Bicycle News From Lincoln

The Winter 2007-08 edition of The Nebraska Blueprint has two bicycle-related articles:

• Bike Lanes: Making Space for Safety discusses the evolution of the bike lanes in downtown Lincoln, and quotes Scott Opfer, manager of engineering services and operations for the city of Lincoln, and Randy Hoskins, assistant city engineer:
  

  Since the bike lanes became available in late August 2006, Opfer and Hoskins have received mixed feedback.

  Most negative feedback has come from motorists. Most of the issues raised by motorists concern the loss of a lane of automobile traffic, as well as traffic congestion near parking garages.

  As far as cyclist feedback, most has been positive, Hoskins said. “Most cyclists have been pretty happy with it,” Hoskins said. “They’re glad to have their own space on the street.”

  Because the bike lanes have enhanced downtown Lincoln, Hoskins said he looks forward to the incorporation of more bike trails and lanes. If the bike lanes gain greater acceptance and popularity residents of Lincoln “will see some of those plans continue on,” he said.

  “Hopefully this is like a first step in making the town more bicycle friendly, particularly for students who attend the university,” Hoskins said.

• Engineering The Downhill Bike features an interview with Joel Smith, owner of Tomac Mountain Bikes, a company based in Lincoln that produces high-performance mountain bikes. The article focuses on the development and testing of Tomac’s new downhill racing bike, The Primer 220 DH:
  

  The Primer 220 “is designed for a very specific and unique application: big jumps, drop offs and generally extremely rough terrain. In fact, the end user is typically riding a chair lift to access the trails, so it’s not your normal Sunday afternoon ride around town bike,” Smith said. Simply put, downhill biking is a race to the bottom of a steep hill. And while skill is a major factor in handling the terrain, the race is a short one – meaning the performance of the bike is extremely important.

The Nebraska Blueprint is a biannual publication produced by students at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln