[carpaltunnel]

I'm not a bike commuter but would like to be. Omaha streets and drivers look very intimidating. Anyone trying it on a regular basis? Thanks!

[MomOnBike]

Well, I'm not in Omaha, but down the road a piece in Lincoln. Maybe I can help a little, though.

First, I know what you mean about Omaha drivers. I HATE driving in Omaha. As with any city, though, there are streets, and there are streets. Often, about a block or two over from a major arterial there is a perfectly good biking street that isn't cool, or fast, or something enough for cars. Get a city map and plot your route. After all, with every car in the universe on I-80, there have to be some open roads elsewhere, right?

I think you have bike trails too? Try them and see if you can work them into your route. A dry run on a weekend might be a good idea to refine things. Things just look different from a bike seat.

I'm sorry if this isn't site-specific enough, but that's what I'd do in your cleats, er, shoes.

[carpaltunnel]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've all ready done those things. The bike trails here are lovely but they don't go anywhere really. The maps and Saturday trips haven't panned out because there is no way around three major bottlenecks (an airport, an interstate highway, and a major creek) between me and work. They choke the routes down to just a few raceways. In 10 years of driving this route, I've seen one man on a bike, but I see red light runners at least once every day. I've even seen red light runners collide. (Where are the police?)

The Metro Transportation supposedly has a grant to put racks on the busses, but they're taking their time getting them deployed. They have to study the matter, get insurance, hold training, decide where to distribut them, etc. I'm hoping the bus route that crosses the bottleneck gets one. If it does I can bike to the bus stop, ride past the bottleneck, get off, and finish my ride.

Anyone from Omaha watching the bike rack/bus issue?

[MomOnBike]

Dear Heavens!

You're going past the airport? No wonder you need advice. Um, don't do it?

Another idea that I sometimes see given is to drive part-way, park & ride the rest. Of course, the bus would do just about the same thing, with the advantage of you never having to park, but until there are bike racks on the busses (and hockey leagues in Hell...) that might be a good alternative. Finding a safe parking spot might be a challange.

It just occurred to me that once you have passed the bottlenecks, you can branch out a bit, away from your vehicular route, and parking places/routes might be easier to find. Just a thought...

[carpaltunnel]

Yikes, if I had to bike past Eppley, I'd move instead.
My route, if you are a little familiar with Omaha geography, is basically from the far West Q area,170th or so, to about 108th & Q. The problem is that chokepoint from Millard Ave & Q to about 120th. Bounded north and south by Millard Airport and creeks, with Q being the only way to cross the Interstate. Murderous driving. I have never seen a bike on that stretch.

I saw the drive & ride idea and have been scoping out places along the way that might allow me to park my car there. IIII'm workin' on it!

Tell me about your commute!

[MomOnBike]

Compared, my commute is pretty wimpy. A 2.4 mile round trip through quiet neighborhoods. (Yawn)

The only excitement is the fact that the route is not flat and I cross O St. with no traffic lights.

That slick snow Wendnesday added excitement, though, I fell twice (leftover icy ridges under an inch of power will do that, you know) and lost a water bottle I had some emotional attachment to. Sigh.

[carpaltunnel]

That sounds very sustainable.

Let's see, 2.4 miles one way or 4.8 round trip, * roughly 46 calories/mile at my body weight, with 3500 calories in a pound, I could lose or keep off a pound every 15 days! (I know the charts tell you how many calories uphill vs down, but I figure for every up you have a down & vice versa, so I don't get too fussy about that.)

How long have you been commuting? What effect has it had on your health? Have you channged your work attire since commuting by bike?
Thanks for sharing your experience.

[MomOnBike]

I just got this job in October, right after Younger Daughter left for college. In addition to a mess in the bathroom, she left behind a rather substantial tuition bill. So I got another job.

I don't think it affected my health any, but the person who works in the same small room as I do agrees that I'm much happier on the days I ride. I'm not too sure I could have handled the hill if I hadn't been putting pretty good mileage on the bike beforehand, though. I regularly get in the mid-20's from a standstill in a three-block stretch. No, I'm no sprinter, I'm a fat old broad; it's all gravity.

DH bike commutes too. On snowy/rainy/#$%@!! cold days, we share a car ride and either he picks me up after work or I walk home. I find it humerous, I take off walking, and people act like I'm off on a dangerous trek. They are not comforted when I tell them that the walk is only 2 miles. It may as well be a hundred in their minds.

Work attire is pretty simple there, slacks and The Ugliest Shirt In The Universe. I wear something rather nice under said shirt to liven things up. It's rather nice in the winter, 'cause I just put my jogging suit (pants & jacket) on over my work clothes and off I go. Ideally, there is only one layer to strip when I get there - plus a shoe change. I'm pretty immune to cold, so I'm comfy. Things are less simple in the sweaty part of the year.

I haven't lost any weight. Part of that can be attributed to the fact that I'm typing and not moving at work, but mostly because it's a doctor's office and the drug reps deliver lunch daily. DaVinci's is not good for weight loss. I've saved a ton on lunch money, though.

[carpaltunnel]

Mine are through college now, but they left a mess in the bathroom and bills too. Did yours take your favorite records and books as though everything in the house was theirs? Mine took things I owned before I had them, for Pete's sake. Whoops, topic drift.

On my drive to work last week I noticed a business with a nice big parking lot right where I'd like to leave my car and start biking. But it's an insurance company. Can't you just imagine what they'd say if I asked to park there.

Um...no because you might get hurt after you leave the lot, and sue us because we didn't warn you... But, hey, if you sign this release and purchase a policy...

[MomOnBike]

About that parking lot. Is it posted "Nobody But Our Corporate Drones Get to Park Here. No Exceptions!"? I'd bet not. What would happen if you just drove in like you owned the place and did your thing? My guess is that nobody would notice. I'd go for it. Of course, I might refrain from parking in any spaces marked as reserved for a Big Shot...or not, come to think about it.

As for the Stuff my daughter took. Yeah, she cleaned my out pretty well - the things she hadn't already broken. That kid, it's a good thing I love her.

[carpaltunnel]

- the things she hadn't already broken

They're all alike!