Today, the CLIF BAR 2 Mile Challenge kicked off in Las Vegas. As I type this, the bus is on the convention floor at Interbike, having its first visitors checking out what they (and their bikes) can do to fight global warming.

It’s been a long (dare I say) strange journey from a kernel of an idea to reality. For the past year, me and a small team of dedicated Clif-sters have mulled over, shaped, pulled apart, played with, laughed at, cried because (not really), and dreamed of a way to get people to make a small change in their lives that can have a HUGE impact on climate change.

As it turns out, it’s as easy as riding a bike. Riding a bike for all trips under 2 miles or less. I know I’ve been guilty of driving to get coffee, when I could have easily taken two wheels instead of four. The fact that 40% of urban travel in the U.S. is trips under 2 miles (and 90% of those trips are by car) was a wake-up call for me. Heck, back when I was doing triathlons, I’d put in over 100 miles a week. Why not put in a handful of two-fer’s as I go about my life?

Welcome to 2MileChallenge.com. Why don’t you take it out for spin?

• Map your 2 Miles and search to see what falls in your radius.
• Take the Challenge by picking one or all of the six options.
• Ride a bike to fight global warming

Now, I’ve gotta finish up here and get packing, so I can go see the bus in person! Next stop for me: Las Vegas.