April 16, 2026 • 24 mins
Jeff Quandt is with the Bellevue Bicycle Club. He spreads the word about cycling to the people in the Omaha area and helps educate riders and organizes group rides. He talks about his history with cycling, bike safety on the roadways and trails, and some of the big events happening for anyone interested in cycling in Omaha in the coming weeks.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
It's the Amory Suner podcast and you were listening to
us on the free iHeartRadio app. And we're having a
great conversation today about something I am learning about every
single day, something that I didn't really care about until
last year when I went to a bicycle shop and
bought my first legitimate road bicycle as an adult, after
being kind of inspired by the way that people travel
(00:33):
around in the Netherlands. So I know, fast forward to
last spring. I think I was at the Exarbon Turk
Criterion race in Xarbon Village and I found a booth
there and it was a few fellows that had matching
shirts on from the Bellevue Bicycle Club and man, I
(00:56):
got very interested, very quickly in what they were talking about.
And here to talk about plumy of things this spring
and bicycle safety is Jeff Kwant. He's a past president
of the Bellevue Bicycle Club and Jeff, I really appreciate
you coming in today.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Matt, Well, thank you, Amory. I really appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
This bicycle culture very different, very interesting, and I love it. Honestly,
wasn't something that I ever thought I would be as
somebody looking forward to riding my bike just anywhere I
had a reason to ride my bike to. How did
you get kind of involved in cycling?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, it probably goes back to when I worked for
a software company that was headquartered over at the Business
Park one hundred and forty fourth in Dodge, and I
lived south of there about six miles and there was
a guy that was one of the software people was
a sort of a cyclist, and he got the tire
(01:47):
company to form a team and we did this corporate
cycling challenge and we did other things and it was
really kind of a fun thing. So we ended up
getting a bike. I didn't know what to buy, okay,
so my wife and I went out and bought a
what they call a comfort hybrid, big, heavy and slow,
but it worked. It was great.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
How old were you when this happened.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh gosh, let's see you probably in my late fifties.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Okay, so you got into the game a little bit
later than you know. A lot of people probably would
think that you get into cycling when you're younger. But
that's the one thing about cycling that I appreciate is
the fact that it's really for everybody. So we've made
a lot of progress in cycling and cycling safety, and
we'll talk about kind of those ins and outs. But
(02:39):
for you, was that a challenge for you to kind
of learn the etiquette of riding a bicycle, Well, that's
part of.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It, and knowing where the trails go and that sort
of thing. And for me it was I live over
by Scott High School, so I basically caught what was
called the West Papio Trail, rode up to Dodge and
then did some back roads to get over to the
office and it was like six and a half miles.
Was nice is that they had a fitness center in
the building, so I could shower up if I needed to.
(03:07):
And that's sort of how I got started. But it's like, Okay,
what changed when I got into buying a road bike?
Like you just mentioned, as I showed up for a
group ride one time that we were going to be
going up to Fremont from Waterloo, and I said, okay,
I can do that forty some miles round trip, average
(03:29):
speed ten to fifteen miles an hour A it's right
in my game. So I show up with my comfort
Hybrid and everybody's got a road bike and the first
thought in my mind was I'm in trouble.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So for those who may not know a comfort hybrid,
how does it differentiate from kind of the normal roadbikes
people will see when they drive past side.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Well, you're sitting upright, that's number one, so you actually
catch more wind if you have a tailwind or a headwind.
The other thing is that those bikes generally are not
geared very well for speed in addition to being heavier. Okay,
that particular bike was about thirty five pounds. Wow, And
(04:11):
you wouldn't think that that would be a big deal,
but it does become an issue. Now. I was fine
going up because I had a tailwind, coming back had
a headwind. I was doing ten miles an hour. I mean,
I couldn't go any faster. Of course, I was a
lot heavier than too, so that made a difference.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
But you know, it's interesting that you talk about this
because when I went shopping for our road bikes, my
wife and I both bought road bikes and try to
figure out what attachments we wanted to have and get
good helmets and all of that. You go in there,
and if you aren't really sure what you're looking for,
it can be a confusing process because it is very
customizable to whatever you're really looking for exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And we went to what was the bike rack okay,
which was they were a Trek dealer, And to be
honest with you, I did work for Trek for a
little over a year several years ago, just as a
service tech, just to learn, have fun, and I call
it to support my addiction. Okay. So they have a process,
(05:11):
and I think all the bike shops have a process
to be able to take and ask potential customers, where
are you going to ride? What do you feel comfortable with?
Yaudio audio? And they go through a number of points
to try and help narrow it down as to what
type of bike they should let you try riding. Doing
a test ride.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, And that's one thing that we did is once
we got on a bike and we test rode, I
wanted to make sure we did a couple just to
feel what a difference could be because I hadn't been
on a real bike like this before, you know, only
ever had like kid bikes and mountain bikes, you know when.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You're growing up.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
This was a completely different process and man, I I
all of a sudden was like I want to ride everywhere,
just like you get a bike and you're just like, man,
I just want to see what it's like to get
on a trail. I want to go, you know, ten
miles or twenty miles or forty miles in you know,
and just see what that feels like.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And when you get out and you do it.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
For the first time, it's just it's one of those
things where you just feel like you've you've really done something, yeah,
for the first time in your life. And I can,
like you talk about it being an addiction. I don't
know if i'd say I'm addicted to it, because I'm
also a runner and I do a lot of other activities,
but it is absolutely something at least once or twice
a week I want to get out and use my bike,
you know.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah. Well, And what was interesting is that after that
experience where I went on that group ride with the
Comfort Hybrid, two weeks later I went on the ride
again and I had a road bike. It was an
endurance road bike. It's a little different than unless I
some standard road bikes. You're sitting up a little bit higher,
but not really like a Comfort Hybrid. It's a little
(06:42):
taller head tube. It's a technicality, but basically it weighed
for twenty three pounds from thirty five to twenty three.
It's like, hey, I just lost twelve pounds, and you
do go faster and it's geared differently, so you go faster.
So I mean, and it was a much better experience
(07:02):
in that regard. Now, my current road bike okay, is
seventeen and a half pounds. It's carbon fiber whoa, and
it is just the sweetest thing. I love riding.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
You can just you can where does a backpack if
you're going upstairs? You know?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, right, So I mean it's just a super nice bikes.
I do have an e bike too, so I mean
there's all different kinds of bikes out.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
There, a lot of e bikes, you know. We talked
about the e bike idea just in case we wanted
to go further, but my wife is like, no, if
we're going to do this, we're gonna like do irregular
for now. But I've written e bikes before, and man,
that is handy, especially if you know there's a place
you're trying to get to that's a little further than
maybe you'd be comfortable in a situation to be able
to have that assist.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Well, and that's one of the things that e bikes
do offer people that are getting back into biking. They
may be older and they basically are not as fit. Well,
the e bike does give you that little boost. The
other thing that the e bike does is allow you
to go further. Now, what I like about my e
(08:03):
bike is it's basically a commuter bike. And granted with
the one battery that's on there, and I can put
an extra battery on one battery. It weighs fifty six pounds.
Oh wow, yeah, okay, but you don't notice it when
you're riding. So a lot of times when it's like
a very I wouldn't say very windy day, but a
windy your day where I'm going to have a lot
of headwinds or I'm going to be experiencing a lot
(08:24):
of hills, that bike is ideal. And I do use
it for going out shopping, grocery shopping, Trail maintenance, that's
the other thing that I do with it. I got
a little wagon, I tossed my tools in the back,
and I go out along the trail system and yeah,
if there's some branches growing in, you know, I'll just
nip them off. So that you know, the Parks Department appreciates,
(08:45):
you know, some of the stuff that we do that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, well let's talk about that. So we talk about
you being the past president of the Bellevue Bicycle Club
and you guys had a booth at the Eggsarbon Turk
last year, which is how I became aware of you guys,
and I hadn't even bought my bike at that point yet,
So you know, I, you know, I'm curious as to
what a bike club looks like and how you guys
(09:08):
kind of operate. The different things that you do is
trail maintenance part of what you like to do, just
to make sure that you guys have safe places to ride.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, we're we're just not a club that goes out
and rides a bike. Okay, we do have a weekly
coffee ride that's on Saturdays that leaves from Twin Creek,
But we do trail maintenance. We'll go around and sections
of trail, or we'll take and pick up trash that
gets littered along the way. The other thing is that
(09:38):
we're really sort of strong advocates for better cycling. When
I was president, we had fifty six members. We are
now over one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So our club has grown and grown in an influence.
So a lot of people recognize our logo, they see
us out there doing stuff and it's more than just
riding a bike.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Let's talk about that part of it, the influence of
cyclists in trying to advocate for either safer trails or
you know, for people to be aware. And this is
one thing that I had to learn of when is
it okay to be on a sidewalk or a trail
versus being the street right? What is the rule of
(10:26):
the vehicle as they're trying to pass me? Like how
far away do they need to be from me? How
do you guys kind of educate people who might have
questions about that, because that can be an intimidating part
for a new rider.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, one of the things we have it on our
website and we also distribute it at local bike shops
and at kiosks around the Metro area. We put out maps,
but we also have a trail etiquette flyer and it
talks about what are the responsibilities people on the trail, running, walking,
that sort of things, as well as people riding a
bike as well as motorists, and what of the stuff
(11:01):
that applies to those particular areas is section six in
the driver's manual, the Nebraska Department of Transportation Driver's Manual.
You know how motors should interact with cyclists on the road.
People on bikes can be on the road. They have
to give them three feet minimum. But the manual actually
(11:24):
says they should pull as far away to the left
as possible. But three feet is the minimum? Okay?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Interesting?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Can you ride on sidewalks practically everywhere except where there
are signs? You know? The Old Market is a good example.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You don't, okay?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I think the mall downtown is another place that you
cannot take and ride a bike. So you can walk
your bike through there, and I've done that.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
This is the thing that I learned when I moved
downtown is I would grab those scooters, those E scooters,
and I didn't know that they had like patches is
where you actually couldn't ride them. But those same patches
you can't ride the East scooters. You have to go
like around those perimeters because they don't want either.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Some motor on wheels or something.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, And during the College World Series, they you know,
make it a lot bigger than want people on those
motorized scooters, you know, hitting people or anything. But it
is quite fascinating and I'm glad that you mentioned that,
because I just never know, like I don't feel comfortable
on this road.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Is that okay? If I hop on the sidewalk, I
never know if that's legitimate.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
In Nebraska, it is totally legit to ride on the
sidewalk unless it's posted. And of course, as somebody riding
a bike on a sidewalk, you have to be aware
of pedestrians, right, And usually when I come up to
a pedestrian, I'll just pull off to the side and
let them pass.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Sure, And you know what, that's a lot easier to
do when you're on a sidewalk than trying to do
that when you're on a street in the middle of
the roadway.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
The trails are great. I mean the trail system. There's
like what over one hundred and twenty miles within the
metro area.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, and I this is one thing.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I'm pretty close to the Keystone down there in Xarbon Village,
and I like, it's so easy just for us to
roll down the hill and just hop on that thing.
And go in either direction and you can go for
a long ways and then hooking the other way. Yeah,
with other trails systems, you know, like what's your favorite
area to ride around here?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Basically all over I mean I'm I ride the entire
metro system. Yeah, I'm sort of out in the Southwest area,
so a lot of my rides are out in there.
But I do get over to the east part of town.
I do go over into Iowa. Going over the Bob
Carrey Bridge into Tom Hannafan Park over there is just
(13:34):
neat and that great I call him the Aluminum Guy
or whatever, that big stature out there. But of course
that goes down and you get on the first avenue trail.
The first avenue trail over there is superb. You can
go from like the Bob going all the way down
to the Wa Bash Trace if you want to. And
I've done that where we've actually parked at the Bob
(13:55):
and taken a group ride down to the Wa Bash Trace.
Who've actually gone all the way to mal Earn down there.
That's like twenty two and a half miles just from
the Lobbast Trace head for trailhead in Console Bluffs.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
That's so cool.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
I'm looking at some of the stuff that you guys
have coming up here, because you shot me an email
and said, you know, April, you know a lot of stuff,
a lot of people gribbing the bike for the first
time this spring. My wife and I we rode for
the first time earlier this week this year. So you know,
let's talk about you know, you got a bridge of it.
You got this National Trails Day on April twenty fifth,
(14:30):
which is just you know, over a week away, right,
What are some of the things that you guys have
that you would love to see people coming out and
if they have a bike or if they're just curious
about learning to ride with the group, how they can
see what you guys are up to and why maybe
your group has tripled in recent years.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah. Well, one of the things that we have coming
up on April twenty fifth, which is a Saturday, it
is National Trails Day the Rails the Trails Conservancy, which
is a national organization, has that particular date. It's also
Earth Day, by the way. Nice. So the club has
decided to do a ride and we call it Bridge
(15:09):
to Bridge. We're going from the Bob Carry Bridge to
the Lead Bridge and we're following what is known as
the Great American Rail Trail through Omaha. A lot of
people don't even realize that the one that that trail exists,
but it's the Interstate of bike walking trails coast to coast.
It's thirty seven hundred miles long. It's not one hundred
(15:32):
percent complete, but you know, through Omaha, we wanted to
take and bring some more awareness and attention that there
is this super highway coming through our state and our town,
and you know, we're getting into the high season, there
are going to be hundreds, if not more people walking
(15:54):
and riding through town. I hooked up with a couple
of Danish people from on a Facebook page. They're going
to be coming through in July, so I told them
this is okay, I'll post things as far as detours
that are going on. There's actually three detours now within
the Omaha area along the Great American Rail Trail, and
(16:16):
they're not well marked and there's no, let's say, signage
for somebody that's traveling on the route to actually figure
out how to get around and get back onto the trail.
That's one of the things that as a club we've
sort of been asking for with all the different communities.
And I've seen it one time last year or the
(16:38):
year before, there was some work on sewer work over
by Bob Boozer between Pacific and Center and they had
to close the trail. There was a well marked route
all the way around the school to get back onto
the trail. I said, who did this? This is crazy,
(16:59):
This is not done in this town. But I guess
public Works actually did that particular.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well, maybe that's a changing of the guard because, like
you mentioned, your group is getting influence and maybe just
there's not enough people with lot enough voices to say, hey,
this is confusing. This can be a problem for people,
especially they're trying to use this well.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
And the other thing. You know, there's members of our
club that are on another little group called Safe Trails
Initiative here in Omaha, And recently we heard from Omaha
Parks that after years of people asking for it, they're
going to be putting the names of the roads that
you're passing under when you're traveling on the trail on
(17:39):
all the underpasses within Omaha Parks.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
It seems like something that should have always been there.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, it should be, and it really makes it easier
for people to understand where they are in case of emergency.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Right now, see again, like, how how would you not
think to do that already? Yeah, but I'm glad that
somebody's thinking about that.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Now. Can anybody do this? You need to, Like anybody.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Can take and do the Bridge to Bridge ride. Go
out to Bell Bike.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Bell Bike Club dot org, Bellbike Club.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Dot Org and go out to our calendar and you'll
see it on the twenty fifth and you can register. Basically,
we do ask people to register and sign a waiver. Okay,
that's for our liability issues, okay, And you can join
us and you can join us at different segments. You
don't have to ride. It's going to be forty one
miles okay, one way, one way. Yeah, so eighty two
(18:33):
if you're going to do all the way. But there's
a lot of people that aren't going to do that.
For me, I'm going to ride from the bob down
to the lead, have my wife pick me up down
at the lead. I actually have a couple other people
that are going to be going with me that I
can put on my bike rack on my car and
haul them back to the starting point where they picked
(18:55):
up on the right, but they can. People can start
at Karen Park, that can start a Twin Creek, that
can start at Walnut Creek. There's information as far as
the different segments and whether or not you like to
ride gravel. Okay, because when you get from Walnut Creek
down to the Lead, you're going to be on the
Mopac Trail. You got tram Road a little segment there
(19:16):
about eight to ten blocks that's gravel. So you need
a bike that's got wider tires. Okay, a regular road
bike with you know, twenty eight's, maybe thirty two's might work,
but it's really up your comfort level.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I literally have avoided riding on anything other than hard
pavement to this point, so that would definitely intimidate me
with the bike that I have now. But it's good
to know that, and you have that listed here on
the information sheet on your website. So very very interesting.
Last thing I wanted to talk about for you know
what you guys do, Jeff, is the general safety on
(19:53):
Like we talked about the you know, the trail system,
but there are growing number oftected bike lanes that the
city is trying to install and have it painted. But
also have you know, kind of a little large there. Yeah,
a little barrier there that is going to feel It
really does make a difference for you as a cyclist
(20:15):
when that's there. Is there a growing movement from your
perspective to see some of that, not just in kind
of the downtown area, but in other places that could
generate some bike traffic, especially around some of these trailheads.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
There are some you know, we're really in favor of
protected bike lanes or separate trails. Obviously, a protected bike
lane is a little bit less expensive to try and
implement versus a full trail, right, just having a bike lane,
and I've ridden on that in different parts of the country.
(20:51):
In fact, even on Lincoln Road in Papilion that travels
from ninety sixth Street all the way to Prairie Queen,
for example, you got just painted bike lanes on the
side of the road. The road doesn't have a lot
of traffic, which is okay, right, but they're generally not
as safe because you never know if that driver is
(21:13):
on their phone.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Yeah they're paying any attention to this.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, that's that's one of the things. So a protected
bike lane, Yeah, when the city you know puts those in,
those are going to be great, and of course painting
those like green, a lot of them in other parts
of the country, they paint those lanes as a green
to try and separate it.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And I've seen that in some places and coming from
Des Moines, there's an area kind of adjacent to downtown
on what they call Ingersoll Avenue that they it took
a long time to build, but they have protected bike
lanes that are red. But it's not just red. There's
like a like a median almost on the edge of
(21:51):
the road that also separates where that bike lane is
versus the actual roadway. It's just like, well, this is
absolutely going to promot more people to want to ride
through here because they know they're not going to have
to compete with actual motor vehicles on the roadway.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Right. And one thing that a lot of you know,
people don't understand, I mean motorists to a certain extent
that you know, complain about people on bikes riding on
the roads and whatever, is that there's an economic impact
to people riding bikes on the trail system. Iowa, for example,
in the Iowa Bike Coalition did a study, had a
(22:28):
university do a study for him in twenty twenty four
people riding bikes on the thirty two hundred miles of
trails within the state of Iowa contributed one point four
billion dollars to the gross domestic product that year.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
How just because there's the restaurants and all the other
businesses that have cropped up along the trail system. I've
ridden the High Trestle Trail that's part of the Great
American Rail Trail too. It's fun. Gone from Perry Woodward
all the way to Ancony and back. And yes, we
stopped at different places to have refreshments and buy food.
(23:07):
And I usually did the ride like in mid October,
which was kind of nice because you could drive from Omaha,
get there around noon, take and ride the trestle, see
it during the day, do other things. Come back and
you'll see the trestle after sunset, and it's just a
wonderful experience.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
I love this, and this is something that I'm looking
to do, is figure out ways that my wife and
I can go on more legitimate rides, not just kind
of noodle around on our bikes. Your club is absolutely
doing that for a lot of people. Bell Bikeclub dot
org online, the Bellevue Bicycle Club, Jeff Kwant, this is great.
Thank you so much for coming in and talking to
(23:48):
us about all of this. It certainly, I think is
a good sign of a society when people are willing
to try and utilize different modes of transportation, especially and
that can keep you physically fit. So I think what
you guys are doing is absolutely fantastic and I'm glad
that we were able to share that today.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Okay, great, thanks, Emory, appreciate it. Pedal On, Pedal On.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
This is the Emory Songer Podcast. We thank you for listening.
You know what we're gonna do. We're gonna have another
show for you coming up. I think I'm gonna talk
about my jury duty tomorrow. You're gonna want to stay
tuned for that on this feed. Thanks for listening, and
have a good rest of your day.
It's the Amory Suner podcast and you were listening to
us on the free iHeartRadio app. And we're having a
great conversation today about something I am learning about every
single day, something that I didn't really care about until
last year when I went to a bicycle shop and
bought my first legitimate road bicycle as an adult, after
being kind of inspired by the way that people travel
(00:33):
around in the Netherlands. So I know, fast forward to
last spring. I think I was at the Exarbon Turk
Criterion race in Xarbon Village and I found a booth
there and it was a few fellows that had matching
shirts on from the Bellevue Bicycle Club and man, I
(00:56):
got very interested, very quickly in what they were talking about.
And here to talk about plumy of things this spring
and bicycle safety is Jeff Kwant. He's a past president
of the Bellevue Bicycle Club and Jeff, I really appreciate
you coming in today.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Matt, Well, thank you, Amory. I really appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
This bicycle culture very different, very interesting, and I love it. Honestly,
wasn't something that I ever thought I would be as
somebody looking forward to riding my bike just anywhere I
had a reason to ride my bike to. How did
you get kind of involved in cycling?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, it probably goes back to when I worked for
a software company that was headquartered over at the Business
Park one hundred and forty fourth in Dodge, and I
lived south of there about six miles and there was
a guy that was one of the software people was
a sort of a cyclist, and he got the tire
(01:47):
company to form a team and we did this corporate
cycling challenge and we did other things and it was
really kind of a fun thing. So we ended up
getting a bike. I didn't know what to buy, okay,
so my wife and I went out and bought a
what they call a comfort hybrid, big, heavy and slow,
but it worked. It was great.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
How old were you when this happened.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh gosh, let's see you probably in my late fifties.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Okay, so you got into the game a little bit
later than you know. A lot of people probably would
think that you get into cycling when you're younger. But
that's the one thing about cycling that I appreciate is
the fact that it's really for everybody. So we've made
a lot of progress in cycling and cycling safety, and
we'll talk about kind of those ins and outs. But
(02:39):
for you, was that a challenge for you to kind
of learn the etiquette of riding a bicycle, Well, that's
part of.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It, and knowing where the trails go and that sort
of thing. And for me it was I live over
by Scott High School, so I basically caught what was
called the West Papio Trail, rode up to Dodge and
then did some back roads to get over to the
office and it was like six and a half miles.
Was nice is that they had a fitness center in
the building, so I could shower up if I needed to.
(03:07):
And that's sort of how I got started. But it's like, Okay,
what changed when I got into buying a road bike?
Like you just mentioned, as I showed up for a
group ride one time that we were going to be
going up to Fremont from Waterloo, and I said, okay,
I can do that forty some miles round trip, average
(03:29):
speed ten to fifteen miles an hour A it's right
in my game. So I show up with my comfort
Hybrid and everybody's got a road bike and the first
thought in my mind was I'm in trouble.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So for those who may not know a comfort hybrid,
how does it differentiate from kind of the normal roadbikes
people will see when they drive past side.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Well, you're sitting upright, that's number one, so you actually
catch more wind if you have a tailwind or a headwind.
The other thing is that those bikes generally are not
geared very well for speed in addition to being heavier. Okay,
that particular bike was about thirty five pounds. Wow, And
(04:11):
you wouldn't think that that would be a big deal,
but it does become an issue. Now. I was fine
going up because I had a tailwind, coming back had
a headwind. I was doing ten miles an hour. I mean,
I couldn't go any faster. Of course, I was a
lot heavier than too, so that made a difference.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
But you know, it's interesting that you talk about this
because when I went shopping for our road bikes, my
wife and I both bought road bikes and try to
figure out what attachments we wanted to have and get
good helmets and all of that. You go in there,
and if you aren't really sure what you're looking for,
it can be a confusing process because it is very
customizable to whatever you're really looking for exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And we went to what was the bike rack okay,
which was they were a Trek dealer, And to be
honest with you, I did work for Trek for a
little over a year several years ago, just as a
service tech, just to learn, have fun, and I call
it to support my addiction. Okay. So they have a process,
(05:11):
and I think all the bike shops have a process
to be able to take and ask potential customers, where
are you going to ride? What do you feel comfortable with?
Yaudio audio? And they go through a number of points
to try and help narrow it down as to what
type of bike they should let you try riding. Doing
a test ride.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, And that's one thing that we did is once
we got on a bike and we test rode, I
wanted to make sure we did a couple just to
feel what a difference could be because I hadn't been
on a real bike like this before, you know, only
ever had like kid bikes and mountain bikes, you know when.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You're growing up.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
This was a completely different process and man, I I
all of a sudden was like I want to ride everywhere,
just like you get a bike and you're just like, man,
I just want to see what it's like to get
on a trail. I want to go, you know, ten
miles or twenty miles or forty miles in you know,
and just see what that feels like.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And when you get out and you do it.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
For the first time, it's just it's one of those
things where you just feel like you've you've really done something, yeah,
for the first time in your life. And I can,
like you talk about it being an addiction. I don't
know if i'd say I'm addicted to it, because I'm
also a runner and I do a lot of other activities,
but it is absolutely something at least once or twice
a week I want to get out and use my bike,
you know.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah. Well, And what was interesting is that after that
experience where I went on that group ride with the
Comfort Hybrid, two weeks later I went on the ride
again and I had a road bike. It was an
endurance road bike. It's a little different than unless I
some standard road bikes. You're sitting up a little bit higher,
but not really like a Comfort Hybrid. It's a little
(06:42):
taller head tube. It's a technicality, but basically it weighed
for twenty three pounds from thirty five to twenty three.
It's like, hey, I just lost twelve pounds, and you
do go faster and it's geared differently, so you go faster.
So I mean, and it was a much better experience
(07:02):
in that regard. Now, my current road bike okay, is
seventeen and a half pounds. It's carbon fiber whoa, and
it is just the sweetest thing. I love riding.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
You can just you can where does a backpack if
you're going upstairs? You know?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, right, So I mean it's just a super nice bikes.
I do have an e bike too, so I mean
there's all different kinds of bikes out.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
There, a lot of e bikes, you know. We talked
about the e bike idea just in case we wanted
to go further, but my wife is like, no, if
we're going to do this, we're gonna like do irregular
for now. But I've written e bikes before, and man,
that is handy, especially if you know there's a place
you're trying to get to that's a little further than
maybe you'd be comfortable in a situation to be able
to have that assist.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Well, and that's one of the things that e bikes
do offer people that are getting back into biking. They
may be older and they basically are not as fit. Well,
the e bike does give you that little boost. The
other thing that the e bike does is allow you
to go further. Now, what I like about my e
(08:03):
bike is it's basically a commuter bike. And granted with
the one battery that's on there, and I can put
an extra battery on one battery. It weighs fifty six pounds.
Oh wow, yeah, okay, but you don't notice it when
you're riding. So a lot of times when it's like
a very I wouldn't say very windy day, but a
windy your day where I'm going to have a lot
of headwinds or I'm going to be experiencing a lot
(08:24):
of hills, that bike is ideal. And I do use
it for going out shopping, grocery shopping, Trail maintenance, that's
the other thing that I do with it. I got
a little wagon, I tossed my tools in the back,
and I go out along the trail system and yeah,
if there's some branches growing in, you know, I'll just
nip them off. So that you know, the Parks Department appreciates,
(08:45):
you know, some of the stuff that we do that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, well let's talk about that. So we talk about
you being the past president of the Bellevue Bicycle Club
and you guys had a booth at the Eggsarbon Turk
last year, which is how I became aware of you guys,
and I hadn't even bought my bike at that point yet,
So you know, I, you know, I'm curious as to
what a bike club looks like and how you guys
(09:08):
kind of operate. The different things that you do is
trail maintenance part of what you like to do, just
to make sure that you guys have safe places to ride.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, we're we're just not a club that goes out
and rides a bike. Okay, we do have a weekly
coffee ride that's on Saturdays that leaves from Twin Creek,
But we do trail maintenance. We'll go around and sections
of trail, or we'll take and pick up trash that
gets littered along the way. The other thing is that
(09:38):
we're really sort of strong advocates for better cycling. When
I was president, we had fifty six members. We are
now over one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So our club has grown and grown in an influence.
So a lot of people recognize our logo, they see
us out there doing stuff and it's more than just
riding a bike.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Let's talk about that part of it, the influence of
cyclists in trying to advocate for either safer trails or
you know, for people to be aware. And this is
one thing that I had to learn of when is
it okay to be on a sidewalk or a trail
versus being the street right? What is the rule of
(10:26):
the vehicle as they're trying to pass me? Like how
far away do they need to be from me? How
do you guys kind of educate people who might have
questions about that, because that can be an intimidating part
for a new rider.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, one of the things we have it on our
website and we also distribute it at local bike shops
and at kiosks around the Metro area. We put out maps,
but we also have a trail etiquette flyer and it
talks about what are the responsibilities people on the trail, running, walking,
that sort of things, as well as people riding a
bike as well as motorists, and what of the stuff
(11:01):
that applies to those particular areas is section six in
the driver's manual, the Nebraska Department of Transportation Driver's Manual.
You know how motors should interact with cyclists on the road.
People on bikes can be on the road. They have
to give them three feet minimum. But the manual actually
(11:24):
says they should pull as far away to the left
as possible. But three feet is the minimum? Okay?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Interesting?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Can you ride on sidewalks practically everywhere except where there
are signs? You know? The Old Market is a good example.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You don't, okay?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I think the mall downtown is another place that you
cannot take and ride a bike. So you can walk
your bike through there, and I've done that.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
This is the thing that I learned when I moved
downtown is I would grab those scooters, those E scooters,
and I didn't know that they had like patches is
where you actually couldn't ride them. But those same patches
you can't ride the East scooters. You have to go
like around those perimeters because they don't want either.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Some motor on wheels or something.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, And during the College World Series, they you know,
make it a lot bigger than want people on those
motorized scooters, you know, hitting people or anything. But it
is quite fascinating and I'm glad that you mentioned that,
because I just never know, like I don't feel comfortable
on this road.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Is that okay? If I hop on the sidewalk, I
never know if that's legitimate.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
In Nebraska, it is totally legit to ride on the
sidewalk unless it's posted. And of course, as somebody riding
a bike on a sidewalk, you have to be aware
of pedestrians, right, And usually when I come up to
a pedestrian, I'll just pull off to the side and
let them pass.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Sure, And you know what, that's a lot easier to
do when you're on a sidewalk than trying to do
that when you're on a street in the middle of
the roadway.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
The trails are great. I mean the trail system. There's
like what over one hundred and twenty miles within the
metro area.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, and I this is one thing.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I'm pretty close to the Keystone down there in Xarbon Village,
and I like, it's so easy just for us to
roll down the hill and just hop on that thing.
And go in either direction and you can go for
a long ways and then hooking the other way. Yeah,
with other trails systems, you know, like what's your favorite
area to ride around here?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Basically all over I mean I'm I ride the entire
metro system. Yeah, I'm sort of out in the Southwest area,
so a lot of my rides are out in there.
But I do get over to the east part of town.
I do go over into Iowa. Going over the Bob
Carrey Bridge into Tom Hannafan Park over there is just
(13:34):
neat and that great I call him the Aluminum Guy
or whatever, that big stature out there. But of course
that goes down and you get on the first avenue trail.
The first avenue trail over there is superb. You can
go from like the Bob going all the way down
to the Wa Bash Trace if you want to. And
I've done that where we've actually parked at the Bob
(13:55):
and taken a group ride down to the Wa Bash Trace.
Who've actually gone all the way to mal Earn down there.
That's like twenty two and a half miles just from
the Lobbast Trace head for trailhead in Console Bluffs.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
That's so cool.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
I'm looking at some of the stuff that you guys
have coming up here, because you shot me an email
and said, you know, April, you know a lot of stuff,
a lot of people gribbing the bike for the first
time this spring. My wife and I we rode for
the first time earlier this week this year. So you know,
let's talk about you know, you got a bridge of it.
You got this National Trails Day on April twenty fifth,
(14:30):
which is just you know, over a week away, right,
What are some of the things that you guys have
that you would love to see people coming out and
if they have a bike or if they're just curious
about learning to ride with the group, how they can
see what you guys are up to and why maybe
your group has tripled in recent years.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah. Well, one of the things that we have coming
up on April twenty fifth, which is a Saturday, it
is National Trails Day the Rails the Trails Conservancy, which
is a national organization, has that particular date. It's also
Earth Day, by the way. Nice. So the club has
decided to do a ride and we call it Bridge
(15:09):
to Bridge. We're going from the Bob Carry Bridge to
the Lead Bridge and we're following what is known as
the Great American Rail Trail through Omaha. A lot of
people don't even realize that the one that that trail exists,
but it's the Interstate of bike walking trails coast to coast.
It's thirty seven hundred miles long. It's not one hundred
(15:32):
percent complete, but you know, through Omaha, we wanted to
take and bring some more awareness and attention that there
is this super highway coming through our state and our town,
and you know, we're getting into the high season, there
are going to be hundreds, if not more people walking
(15:54):
and riding through town. I hooked up with a couple
of Danish people from on a Facebook page. They're going
to be coming through in July, so I told them
this is okay, I'll post things as far as detours
that are going on. There's actually three detours now within
the Omaha area along the Great American Rail Trail, and
(16:16):
they're not well marked and there's no, let's say, signage
for somebody that's traveling on the route to actually figure
out how to get around and get back onto the trail.
That's one of the things that as a club we've
sort of been asking for with all the different communities.
And I've seen it one time last year or the
(16:38):
year before, there was some work on sewer work over
by Bob Boozer between Pacific and Center and they had
to close the trail. There was a well marked route
all the way around the school to get back onto
the trail. I said, who did this? This is crazy,
(16:59):
This is not done in this town. But I guess
public Works actually did that particular.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well, maybe that's a changing of the guard because, like
you mentioned, your group is getting influence and maybe just
there's not enough people with lot enough voices to say, hey,
this is confusing. This can be a problem for people,
especially they're trying to use this well.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
And the other thing. You know, there's members of our
club that are on another little group called Safe Trails
Initiative here in Omaha, And recently we heard from Omaha
Parks that after years of people asking for it, they're
going to be putting the names of the roads that
you're passing under when you're traveling on the trail on
(17:39):
all the underpasses within Omaha Parks.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
It seems like something that should have always been there.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, it should be, and it really makes it easier
for people to understand where they are in case of emergency.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Right now, see again, like, how how would you not
think to do that already? Yeah, but I'm glad that
somebody's thinking about that.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Now. Can anybody do this? You need to, Like anybody.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Can take and do the Bridge to Bridge ride. Go
out to Bell Bike.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Bell Bike Club dot org, Bellbike Club.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Dot Org and go out to our calendar and you'll
see it on the twenty fifth and you can register. Basically,
we do ask people to register and sign a waiver. Okay,
that's for our liability issues, okay, And you can join
us and you can join us at different segments. You
don't have to ride. It's going to be forty one
miles okay, one way, one way. Yeah, so eighty two
(18:33):
if you're going to do all the way. But there's
a lot of people that aren't going to do that.
For me, I'm going to ride from the bob down
to the lead, have my wife pick me up down
at the lead. I actually have a couple other people
that are going to be going with me that I
can put on my bike rack on my car and
haul them back to the starting point where they picked
(18:55):
up on the right, but they can. People can start
at Karen Park, that can start a Twin Creek, that
can start at Walnut Creek. There's information as far as
the different segments and whether or not you like to
ride gravel. Okay, because when you get from Walnut Creek
down to the Lead, you're going to be on the
Mopac Trail. You got tram Road a little segment there
(19:16):
about eight to ten blocks that's gravel. So you need
a bike that's got wider tires. Okay, a regular road
bike with you know, twenty eight's, maybe thirty two's might work,
but it's really up your comfort level.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
I literally have avoided riding on anything other than hard
pavement to this point, so that would definitely intimidate me
with the bike that I have now. But it's good
to know that, and you have that listed here on
the information sheet on your website. So very very interesting.
Last thing I wanted to talk about for you know
what you guys do, Jeff, is the general safety on
(19:53):
Like we talked about the you know, the trail system,
but there are growing number oftected bike lanes that the
city is trying to install and have it painted. But
also have you know, kind of a little large there. Yeah,
a little barrier there that is going to feel It
really does make a difference for you as a cyclist
(20:15):
when that's there. Is there a growing movement from your
perspective to see some of that, not just in kind
of the downtown area, but in other places that could
generate some bike traffic, especially around some of these trailheads.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
There are some you know, we're really in favor of
protected bike lanes or separate trails. Obviously, a protected bike
lane is a little bit less expensive to try and
implement versus a full trail, right, just having a bike lane,
and I've ridden on that in different parts of the country.
(20:51):
In fact, even on Lincoln Road in Papilion that travels
from ninety sixth Street all the way to Prairie Queen,
for example, you got just painted bike lanes on the
side of the road. The road doesn't have a lot
of traffic, which is okay, right, but they're generally not
as safe because you never know if that driver is
(21:13):
on their phone.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Yeah they're paying any attention to this.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, that's that's one of the things. So a protected
bike lane, Yeah, when the city you know puts those in,
those are going to be great, and of course painting
those like green, a lot of them in other parts
of the country, they paint those lanes as a green
to try and separate it.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And I've seen that in some places and coming from
Des Moines, there's an area kind of adjacent to downtown
on what they call Ingersoll Avenue that they it took
a long time to build, but they have protected bike
lanes that are red. But it's not just red. There's
like a like a median almost on the edge of
(21:51):
the road that also separates where that bike lane is
versus the actual roadway. It's just like, well, this is
absolutely going to promot more people to want to ride
through here because they know they're not going to have
to compete with actual motor vehicles on the roadway.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Right. And one thing that a lot of you know,
people don't understand, I mean motorists to a certain extent
that you know, complain about people on bikes riding on
the roads and whatever, is that there's an economic impact
to people riding bikes on the trail system. Iowa, for example,
in the Iowa Bike Coalition did a study, had a
(22:28):
university do a study for him in twenty twenty four
people riding bikes on the thirty two hundred miles of
trails within the state of Iowa contributed one point four
billion dollars to the gross domestic product that year.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
How just because there's the restaurants and all the other
businesses that have cropped up along the trail system. I've
ridden the High Trestle Trail that's part of the Great
American Rail Trail too. It's fun. Gone from Perry Woodward
all the way to Ancony and back. And yes, we
stopped at different places to have refreshments and buy food.
(23:07):
And I usually did the ride like in mid October,
which was kind of nice because you could drive from Omaha,
get there around noon, take and ride the trestle, see
it during the day, do other things. Come back and
you'll see the trestle after sunset, and it's just a
wonderful experience.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
I love this, and this is something that I'm looking
to do, is figure out ways that my wife and
I can go on more legitimate rides, not just kind
of noodle around on our bikes. Your club is absolutely
doing that for a lot of people. Bell Bikeclub dot
org online, the Bellevue Bicycle Club, Jeff Kwant, this is great.
Thank you so much for coming in and talking to
(23:48):
us about all of this. It certainly, I think is
a good sign of a society when people are willing
to try and utilize different modes of transportation, especially and
that can keep you physically fit. So I think what
you guys are doing is absolutely fantastic and I'm glad
that we were able to share that today.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Okay, great, thanks, Emory, appreciate it. Pedal On, Pedal On.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
This is the Emory Songer Podcast. We thank you for listening.
You know what we're gonna do. We're gonna have another
show for you coming up. I think I'm gonna talk
about my jury duty tomorrow. You're gonna want to stay
tuned for that on this feed. Thanks for listening, and
have a good rest of your day.
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.