Downtown BOCC Deliveries!

The BOCC Button Bike Messenger service had a couple of extra "helpers" this morning. I wasn't sure how well they would fare, but they did great! This crew is not quite ready to tackle the streets of downtown Omaha, so we stayed on the sidewalks when we could not find a suitable trail or side path.

We started at Blue Line Coffee and had a nice chat with Scott Redd from UP and Sean Morrison from Physican's Mutual. Rafal Doloto from the National Parks Service rolled up to collect his team's buttons, too.

First stop: Gallup. They are a new team this year, and they are doing great. Easy access from Cuming Street to the Riverfront Trail. What a gorgeous campus.

We followed the Riverfront Trail to Heartland of America Park to Farnam to get to RDG- Omaha's first Bike Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists. Great to see bikes lining the hallways inside; great to hear about the group breakfast ride that many of them did this morning. One employee noticed the girls' "Walking School Bus" shirts (yes, I use my children for shameless marketing-ha) and told us how much they love their walking school busses at Dundee Elementary!

I had the wrong location in my head for Alley Poyer Architects, so we took the "scenic route" to First National Bank via 10th to Jackson to 13th t0...well, you get the idea. Lots of sidewalks necessary here for my kiddos. Took it slow and talked a lot about driveways and parking lots and pedestrians.

Alley Poyner Macciehtto Architecture is another new team this year that is doing well. How ironic that their location is just a block from Blue Line Coffee? We rode up through the little sculpture park by the OWH and then did some honest to goodness street riding on 15th up to Cuming. The women at the front desk were delightful to chat with. Great artwork in that office.

All in all, a great morning. When I said to my oldest, "Isn't this way better than doing this in the car?" I got a rousing "Oh YEAH!" in response. Judging by the BOCC stats as of today, at least 678 other Omaha riders would agree!