Bicycling changed Dave's life. What about yours?

Today I  want to link to another friend's great blog post on how a mountain bike saved his life. Dave Schlabowske is the "bike czar" of Milwaukee, and someone I consider a friend. We worked together back when we were both at Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, and I always found Dave an interesting guy and fun to be around.

He's one of those people that has had several careers that don't seem linked at all. I'm like that a bit myself, but that's another blog post.

What I love about this his story, laid out in the link above, is that owning and riding a bicycle transformed his life, physically, professionally, and mentally. He found his calling, or maybe his second calling, changed career paths, and made some changes in his life that he feels literally saved his life.

We never know what decision today will take our lives in a different direction or have deep meaning years down the road. Bicycling has certainly led me to where I am now, and I have heard many stories from others about how it has changed their lives as well. That's why I love to help others learn to ride their bikes comfortably, safely, confidently.

Later today or tomorrow I'll have a link to a class I'm teaching in mid-July. It's a class I've taught many times before, but this time it's a women-only class. If you want to feel better riding your bike; if you want to be able to bike around town without worrying if there is a path; if you want to be able to enjoy your bike more, let me know.

But for now, I'm just going to link to Dave's great post. I have a bad cold (how is that possible when the weather is so nice?), and can only manage short bursts of productiveness.

Thanksgiving gallette: squash, apples, onions, and stilton cheese

Just a short note to post the recipe that I used for my requested appetizer for Thanksgiving dinner. It is called a "Butternut Squash, Apple and Onion Galette with Stilton."

Both when I was researching an appropriate pre-meal offering, and from those who tasted it, there were requests for the recipe. This one I can't take credit for, because unlike most of my cooking, I followed the recipe almost exactly.

A Thanksgiving invitation not extended

Every year at Thanksgiving I think about someone I turned away. Although it was in my selfish and thoughtless youth, so perhaps forgivable - we often can't see the need in others until we have experienced it ourselves - I still feel terrible about how I treated someone who asked for my help and company.