I love this bag! It goes with me on the bike, off the bike, everywhere. It’s just the right size to fit into my bike panniers (rear bags) with my clothes or lunch inside and, when the top is rolled down, it keeps the wet out on rainy days. Groovy little recycled tire tubes surround the webbing handles where your hands grip, making it more comfy to carry a heavy load.

If a whole grocery sized bag is too much for your cycling needs, check out Pedro’s Ethic seat bag, made of the same HDPE recycled plastic. Both the market bag and the seat bag have a 10 year life span and are totally recyclable when they finally blow out. I’ve got to hand it to Pedro’s for their efforts to bring eco-friendly products to the world of cycling. Visit their website sometime and see what they’re up to!

Pedro’s Ethic Metro Market Bag, msrp $23 www.pedros.com

Got Skype?

After pressure from friends who live abroad and a co-worker who has dreams of living in a Skype-nation, I finally broke down and signed up. A painless procedure really. It hurt more to THINK about jumping on the tech train of communication. Why was I so hesitant? Was it because my pre-conceived notions of “those” people who do Skype are of hipsters and teens who have extensive profiles on Facebook and Myspace and entirely too much time on their hands? Was it that I don’t REALLY need to sit in front of my computer more than I already do? Why is it free? Am I going to be getting even more random porn spam in my inbox? It probably was the optional headset that was freaking me out. I never aspired to be a person with a headset on talking at my computer. Either way, I tossed my reservations aside and dove in to see what this world looks like.

I had one video chat and was sold. I quickly called my dad and forced him and my mom to sign up. After gingerly walking him through the process (he lacks any tech savvy) for the first time, we could talk and see each other in real time. We hung up. I immediately called my brothers to get them signed up. I pleaded my case that, as a family who is scattered around the west, this will be a beautiful way to be in each others lives a little deeper. I can’t wait to see everyone in my family with an account. I will get to see my 5 year old nephew and he will get to “hang out with his grandparents”. I am excited about this new world. It isn’t my first choice in mode of spending time with my family, but if it fills the space between visits then I am more than willing to jump on the train!

We know disposable plastic water bottles are clogging our landfills, costing lots of oil, and might be putting some pretty nasty chemicals into the water we’re drinking. That’s got us switching to refillable bottles and they’re great! But, if you’re not a fan of aluminum drinking bottles, and you worry about what leaches into your water from a conventional plastic bottle, check out this new offering from Camelbak. They’ve changed the plastic formula on their very popular “Better Bottle” to a material that’s totally free of BPA and Phthalates. It’s still the familiar hard clear plastic bottle in lots of cheery colors but without the nasty stuff.

Camelbak Better Bottle: with classic cap or bite valve (available May 2008). msrp $8, www.camelbak.com

Wind and cold are not nice to our skin. No problem if you’re the Marlboro man. But I’d like to look good even if I’ve been outside having fun year round. It’s been a hard winter here in the Chicago area, probably the snowiest and coldest since I moved here 16 years ago. But I’ve tried to keep riding my bike to work as much as possible and I knew I needed some protection that wasn’t petroleum-based. I’m all for keeping bees gainfully employed, so I picked up a tin of Burt’s Bees Miracle Salve. It’s a blend of pumpkin seed oil, olive oil, wheat germ oil, bee pollen, and bee’s wax.

It’s really nice for face and hair on cold days, but I’d recommend removing it from your face once you’re inside if you tend to break out. It really came to my rescue, though, on my hands. They tend to split and crack at the finger tips in cold weather, no matter how diligently I apply hand lotions. Slathering some of this Miracle Salve on under a coat of regular lotion really healed up cracked skin and kept it healthy, despite repeated hand-freezing on my bike or shoveling the many inches of snow we’ve gotten. It’s great stuff!

Burt’s Bees Miracle Salve 2 oz. tin, $7.00 msrp. Available online at www.burtsbees.com and many health food and natural product stores. I found my tin at Target.

The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga by Sage Rountree (VeloPress; $21.95) www.velopress.com

Over-tight muscles can cause injury and pain during your sports activities and that can keep you from playing. Not good! Yoga is the perfect counterbalance to your regular sport, whatever it may be. Whether you’re a yogini or you’ve never heard of a downward facing dog, you’ll come away with something useful from “The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga.” Yoga brings strength, flexibility, and balance to your body as well as your mind. Author Sage Roundtree makes yoga an essential tool for anyone who is active in sports with her clear explanations and large photos of each pose. The sections on mediation as mental training and sports-specific yoga for your training routines are particularly helpful. There’s a short DVD included with 15-minute warmup and cooldown routines and a longer DVD with three routines is available as well.