Our holiday cards are going out. They look like this:

Yup, that looks like a puppy in a crate bike to me. (Thanks very much to the person out there who spotted these cards and cared enough to snatch them up and pass them along to me!)

Elf-like, I have begun dropping them into the milk crates of unsuspecting craties that I see around town. (That’s me with the pointy ears and the cycling shoes.) If you have a crate bike and get one of these cards — or even if you don’t — Happy Holidays.

And if you get one of these cards, e-mail me a photo of yourself with your card and your crate bike. The first one that arrives will win the very last Team Crate T-shirt in my possession. I don’t remember the size, but it doesn’t matter, because it’s the only one I have to offer.

If you received one of these cards and have no idea what this is all about, you should know that milk-crate bikes are my favorite Eugene institution. Sure, I’ve poked some fun at them — but only because I love them.

Read more if you like. Or check out last year’s Tour de Milk Crate — unbeknownst to you, you may have been in it.