Sunday, July 17

OWL from bike support view

Greg, Paul, and I supported the OWL Ride Saturday night. We got there about 9pm with time to ride around for about an hour before setting up shop.

The night was a hot one with a breeze to help cool things down. Most of the early stuff was pumping up tires, one tube replaced, and some brakes adjusted. Pulled the b.o.b. trailer with supplies during the ride. Just a few deraileur adjustments.

The ride was amazing! Seeing that many cyclists (1850 preregistered plus more registering onsite) starting in waves was cool. What struck me was the number of women riding, and number of families doing the long, 16 mile, route. Riding mtb trails and commuting, I see 95% men. On Saturday night, probably 50% were women! What this tells me is women like riding as much as men. Concerning commuting, the more infrastructure that separates bikes from cars is put in place, the more women AND men will opt for biking to their destinations.

My hat's off to the OWL organization for the many, many volunteers directing at intersections and manning the perches (rest stops)! Great Job! Though I fell into going because Dan couldn't make it, I look forward to supporting the 2012 OWL Ride! And good money was raised for Omahans with disabilities.

I also want to thank Paul and Greg for helping and riding with! There was a time prior to the start when all three of us were busy pumping up tires and working on bikes. We had a great time!

Here's a link to some pics Paul took.

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