Bancroft Bayliss Loop Bicycle Rides
Rides begin at the Bancroft Street Market parking lot every Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
May 22, 2010 through October 16, 2010
Started in 2009 The Bancroft Bayliss Loop (BBL) is a community forming bicycle ride and cultural exchange engaging artists and cyclists between the Bancroft Market in Omaha Nebraska and the West side and downtown area Council Bluffs Iowa.
The BBL was founded by artist Jody Boyer in collaboration with Bill Seidler Jr., founder of the Bancroft Street Market, as a community based social practice performance, a work of art, to transform people’s understanding of our two communities.
The ride literally and metaphorically takes people on a journey to experience the many urban, social and cultural paradigms of our two communities from the seat of a bicycle.
The ride travels a route that explores the Omaha riverfront, the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge, a beautiful natural landscape along the Missouri River, historic downtown Council Bluffs, emerging arts districts and many friendly residential neighborhoods on both sides of the river.
The BBL also aims to raise awareness of cycling as transportation in addition to recreation by navigating urban streets not defined as primary bike-ways by either city. By getting people on bikes on streets we hope to advocate for shared roadways and a community cultural shift that sees cyclists as having a fair right to the road.
This year the ride starts May 22 and continues every Saturday through October 16. The ride is roughly 2 hours and requires a helmet. Midway through the ride we often stop at Bayliss Park in downtown Council Bluffs Iowa to picnic, or eat lunch at Ellie’s deli or La Carreta Rosa, a great Mexican restaurant.
