Hello INDYCOG readers! My name is Doreen. I grew up in Irvington, which is a place I still love. There were four years of college at Purdue that didn't turn out like I planned and then I spent ten years roaming the West (Colorado, Arizona, California and New Hampshire--well, NH is west of Maine) before returning to my hometown a couple of years after my daughter was born. To earn a paycheck, I work as an accountant downtown.

I started bike commuting to work about 25 years ago when I lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Passing through Papago Buttes into Scottsdale, the pedaling combined with the smell of the creosote bush gave me a high that lasted the rest of the day. Back home in Indiana, my longest bike commute was about 13 miles one way, when I worked at Keystone at the Crossing. I also had a recumbent during that period. I now drive a Bianchi Vigorelli (or occasionally, my Bianchi Sok 29er) nine miles downtown for my one way work commute. My annual bike mileage increased dramatically when my husband and I became empty nesters several years back and I set a personal record of over 6,800 miles this past year, of which nearly 2,800 miles were for commuting purposes. No special affinities for Bianchi Bicycles, it just worked out that way.

I know jerks come in all flavors but anyone who rides a bike, any bike, has my love and admiration, at least for a little while (in the cases of jerks). I'm a roadie who has gotten into off road riding recently. I have also been helping build trail at Ft. Harrison State Park and have found great joy in that. Once while on my road bike at Ft. Ben, a fixie befriended me and let me give his bike a spin....although it seemed much more difficult than a "spin." But I've never understood a cyclist of one type snubbing one of another type simply because of their ride. If I had more money than I knew what to do with, I'd probably buy a fixie, a single speed and a commuter specific bike at the very least.

I participated in RAIN for the first time in 2011 and also took part in my first race in October, the Gravel Grovel (finishing just about dead last--but I did finish and in my defense, I was just there for the experience)! The last four years I have also been part of the STIHL Tour des Trees, a 500 some mile week long charity ride to benefit urban tree research and care. This year, I am planning on coupling the Tour des Trees, which will be a loop in the Portland, Oregon area, with a pre-ride from Vernon, British Columbia down to Portland. That will be nearly 1,200 miles and over 60,000 feet of climbing in two weeks!

I plan on sharing and hopefully entertaining you with little cycling related tidbits here every month. If you have anything specific you'd like to discuss, let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Ride on!