If you have been considering entering the commuter bike design competition, now is the time. The deadline for entries is just a week and a half away. I have received a handful of entries so far, but your chances are still pretty good. Read the details again here and get to work on your best ideas. Get those entries to me by the end of next week, and you could be the winner of the Bad Boy bike.

I probably won’t get a chance to post again this week, so I want to wish all of my U.S. readers a very happy Thanksgiving. Make sure that you are thankful that you are able to ride a bike and follow up with a good ride after the big meal. As you know, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the day that many people get up early to fight the crowds and start their Christmas shopping. If you would rather sleep in on Friday and are planning to shop for bike related stuff anyway, then check out all the special deals from the supporters of this blog in the third column. I hear about special deals from the affiliate advertisers all the time and I can’t pass them all along, but I will mention a few that recently caught my attention. If you are looking for an entry level road bike for someone, Jenson has a great special on a 2007 Schwinn Fastback Sport. The offer is only good though December 5th, so act fast. At the other end of the road bike spectrum, the closeout on Look 555 Origin frames caught my attention (I wouldn’t mind having one of those myself). There are many other great specials, so keep an eye on the Jenson weekly deals banner in the top right corner of this site. While you are there, be sure to check the Closeout and Hot Deal sections of the site for more great deals. Another affiliate, Eastern Mountain Sports, is having a Black Friday sale and will have everything on the site 20 to 50 percent off though the end of November. Check them out for cycling products and other outdoor gear.

But enough about the sponsors on my site, I want to mention something that another blogger is doing. UltraRob is donating 10 percent of his site earnings from now until Christmas to World Bicycle Relief. He points out that an anonymous donor is matching donations dollar for dollar through the end of the year, so the money will go twice as far. I know that UltraRob has done generous things like this in the past and I think it is a great idea, so I encourage you to take a look at the items in his gear store. Of course, I couldn’t really tell you about this in good conscious without committing to do the same, so I want to follow UltraRob’s lead on this one. I will donate 10 percent of this site’s earnings for the rest of the year as well to WBR. Take a look at the website if you are not already familiar with the organization. It really is a great cause.