Errandeur is a French word for people who do errands on their bikes

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This showed up in our house not too long ago.

I have a couple of good friends back East who are randonneurs, and my husband recently started riding with the Seattle International Randonneurs. What’s randonneurring you ask? To my mind, it’s riding long and far and going through check-points to get credit. Kind of like alleycats for the wool and beard crowd. Just kidding, the beard is optional.

As much as I love the idea that people want to ride their bikes for as long as my friends do, it’s a wee bit more than I’m looking for. You can imagine my delight when my friend back East tipped me off to Errandonneuring.

Errandeur is a French word for people who do errands on their bikes. Kidding! I made it up. -- @gypsybug

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A dozen bagels, two dozen clams, a bottle of wine, a load of kids' clothes from the Gap sale, two balloons and one 4yo. A bike made for errands!

Now that’s my -- and my bike’s -- style!

Chasing Mailboxes over in D.C. has set up a Winter Challenge for February:

Winter got you down, craving the warmth of home? Feel down no more and hop on that bike. It’s time for a February challenge designed for the utility cyclist with lots of errands to do, even in wintertime– the Errandonnee!

If you are a cyclist with places to go and people to see, this challenge is for you!

The tweet version of the challenge is:

Errandonnee: Complete 12 errands in 12 days and ride a total of 30 miles by bike between February 9-20. (103 characters!)

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Smile and wave, errandonneurs!

Since we must run errands, anyway, let’s take the opportunity to acknowledge the utility cycling we often do, but seldom celebrate.

Being a challenge, there are some rules, but they’re not too complicated. And being a challenge, a bunch of questions have risen, so @gypsybug has created a handy FAQ. Download your Errandonnee Control Card and start biking those errands!

The Winter Challenge has already started, but you can still complete it. Who’s in with me? Skirts and beards welcome! And don't forget to tag your tweets #errandonnee