Adam Nagourney and I profile him and his new digs and find out why he's traded the t-shirt for a chef's white jacket.

Why ride your bike for 200 miles on back country gravel roads that wind across some of the last stands of native tallgrass prairie in the United States? "Because I can," says Wendy Davis, who is one of the hardy bicyclists who pedaled all day and well into the night to complete the Dirty Kanza 200.

The Dirty Kanza is one of a growing style of bike races and rides some call "gravel grinders" that have made the Midwest a destination for endurance cyclists. The draw? Endless miles of gravel roads where there's little traffic, lots of scenery and a big challenge for seasoned pros and tough amateurs alike.

More in the story I wrote for the Sports section as well.

Seriously, they are. Repurposed first-generation military drone technology as well as cheaper commerical devices are now being used for myriad scientific research projects, including bird studies.

I went to Colorado's beautiful San Luis Valley to report on a team of U.S. Geological Survey pilots and biologists from the Fish and Wildlife Service who are flying a small airplane drone called the Raven - once used to see enemy positons in Iraq and Afganistan - to monitor and count sandhill cranes.

My accompanying print story for the Science section delves into other ways that drones may be safer, cheaper and more accurate for a host of research missions.

For two years, starting on March 5, 2013, the utititarian Bay Bridge, which is often passed over for the rusty-red splendor of the Golden Gate, will be transformed at night by a coat of thousands of computer-controlled LEDs. Artist Leo Villareal's "Bay Lights" project is one of the largest public art pieces ever launched and will stretch nearly two miles along the bridge's western span.

A quick journey back to the heartland to muck around at a secret farm where Carl Blake believes he's bred the best tasting pork since the original German Swabian Hall.

This was one of my first assignments after being hired by the Times in 2007. Researching and spending some time with Ed Koch was a pretty good introduction to New York City for a new New Yorker.