I'm a wiener!

And I got some prizes today, too!

Last month, the University kicked off "Pedal Perks".  It's... well... it's...

Specifically, it's organized by the office of sustainability, which does things to help the university be more environmentally friendly.  Promoting bicycling is just one of those things.  So anyways, about 130 people signed up, and we began recording our mileage on the official Pedal Perks club page over at Bikejournal.com.

Anywhoo, I think there was a threshold of 100 miles to win a prize each month.  I got an e-mail yesterday that I was one of the September wieners, so stop by the office  for my prize.  I strode in there today, all prize-winnerish.

There was a lone person in the office, a young woman typing enthusiastically away at her keyboard. Really, it made me wonder just WHAT she was typing.  After I strode in all prize-winnerish and the enthusiastic typer didn't seem to notice I was there, I gave an enthusiastic,

"Hello!"

She stopped typing, looked up, and gave an equally enthusiastic, "Hello!"  - lots of enthusiasm in that office, I tellya - and then continued to just enthusiastically look at me.

Surprisingly *cough*, she didn't seem to know who I was.

"I'm Abby?", I continued, "I got an e-mail that said I'd won a prize for bike month? And to stop by?"

"Oh, Hi!", said the sustainability person.  I started to realize that maybe she's just always enthusiastic and what she was typing wasn't all that exciting.  Either way, it was refreshing.

She brought out a box filled with goodies, a.k.a. "prizes of approximately $10" and told me to take my pick.  She also gave me an official Pedal Perks insulated water bottle since I had failed to get one when the thing kicked off a month ago.

I dug around in the prize box a bit.  There was an assortment of < ~ $10 goodies:  socks, taillights, coupons, more water bottles, etc.  In the end, I was torn between the socks and the taillight, but went with the light since I rarely wear socks that people can read (these said "One Less Car").

Here are the goods!

And in addition to my pedal perks prizes, while I was en route, I engaged with Mr. Happy Friendly.  Remember him?  The super speedy, super friendly one-legged bicyclist?  I actually hadn't seen him in a while.  Maybe he just rides/commutes/whatever he's up to at times other than when I do, but he did seem a bit slower than his usual super speedy self.  I was actually behind him for a while and able to keep up.  

At one point, though, he must've looped around somewhere and we crossed going in opposite directions.  

"Good morning!", was his usual peppy salute.  

Fame, prizes, and Mr. Happy Friendly.  

A good day.  

.