To not err...

My friend Mary, she of the world's best bicycle commuter blog, has once again posed a contest for cyclists to keep them riding and inspired in the winter months. The challenge is dubbed the "errandondee:" a portmanteau combining the English word "errand" meaning laborious chore and the French word "randonee" meaning glorious and far-too-long bicycle ride. Details on the contest may be found here. If you've been looking for an excuse to take to your bicycle for practical purposes in the cold weather, I can think of none better than this. And if you like categories and rules and restrictions and footnotes and the submission of sworn affidavits verifying that you did, in fact, get to the dry cleaners before it closed, well, this thing will be right up your alley. And there's prizes! Or at least, a prize. Previous contests arranged by Mary have had prizes such as: really cool pins and patches, gold doubloons,  Jay Z concert tickets, and all-inclusive vacation packages to premier Alpine spa destinations, except maybe not the things other than the pins and patches. But, amazing prizes aside, this is a great opportunity to get out there on your bike this winter and I heartily encourage you to do so. Allez errandonee-ers!