Yowza! The utilitaire deadline is almost upon us. Participants have until this Friday (March 16) to complete their 12 utilitaires so we are truly in the final throes of the challenge.

Lots has been happening while I’ve been away, and I’ve already received four utilitaire control cards for validation. I look forward to receiving several more in the coming days.

In the meantime, here’s a summary of what’s been going on in the land of the utilitaires.

• Lynne F. posted a fine roundup of her utilitaire exploits on her blog, which includes a link to her utilitaire flickr set. Just can’t get over those bike in the grocery store aisle photos!
• The one and only @JudithSwallow has joined in the utilitaire activities. She’s even been riding her Brompton. Awesome!
• An Old Guy on Two Wheels reached the Utilitaire 12 finish line this past week, with a multi-modal utilitaire to an outdoor concert and a ride to a homebrew supply store. I confess, I was unaware that special stores for homebrewing existed. The Utilitaire 12 has educated me in so many ways :).
• A Rebalanced Life spent one day utilitairing all over the place. I love the Swift Industries front bag on the Salsa Vaya! A separate utilitaire took him to the Cascade Bicycle Club Seattle Bike Expo. Looks fun.
• @SognRider, who has an excellent Utilitaire 12 flickr set going, also utilitaired to the Bike Expo.
• Both Porta-John and Bicycle Bug made it to the community meeting organized by utilitaire participant Pedal ‘n Purl. They both recently completed their final utilitaires, Porta-John’s final trip being the local bike shop and Bicycle Bug‘s a dinner outing with a celebratory lap for completing the Utilitaire 12!
• Speaking of Pedal ‘n Purl, she went on some nice outings and introduced me to a new D.C. grocery store, Smucker Farms of Lancaster County.  She also went to the downtown public library. In her description of her trip, she talks a bit about the architect who designed the library, Mies van der Rohe.
• Physics Girl on the Loose also completed her 12th utilitaire, complete with a video of her work commute. Not content to stop at 12, I think she’s going for one more. I also enjoyed her writeup about her 11th utilitaire to the pet store, particularly her notes on ninja bike riders.
• JDAntos ventured out for some live music- in the rain. Extra credit!
• Baltimore-based BikesNCoffee cashed in a substitution to pedal to and from a century ride, and also utilitaired to lunch. Love that photo of the bike by the graffiti’d wall.
• Late to the game participant Cyclofiend (welcome, Cyclofiend!) has logged two utilitaires, one to the grocery store and one to the post office. Your A. Homer Hilsen is looking good, despite the lack of fenders.
• @tangobiker, who has completed 34 coffeeneuring trips in 25 weeks (special prize in his future?), utilitaired to the bookstore and to see The Artist. What’s the verdict on this movie, by the way?
• Biking in Heels made it to the bike shop, encountering an interesting bicycle along the way and ending the day with a good meal. I also have to give a little shout-out to her coffeeneuring utilitaire, which she completed last week.
• Rootchopper, who is sort of utilitairing despite himself, went to the bike shop. He did not call it a utilitaire, but it was.
• Our far flung Utilitaire 12 challenger, Berlin by Bike, invoked the pedestrian allowance and walked with her friend to a German food truck run by New Yorkers. She later went to the salon for an eyebrow haircut. Yup!

That’s the summary. As always, if I missed anything, please feel free to add it into the comments. Thanks to everybody who’s been participating. Can’t wait to see the other people who’ve been doing the challenge sans blog postings!

UPDATE! I forgot Chesapeake Sailor!!  What’s he been up to? A 57-mile utilitaire to the tailor (!) and a trip to the grocery store that involved a lot of pedestrian and bike traffic, due to the nice weather.