About the BBL

The 2o12 BBL leaves the Bancroft Street Market at 10:00 am, every Saturday until October 13th, 2012.

Oh, and the Bancroft Street Market has free parking.

History of the BBL!

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.

The Bancroft Bayliss Loop, looking West toward Omaha