Bike Group Plans Annual Tour de Lincoln

LINCOLN, NE (April 28, 2021) – The Great Plains Trails Network will celebrate May is National Bike Month with their annual Tour de Lincoln bicycle rides.

Last year’s rides were cancelled due to the high numbers of COVID-19, but not this year as GPTN is once again sponsoring the Thursday evening bicycle rides designed to take participants to different quadrants of Lincoln. GPTN plans to host the rides with safety precautions in place due to COVID-19. All rides start and end at the Jayne Snyder Trails Center at 228 North 21 Street (21^st & Q Streets) Union Plaza Park, beginning at 6:00 pm. New this year, is the Southwest route will allow every rider an opportunity to bike over the new GPTN Connector Bridge near Densmore Park.

Bike rides are scheduled each Thursday in May at 6:00 pm as follows:

May 6 – Southwest Tour de Lincoln – 13 miles

May 13 – Northwest Tour de Lincoln – 12 miles

May 20 – Southeast Tour de Lincoln – 15 miles

May 27 – Northeast Tour de Lincoln – 16 miles

Members of GPTN’s Board of Directors will lead each ride, provide mechanical support and make sure there are no riders left behind. Refreshments will be available before the start. The rides vary from 12 to 16 miles each, and are designed to acquaint bicyclists with different trails, conditions and features. People of all ages and families are invited to participate.

No fees are required, but participants are required to wear helmets for this and all GPTN sponsored cycling events. There will also be drawings for refreshments from The Hub Café (next to the Jayne Snyder Trails Center). Lots of positive comments have been made by riders on how much they enjoyed past rides. Many have never ventured out on trails that are not near their residence, so they welcome the opportunity to see where a new trail leads them.

“We try to feature different trails whenever possible, during Tour de Lincoln rides,” said event chairperson Mary Torell. “The most important thing is to expose bike riders to all quadrants of the city and allow them to discover Lincoln’s great trails system. Our network of 135 miles of trails continues to grow, and these rides give people an opportunity to see portions of the city and trails other than where they may live.” “We encourage people to get out and explore the trails and have fun”!

In order to comply with the Dept. of Health’s safety requirements, members of the GPTN Board will be using the following guidelines at this year’s bike rides to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Volunteers and Participants will use hand sanitizer, wear face coverings unless they are riding their bicycles, and maintain social distance. Participants should maintain six-foot separation between parties. Volunteers and participants will be provided hand sanitizers at the event. Volunteers will make sure participants are complying with sanitary policies, social distancing and wearing masks whenever participants are off of their bicycles.