ukelele by bicycle tour comin to athens this week

aaron lee is due in athens thursday by bike...he's been riding from maine since
february. all his songs feature the word ukelele. its gonna be fun. have a sneak peek or listen here and then swing by the Globe for an early show at 8pm Thurs 11/18.

meals from trader joe's new store in athens

I've eaten from this store for years, but not IN years b/c we didnt have one in Athens. Now we do and i'm thrilled. I can pretty much buy all i need to exist at this store. $88 buys all this and there will be several servings and thus numerous meals from this sampling...i'll let ya know how long it lasts.

breakfasts

• 10-grain bread with balade light butter and pumpkin butter
• greek style yogurt with canadian maple syrup on wholegrain waffle
• maple brown sugar whole grain oatmeal w/tart mortmorency dried cherries, w/toast n balade light butter
• oolong tea w/organic blue agave sweetener
• soymilk w/organic raisin pumpkin seed crunch cereal
  

lunches

• vegetable pad thai
• dover sole with butterbeans n spinach
• tarte d'alsace w/ham, carmelized onions, gruyere
• ham n cheese croissants w/ savory rice crackers w/flax
• mixed lettuce w/peppered turkey, cherries, cashews
  

snacks

• dark chocolate truffles, cashews, snapea crisps, peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets, dried cherries, super seeded tortilla chips w/flax, chia, & hemp seeds
  

dinners

• scallops n mushrooms in emmentaler cheese
• grilled comte cheese sandwich with colombus pepper turkey breast w/sweet potato chips
• arugula n reggiano ravioli with vodka sauce
• country potatoes with haricot verts and wild mushrooms
• roasted corn, chopped basil cubes
  
• organic tomato & roasted red pepper soup w/comte' french cheese and real bacon bits

note: almost every single item here is free of preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, organic and a trader joes brand except the turkey, cheese, tarte, butter. bon appetit y'all.

it's Dec 21 and i've been back twice to TJs. $100, 50 each trip. more delish stuff and a few new finds.

ride the ramble with us...i'll be the pokey one

a few of us are riding 11/7, its a ramble around atlanta organized by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. there are many routes and lengths...here is ours:

Ramble 22 - Space

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Campus Sustainability Day

UGA is getting there...as of this spring we have an office of sustainability and kevin hit the ground running to make good things happen. today is a fun day showing folks how to be car free, and take little steps towards sustainability. or big ones.
ben's bikes was there to handle bike tweaks to keep you riding smooth, GORP demo'd all the outdoor gear you can rent from UGA, pumpkins were sold, light bulbs exchanged, food scraps milled, pups adopted, and recycle bags distributed. parking services even told folks how to get credit for a car-free arrival at campus.

bike tour of athens MAP

fabulous map created by brent, bike guru in athens...get out and ride and call me if you want company.
View Bicycle Tour of Athens, GA in a larger map

on to the next quest, down the next trail

so i didnt get the job with georgia bikes but a really great guy here in town did. he's 7 years ahead of me in the NPO world experience and been at the work of bicycling advocacy longer. so it's all good. plus the quest showed me where my weaknesses were so that i could pick really useful classes this semester to build those up. now i'm really on a roll. and last sunday night, bike athens invited me to join their board along with 9 other folks who are jazzed about transportation choices. so i'm delighted and rolling again.

MPA socialization and class pic

Although i'm slated to complete my masters of public admin this spring, i was never oriented the year i began b/c i was off kayaking fjords around Norway. So this year, i joined our newest class in august and sat through our socialization opportunity and served a local organization at the end of the week in our group service effort. It was a worthwhile gathering and now i know the newbies. We are still 4th in the nation in PA programs and recruiting ~100 folks every year. I'm thrilled and honored to be part of such a great program. Who'd a thunk they'd let me in? MPA2011 class pic...a mix of year 1 and slackers like me who missed it and are year 2.

nail biting time - cool & tough job opens up...

georgia bikes is looking for an executive director of their statewide bicycling advocacy nonprofit. so if you know me, and many friends have echoed these words this month,...this job is perfect for me! a lifelong cyclist whose been paying dues forever and finally studying what she loves and intends to work in the field and is only 3 classes shy of a masters in public policy with a concentration on alternative transportation and nonprofit management...this is a dream come true. two rounds of interviews later and i honestly dont know where i stand. i think it went well and i really liked and connected with several of the board of directors, but we all know they never see the full picture of someone in an interview. i wish they'd ask for referrals and talk to some of y'all. y'all know me, y'all have been kind, and y'all are right, i can't imagine more perfect timing for this opportunity. i do hope they see it the same way. i sure am ready to do some good work in bicycling advocacy. so do a little dance for me and i'll promise to make safe places for you to ride when you come down georgia way. ;)

summertime

new look on the blog but same ole me. new passion tho, all things cycling. new you say? why that's not new. well, studying it and working in it is. for me. and that's what i'm up to this summer. all my links and notes are on facebook though, its just easier to grab them and post quick there. pop on in.

bike sharing takes off in europe

http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/

JulieCanBlog: Sit Down And Pay Attention!

my friend julie, in munich now, and i bought our bikes together in berkeley
12 years ago! at missing link. she just shared a cool bike seat cover marketing idea i love. check it out. p.s. i'm getting that bike, a blue trek 7500 hybrid, tuned up today for the gambler ride on saturday.
JulieCanBlog: Sit Down And Pay Attention!

10th National Bike Summit Rocked!

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood energized and thanked the crowd at the League of American Bicyclists National Bike Summit on March 11, 2010 in DC declaring, “You have a full partner in Ray LaHood.” Today, March 15, LaHood issued his new Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations.
LaHood then made the most substantial statement the DOT has ever made about bicycling and announced, a ” sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.”
summit press in bikeleague.org blog
Photos from facebook: LaHood and others on board.

East Coast Greenway

East Coast Greenway a trail that exists in segments and one day will run the length of the east coast. And USDOT says the total cost is 1/5 the price of a new bridge built on I-95 recently. hmmm, 1 bridge or thousands of miles of coastal greenway. i'll go with the bike route.

Athens Clarke Heritage Foundation

Fresh Approaches in Urban Redevelopment for Athens including bike transit! A symposium in Athens on March 27 at Cine'. count me in! Athens Clarke Heritage Foundation The agenda supported community design, good and smart design, and bike and urban transit...which to my delight almost took over the whole session. fabulous film shorts and food from martis at midday, ike's and janes, and the daily coop. awesome event! thanks amy and lara.

Google Maps Gets Bike-Friendly - AppScout

Just in time for the changing of the seasons, Google is rolling out bike directions for Google maps.

In addition to walking, car, and public transit, users can now find the best way to get from point A to point B on two wheels. The directions utilize "bike friendly" roads and attempt to avoid biking obstacles like steep hills.

A partnership with Rail-to-Trails Conservancy also brings more than 12,000 miles of bike trails to Google Maps. Lines on the map are divided into three varieties: bike-only trails, roads with dedicated bike lines, and "bike-friendly" roads without dedicated lanes.

Google Maps Gets Bike-Friendly - AppScout
no matter where you read about it, Wired, AppScout, PC Mag, its a good idea whose time has come. Rails-to-Trails supports it too.

get me on a bike!

dang these mornings below 30. i have a rule not to ride when its below 40 and that usually serves me well in winter. but i'm also usually biking daily by now. i suppose i just need some more gear! now there's a positive spin. REI, Performance, get ready.

san diego by bike at xmas

jeff and i wanted to get outta dodge this holiday. heck with a furlough day tacked onto either end of an academic holiday, it was my longest span of time off all year. never let it be said that i was caught sitting around wasting a holiday. so a little air mileage trade in, bargain bike and car rental, and most importantly, a house-swap with old friends who just happened to be out maximizing california furloughs...in new zealand, and we were off! one week + in south park san diego, anza borrego desert, palm springs, los angeles, and la jolla. twas a fab time and quite nice to have 65-70 degree temps at xmas vs. frigid ones. bikes were $75 bucks for the entire week! and it included helmets, locks, and maps....oooh maps. we biked the silver strand right down to imperial beach at the mexico border, la jolla at sunset, the desert, out to coronado island, up to college of the nazarene, way past ocean beach up on some hill, and just tooled around the brew pubs, coffee shops, and foodieville that is south park. $3 belgian ales on mondays at toranado, 2-4-1 tacos at el camino on tuesdays, free zoo day at balboa park. everywhere we went, folks mistook us for locals. well we did shop at trader joe's, bike to all our meals, and i must say jeff's hair was gettin kinda long. so, we'll take it. locals we are.

Bike-less City Locked Monkies Get Their Bike Fix Via Bike Sharing

i think a UGA student proposed a bike rental program for athens and i hope it works...we need one like paris, munich, and barcelona have...and apparently NYC according to this link. NYC bike share "Bike-less City Locked Monkies Get Their Bike Fix Via Bike Sharing"

fall is here, and the drought is comin back...believe it or not

no i dont like all the rain thats part of the fall picture, but i darent complain since we had such a drought for a few years and also since my plumber informed me today that another one is on the way. yep, that's right i get my weather from a plumber. he rescued me a third time in the five years that i've owned my little cottage and described how roots looking for water can squeeze a pvc pipe just like a python until it cracks and they get in. yikes! meanwhile it means the sweetgum tree in that area, a very old majestic sweetgum tree mind you, is VERY happy with its access to my water/sewer lines. yuk.

so what did we do on this fine fall day other than pay a plumber $200 bucks? plant 3 new trees! yay.
i know, kinda nutty, but they were a white flowering natchez crepe myrtle, and an orange flowering tea olive. i mean, orange. how could i not? my sweet man picked them up at the atlanta tree sale this weekend and gave them a fine home here on sunset...far from the water lines...for now. oh and we moved a redbud that wasnt in a good spot.

next weekend we'll head north in search of real fall weather and color. i wanna soak up some of theirs and then come back and enjoy ours, double dose! yeh. i love fall best.

and no, the plumber's name wasn't joe.

i must be doin some clean livin...

...as dickie rigdon would say. because i've go no complaints these days. i mean i couldnt find one if i turned my life upside down and shook out all the pockets. school = intriguing, man = most awesomest, dog = best friend, work = easy enough, home = cozy, friends = nearby, family = healthy, bank account = not on zero. and i'm recently traveled. what's a girl to do with so much goodness?