Hey Friends, my name is Jamie and I’ve loved all things bike since I was a toddler learning how
to ride a 2 wheeled bike down the hallway of a house just about as soon as I could walk.
We moved to Lincoln when I was 5(from living on a farm by Denton) and shortly thereafter,
discovered that the City was building a bike trail about a block away from my new home near
44th & Gladstone, along with a new neighborhood park. I rode my bike to school at Huntington
Elementary during the week and on the weekends, I’d ride my bike to the latest “end” of the new
Dietrich Murdock Trail construction project. It was pretty cool to see how it went from being
marked with paint on the grass expanses, to wooden forms for concrete slabs, to ribbons of
fresh new paths that weaved behind neighborhood houses, along businesses, parallel to
thoroughfares, and over bridges that crossed train tracks. Biking always brought freedom with it
and these new pathways brought safety. Convenience. Beauty. FUN!
I saw Lincoln in ways that I’d never seen before by car. And at my own speed. On two wheels!
How cool is that?! It’s everything a childhood should be!
Our varied tree canopy amongst backyards with playful pooches behind chainlink fences. The
smell of BBQ grills in the evenings with families on their decks and in swimming pools, full of
light & laughter. Quiet flowing waters along creeks that crisscrossed the expanding trails with
geese & ducks looking for dinner in amongst the rocks and grags. I’d stay out until the
proverbial “street lights came on”. Sometimes with friends. Sometimes alone. Always on a bike!
I guess you could say that’s where it all began. That love.
I’ve been pretty lucky and like to share that interest with other people and organizations who
share similar initiatives. When I’m not riding a bike, I like to volunteer to help others find that joy
or break the barriers to being able to ride or have access to safe places to ride or increase
educational opportunities to learn about riding. I serve on a few Boards(like BicycLincoln,
THOR, and GPTN) and am the Program Director for Nebraska Devo, a statewide youth
mountain biking development program that educates kids ages 5-18, how to ride bikes safely by
teaching them lifelong bike handling skills every Monday for 8 weeks in the summer with an
awesome core of amazing coaches in 5 unique communities. I am also very fortunate that I get
to help the general public with customer service questions that are quite often related to parks
and trails as I work for the City at the Lincoln Parks & Recreation Administration Office since
January of this year.
We can all be bike supporters and allies even if we aren’t actively riding. I bet you already are!
But I challenge you to do more. There are events in our communities that simply cannot happen
without volunteer support. Sign up! Committees at the City of Lincoln that need active public
members for input on facilities development and policy insights. Join us! Non Profit Boards that
serve the greater good and make the impossible possible for so many underserved and under
resourced. Give it! Shopping local that supports grassroots greatness that activates
communities and inspires innovation. Spend it! Together, we are BETTER!
Teamwork makes the dream work. How can we help each other? Let’s make it happen!
