Are you ready to get out of the house? Maybe stretch the legs on a bike?

We're putting together an extremely affordable family-oriented community event on Saturday, April 11, for Treasure Valley residents called Bike & Trike, featuring Olympic Gold Medalist Kristin Armstrong. The event will be held at the new West Highlands community in Middleton, where Coleman Homes is making brand-spanking-new pavement available for elite bike racing, adults racing on trikes and kids bike races. We will be giving away a free kids mountain bike to people who sign up (must be present to win). All race participants will get a free water bottle and T-shirt.

Coleman Homes is co-sponsoring the event with George's Cycles. Mike Cooley, the bike racing guru who puts on the Twilight Criterium every year, is organizing the races. The day will start with Miss & Out races on a half-mile course. You can set up your lawn chair on a sidewalk right next to the course and feel the speed of true bike racing. The last rider to cross the finish line on each lap is out of the race. So they'll be riding for their life.

At lunchtime, we'll hold some celebrity trike races, as a fund-raiser for the Middleton Library. Local TV and radio personalities, elected officials and general public will participate. Check out this You Tube video of what a trike race looks like. It's hilarious.

A no-host catered lunch will be served by Darcy's Catering in Nampa.

And then at 1:30 p.m., the kids bike races will start, with categories of age 3 with training wheels on up. Kristin Armstrong will ride victory laps with the kids, award medals and sign autographs. The kids races are open to ages 3-14.

How often do your kids have a chance to rub shoulders with an Olympic gold medalist? And get a free T-shirt and water bottle to boot? Kristin Armstrong is very generous to share her day with us. I hope you can bring your family out and have a good time.

More information can be found at http://www.mycolemanhome.com/. You can sign up for the event in advance at http://www.spondoro.com/. Or call me for more information, 484-0295, sstuebner@drakecooper.com - Steve Stuebner

On the PRSA Idaho blog David Compton mentioned that I promised to post a blog a few weeks ago and went to Lake Tahoe to play with my kids instead. I'm repeating my response here:

This brings up a good discussion point and a chance to articulate something I have been thinking about for a few weeks. While I get the value of social media, preach its relevance, and engage in it on several levels, you'll notice that I am not a frequent contributor. I chime in once or twice every couple of days and try to keep my comments meaningful. If I wanted to chit chat, I'd call you on the phone or ask you to meet me for coffee. If I wanted to share antedotes about my life or a day in my life, I'd share them with those closest to me--my family and long-time pals. I don't need Facebook or twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr or any other platform to connect with them and, God forbid, I sit at a computer and communicate with people I hardly know instead of walking into the next room and getting in a good snuggle from one of my kids or even my dog. Also, don't you just want to get outside? With all the online banter going on among those in social media circles, I question whether many of these people are living or just talking about it. I'm sure I'm going to catch hell for this post and there will be several comments/arguments to what I've said. I get that but I won't have time to respond to many of them because my eight-year-old has just asked me for the third time if I could sit down with her at the piano and help her learn a new song...I can't think of a better way to end the night and wouldn't trade the time we spend together for 500 Facebook friends.