Gabrielle Giffords hopes to ride her recumbent bike in El Tour de Tucson according to a lengthy profile on the former congress woman by the USA Today.

Here’s a snippet from the article:

Intact are her signature smile, warm manner, quick laugh and sharp memory. She occasionally launches into song lyrics. She loves to ride her recumbent bike, the steering stick in her good left hand, in nearby Reid Park. Stamina permitting, she hopes to join this year’s El Tour de Tucson, an annual event that draws thousands of cyclists on the Sunday (sic) before Thanksgiving.

Giffords would often be seen riding her custom bicycle built by Tucson bike builder Dave Bohm of Bohemian Bicycles before she was shot on Jan. 8, 2011. We asked her about her love of cycling more than a year before the shooting. You can read the entire story, but here are a few of the highlights:

How bicycles fit into transportation:

Giffords says bicycling is a critical part of urban infrastructure. She says she biked a lot while getting her Master’s degree in planning at Cornell and that bike and pedestrian planning is an important part of urban planning.

She loves that Tucson is a top-10 biking city and that the city makes bicycling a priority. Giffords says she supports all types of alternative transportation from bike infrastructure to projects like the modern streetcar.

How bicycles fit into transportation:

Giffords says bicycling is a critical part of urban infrastructure. She says she biked a lot while getting her Master’s degree in planning at Cornell and that bike and pedestrian planning is an important part of urban planning.

She loves that Tucson is a top-10 biking city and that the city makes bicycling a priority. Giffords says she supports all types of alternative transportation from bike infrastructure to projects like the modern streetcar.