Producer's Notebook: Riding bamboo bikes in Greensboro, Ala.

Fueled by a hefty helping of banana pudding pie, chased down with a slice of bourbon pecan, I took a pretty sweet ride on a cutting edge hybrid. Alas though, this producer’s most lasting souvenir of the bamboo bike segment won’t be watching them handcraft the cutting edge mash-up of carbon fiber and deconstructed bamboo. Nor will it be meeting the odd couple of visionaries who hope the bike will create new jobs for a struggling community. Neither will it be how the 50-foot bamboo stalk gave the reporter’s saw a bit of the Excaliber treatment. And it’s not going to be the fact that everyone who has seen the spot talks about how beautiful and sweet it is. Nah, none of that stuff. My take-away is the new dimple of cellulite I got from the enormous amount of homemade southern pie I inhaled in just two days.

This Sunday's episode of "TechKnow" shows off “The Semester” bike. It’s the brainchild of Pam Dorr, a former Victoria's Secret fashion designer from Northern California. She’s become the town’s one-woman stimulus plan. She brought in a renowned industrial designer from the University of Kansas, Lance Rake. The two saw a way to take the town’s biggest nuisance bamboo (welcome as weeds on the White House lawn) and with minimal equipment they plan to turn the bamboo into jobs for the folks in Greensboro, Ala. The spot is a great example of how the broadcast tells stories about the intersection of technology and humanity.

Shooting the spot was also a reminder of what a fish out of water this urban gal from Rego Park, Queens, can be in Alabama. I thought I was so smart. Obsessed with upcoming heat and humidity, I packed only shorts and sleeveless shirts. I didn’t think about the other natural wonder in abundance in a bamboo grove. Mosquitos. By the end of the shoot my legs looked like they came from an episode of "True Blood" where the shape-shifters were mosquitos in full attack mode.

If you caught the spot, you know that Pam Dorr also started an earlier business – Pie Lab. It’s right across the street from HERO bikes. Word of mouth has turned Pie Lab into a very successful and delicious business. So I could think of no better way to divert my attention from the endless scratching than having a good ole piece or two or three of pie made from scratch. Most especially in a place where calorie counting is as welcome as weeds on the White House lawn.

So, while the mosquitos feasted on me, I feasted on pie: bread pudding pie, pecan bourbon, apple something, peanut butter and something very berry. The only thing that stopped me: that sweet ride on the Semester bike. And it sure made me work up an appetite… for pie. A few more days and I could be a one-woman consumer plan for the folks in Greensboro.