Bike Snot OMA: Half the Road!

February 28, 2017

I made it out to the theatre ~~tonight~~ last week to view a film entitled Half the Road. It was at AksarbenCinema. I don’t make it out much, so I was amazed to see all the sports bars present in the Aksarben Village area these days. Here is a horrible photo of a sports bar's advertising bike at the cinema.

http://www.dudleysomaha.com

There was also an e-bike rental outfit with a promotional booth out in the lobby,

http://quikbyke.com

along with the usual group which included:

Tour for Hope (Bike Ride to Prevent Suicide) - May 21

Wear Yellow Ride - May 13

Bike Rack

Omaha Pedalers

As for the film, it was great to hear about some inspired women professional bicyclists. Unfortunately they don’t get the respect or the money they deserve. The film informs us that women bicyclists typically don’t dope and they have to work full-time regular jobs to support their bicycling careers. Also there are fewer UCI qualifying events for them to participate in in order to get the points they need to qualify for the Olympics.

Mostly what this film is about is giving girls and women more representation in the male-dominated professional bicycling world. Although there are many women bicyclists, the professional bicyclists that I am familiar with are all men and almost all of them are likely dopers. This film introduced me to a number of professional women bicyclists who I am interested in learning more about. Here are a few of those portrayed in the film:

Emma Pooley (she has a teapot collection - she buys one with the prize money when she wins races)
Marianne Vos (probably my favorite, she seems shy and unassuming but is clearly a badass bicyclist)
Kathryn Bertine (also directed the film and Skyped with the audience after the showing!)
Chrissy Wellington (not specifically a professional bicyclist)

Of these, CW was the only one I previously knew anything about due to my casual fling with triathleting.

The film was enjoyable, but occasionally a bit repetitive – professional women bicyclists are not treated with even the meager amounts of respect lavished upon professional male bicyclists. Let’s talk about that some more. I would have been a bit more interested in hearing more about how these women became bicyclists and show them bicycling about their homelands, etc. The film did have a great sense of humor and never really got bogged down. It was fascinating to see all the travelling that these women had to do just to qualify for the Olympics. Kathryn went to Syria and then didn’t even get credit for it due to some weaselly UCI technicality! I don’t mind travelling, but I felt like I got some contact jet lag just from viewing this film.

Then, after the film, Kathryn Skyped with Bob Mancuso (of Omaha Pedaler's) and the audience got the chance to ask her questions! It was good to hear about her latest ventures and her life in Tucson, AZ. She offers a free place for women bicyclists to stay if they decide they could use some quality time in the mountain/deserts around and about Tucson.

That’s one nice thing about being a non-professional bicycler. We don’t have to travel by means other than bicycling all that much! But then again, no one makes movies about bicycle commuters, right!? Wrong! Here is one! And even another!? Okay, so they both also involve Old Man

Winter to make it a bit more baffling/obtuse. Here's a geeky-looking documentary that contrasts bicycles and motorcars.

Well, bicycling in Nebraska seems to be headed in the right direction. Here are a couple exciting upcoming events:

Omaha Bike Swap Meet - March 12

Nebraska Bike/Walk Summit - March 23-24, Lincoln

And a non-bicycle-related event: