We have a longstanding tradition here at Clif Bar & Company to name our company vehicles. You might remember reading about the “Stinky Van” from way back when, named for, well, obvious reasons. Then there was of course “Roxy,” our veteran mobile tour Dodge Sprinter, which we recently retired and set out to pasture in the wild soybean fields of Dodge Sprinter yonder.
I’m not sure if any of our Field Marketing friends ooot and aboot have any names for their trusty Dodge Ram Bio-D rigs, but they certainly should. For example, I think Chris Leon in Texas might think about calling his truck, “StarsatnightarebigandbrightdeepintheheartofTexas.” It just has a nice ring to it, I think.
The 2 Mile Challenge has given me the opportunity to see and do some of the most amazing things over the past two months.
We have seen it all from the bright lights of Vegas to the fishmongers in Pike Place market in Seattle and everything in between. In the same week I found myself riding my bike down Santa Monica Boulevard to meet up with friends in Beverly Hills for a night out on the Sunset Strip, a couple of days later we were riding through the Sierra Nevada with Kipchoge and The Ginger Ninjas. Amazing, the places a bike can take you (with a little help of our bio-fueled Bus!).
We’re in the Emerald City of Seattle and thought it was high time to provide a little motion to the blog here. This installment is all about the inspiring things we’ve seen on the tour: from the NAU yellow bike program to the Davis Bike Church and everything that makes life on the road so unique.
Do you have some great video of what inspires you on two wheels? Upload it on the You Tubes and give us a shout so we can link to it here on the 2MC blog! You never know what we might reward you with - but I’m still sitting on some big giveaway items like a Dahon folding bike, Xtracycle Freeradicals, Solio hybrid charger, lots o’ Clif Bar products and a couple of prAna messenger bags! Upload away friends!
Closing in on the home stretch of the 2MC Fall tour. Time really flies! Looking back upon the first five weeks of the tour, here’s a little slideshow for your viewing pleasure.
We’re on our way up to Seattle for the week as we hang around the Mayor’s Climate Summit. We’ll be at UW tomorrow (Tuesday), and Wednesday look for us around Pier 67 when we hope to engage some of America’s mayors with how they might help spread the 2 Mile Challenge message to their communities. Friday is our day with our friends at the Seattle REI flagship store. We hope that if you’re in the neighborhood that you’ll come to the bus and take the 2 Mile Challenge - help actively make a difference for climate change!
Life on the road is pretty wild, I’d have to say. As the old Willie Nelson song goes, “seeing things that I may never see again…” Ain’t that the truth, William.
I’ve driven through Moscow, Idaho once in the past, but never had a chance to stop and check it out. In true 2 Mile Challenge fashion, you can’t just roll into town and go park the Bio-D fueled rig just anywhere. We wouldn’t want to anyway! What better way to see this famous college town than in that old-skool way on an Electra cruiser or a folding Dahon bike to cruise the streets with pure ease.
Zac, Cris and myself did just that on a recent brisk autumn night. We made our way downtown, enjoyed some great Mexican food and afterwards found our way over to a place called “John’s Alley.” (We apologize to the folks at John’s who quickly noted the error in us mistakingly calling it “Jeff’s Alley.” -Ed.)
According to a report released by the Thunderhead Alliance, the dust settling on Americans’ parked bikes is likely linked to our expanding waist lines. Bicycling and Walking in the U.S., Thunderhead’s first biennial Benchmarking Report, shows that bicycling and walking have been in decline in the U.S. since the 1960s. At the same time there has been a surge in adults and children who are obese.
Besides linking cycling, walking, and public health, the report highlights the challenges the U.S. faces in regards to increasing bicycling and walking. Read more…
As many of you have seen over the past two-plus weeks, we’ve been touring with bona-fide bicycling lifestylists and all-around fun people, The Ginger Ninjas and Fossil Fool. Since meeting them all, the 2MC crew has been continually inspired by their music and dedication to the bike cause. It’s such a wild experience getting the chance to tour with musicians. We have loved having the opportunity to groove along to their infectious tunes while we spread the word about the 2 Mile Challenge. Even now in their absence, it’s not uncommon for Mike to break into his own renditions of “Bike-blended Smoothie” or “Dick Cheney” en route.
