English teacher enjoys bicycling in free time

Anyone who knew the now-retired psychology teacher Mr. Shipman knew that he loved to ride his bike. But he wasn’t the only faculty member that enjoys cycling. English teacher Jen Stastny bikes for recreation as well. 

Like most people, Stastny started biking as a child. It wasn’t until college that she decided to begin using her bike as a serious mode of transportation. 

“That’s when I really started biking long distances for distances for fun,” she said, “When you’re a little kid, you don’t go that far.” 

During her time at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, she rode her bike all year, but reconsidered after moving to Omaha. 

“I just saw too many people wiping out in traffic, and I don’t want to be run over by a car in downtown Omaha,” she explained. 

Though there are many cycling events around Nebraska that are available to riders such as Stastny, she prefers to participate in few of these. 

“I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it. So, I’ll go out and ride 50 miles, but I do it 100 percent on my own terms.” 

She did ride at the Radler Bike Festival last summer, however, as well as some group rides put on by the Omaha Bicycle Company.  

When the weather is nice, Stastny does like to ride to school. Often during the school year, that half an hour on her bike going to work is the only time she gets to ride. 

“It’s just a better way to start my day,” she said. “It’s gets my blood flowing. I get into the neighborhood more. When you’re in a car, it’s so easy to be oblivious to what’s around you, but when you’re on a bicycle, you’re of the place. You’re fully in it.” 

Unfortunately, Stastny hasn’t been able to ride her bike to work recently as she ruptured her quadriceps tendon, an injury that takes about a year to heal and put her in a wheelchair for several weeks. 

“It’s still a fragile injury,” she said. 

 Though her surgeon cleared her for cycling, she’s still worried about falling on hills or hitting potholes. 

Though that injury wasn’t cycling-related, she has been hurt on the bike before. 

“I slipped and fell on ice in January of 1998 on a bike trail,” Stastny recalled. “I landed on my knee, popped back up and kept rolling … I got home and put some ice on it, probably took some ibuprofen. Flash forward all the way to the summer of 2011 and I’m out on a long bike ride … All the sudden my knee really hurt. I asked my doctor about it; she did some x-rays and said, ‘your kneecap is in the wrong place and it’s completely encased in arthritis.’” 

That knee would have been replaced if she were older and not on her feet as much as she is being a teacher. 

Through all the injuries and busy schedules, Stastny has held onto the joy of cycling. 

“I just love being on my bike. If I can have an excuse to be on my bike, I will take the excuse to be on my bike.”