A good friend of mine once told me, if children think something is “cool,” then it usually is. Since fun is their only agenda, they tend to be honest about whether or not they’re into something. Like, for instance, the 2 Mile Challenge bus.

On Saturday when the 2MC rolled into the Santa Monica area, we had a third grader named Jonathan come through the bus to take the challenge - and who left quite an impression on all of us. (He was easily the smartest person I’ve talked to in years).

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Bikers have the right of way too!

Copenhagen making it happen.

Meet Roy.

Roy is a Navy man at his core, a smooth-operatin’ driver-of-all-things-with-steering-wheel at hand, and Renaissance man at heart. Roy has one of the most important roles here on the 2 Mile Challenge Fall tour - he gets the team safely from place to place, masterfully steering the old double-clutchin’, air-brakin’, bio-fueled rig from town-to-town with style and grace. In that vein, he is an artiste of sorts…

Second to that, he has more one-liners in his repertoire than you can shake a stick at, and is always apt to spin a yarn or two at the delight and entertainment of those nearby. (Ask him the one about Mike’s eyes…)

Despite his affinity for most machines with a throttle, Roy harkened his softer side at a rest stop in Arizona where he took a quick spin on the Electra Daisy 3-speed cruiser. His only complaint was that it didn’t come in Navy blue…

The 2 Mile Challenge seems like an easy challenge-except if you live in SF—that elevates it to mach 10. I mapped my 2 Mile radius and I’m ‘challenged’ alright. I live on a hill so anyway I look at it, what goes down must come up…I know, I shouldn’t be complaining since I live in the most beautiful city. I would definitely be more apt to take the bike if I had this nice contraption they have developed in Norway…this would be a perfect addition to the hills of SF.

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If you have a front yard, I’m assuming it’s within your 2 miles. How can you keep it looking good without CO2 emissions from gas or electricity?

Check out this bike-powered mower to keep you grass in check:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/the_cutting_edg.php

For those of you who can’t visit the 2 Mile Challenge bus in person, here’s a little peek inside. On the right, is the 2 Mile mapping tool, where you enter your address to see your 2 Mile radius and can search for places on your map.

Over on the left is a short video that spells out what’s up with driving and how bikes can make a difference. Wanna see it? Here you go: www.2milechallenge.com/ride.

Feel free to spread the bike love (and the link)!

I’m Paul, LUNA Pro Team Director, and I tell ‘ya, it’s always a surreal experience going to Interbike in Las Vegas. Seeing tattooed bike messenger types walking through the Venetian casino is odd enough, but the ability to wander for miles with a perpetual dusk sky overhead—without ever actually going to the real outdoors—seals the deal for a truly odd experience.

Interbike is a huge trade show where the bike industry congregates each September to ponder all the new equipment. There’s always fun stuff to look at, and bleary-eyed party-ers on the floor taking care of business, despite having consumed massive amounts of alcohol and getting little sleep the night before. (Can you say, “Sake Bomb?”)

When I arrived, I headed straight for our booth to see the 2 Mile Challenge Tour bus. It’s a retrofitted 1959 GMC passenger bus with 3 Million (nope, not a typo) miles on it that now runs on biodiesel.

Here’s a video featuring Tour Captain Mike Parziale, as he takes us on a quick tour:

Check it out. Awesome, baby!

More on Vegas soon…

After my whirlwind 24-hours at Interbike, it was back to San Francisco for me. I was too exhausted to cook, so I rode over to my favorite East German restaurant, Walzwerk for an early bite before bedtime. And look-ee what rolled on by:

This was the 15th anniversary of the event, which started in San Francisco. Although it’s been controversial, the spirit of creating bike-friendlier roads and riding together is what I admire. I didn’t have enough memory in my camera (nor the patience) to film what seemed like an eternity of riders celebrating bike life.

Besides, I would have gone out to join it on my own two wheels, but my dinner was getting cold.