Mountain - Plains - Road Biking in Lincoln, NE

I just moved to Lincoln to go to college and I need to find some good road biking routes. I know about the trail system but I'm wondering if there are there any other routes (highways, other roads, I'm not picky) that would be easy to get to from the campus that are good for road biking.
Thanks!

What part of town are you coming from to get to campus?, or what interesection would you like to start from?

I live in Abel Hall so the best intesection to start from would be 17th and Vine. Feel free to work from anywhere that borders the campus though. Even if you don't have anything right there let me know if theres good routes anywhere around Lincoln, I'm sure I can find some way to get there.

Okay, that's pretty central, so of course there are a bunch of ways...I don't do a lot of riding on the roads outside of town, but here are maybe three potential resources for road routes: http://lincoln-roadies.blogspot.com/ will have people who do regular group rides that include mostly road-based routes...ditto for these folks: http://teamfire-lincoln.blogspot.com/ And this guy rides all over the place and I'm sure he'd have some great route ideas: http://cars-r-coffins.blogspot.com/ Those are probably the most authoritative leads in the area, anyway...

It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to do any road biking around Lincoln, but one of my favorites was multiple loops around Branched Oak lake. This time of year, the roads were practically deserted. Since I lived on the east edge of town, I'd put my bike in the truck and drive out to Bowling Green Lake, out by the airport. From there you can take NW 48th to Highway 34 and head west. I can't remember if 48th has a shoulder or not. I know 34 does, and at the time I was riding that route, traffic was pretty respectful of roadies. Head west on 34 to 126th (I think). I'm pretty sure it was 126th that was my regular route. Anyway, it will take you out to the lake, where you can do multiple loops in relative solitude this time of year. Google Maps can give you a decent idea of where you're headed. Hope this helps.

UNL (Where the "N" stands for knowledge)- Class of '96.

I like to take 16th street south, turn east on south street, turn south on 17th street, at the end of 17th street there will be a bike path that takes you to 27th and Hwy 2. then at 27th and Hwy 2 take the bike path north. take the bike path north all the way to the baseball/softball fields around 21st and L. Take L street to 17th and 17th back to campus. Let me know how it goes.

As far as getting from east Lincoln to the downtown area, the MoPac trail is the way to. It'll get you most of the way there at least.

No matter which route you take, I know that some streets downtown, especially those close to the UNL campus have a bike lane now, which is pretty cool.