...if your name is Joanne, that is. One of you flunked that particular sleuthing session and the rest of you didn't even try! Tomorrow I fly to Lilongwe, Malawi to assist one of the trainers I work for with a week-long financial education training-of-trainers (TOT). I'll be providing administrative support, circulating during the training to give feedback and clarify instructions, and (shh) I might even get to teach a few of the basic skills sessions.

Just to shake things up in 2011, I've decided to start biking to work a couple of days per week (hopefully more, but it depends on what I have to carry to work and weather/road conditions). I don't actually own a bike in DC (had one for a hot second, but I hated having to constantly worry about theft and ended up giving it away) so I recently joined Capital Bikeshare. It's a network of bikes that can be borrowed from over 100 stations spread across DC, and then returned to any available station at the end of your ride.


I can grab a bike from the Bikeshare rack two blocks from my apartment, ride three miles southeast, lock it into place a half-block from my office, and never have to worry about it. And if I'm heading to Alexandria to rock climb after work, I don't have to worry about getting my bike home at the end of the night. The bikes themselves have easily adjustable seats, a rack-like basket in the front with a stretchy cable for holding bags in place, three speeds, a bell, and both a light in the front and reflectors on the back.

Couple this with the addition of bike lanes on a number of streets downtown, and my commute has gotten cheaper, speedier (yes - speedier... even the buses crawl in DC morning traffic), and a whole lot more fun. Although I think I may need to invest in a pair of earmuffs... my helmet doesn't keep my ears warm, and with the wind rushing by them, they get pretty cold.