At CLIF Bar, we just really love bikes. As anyone who’s familiar with our company story knows, our existence as a company is owed in large part to the bicycle. So there’s some romance to our history with bikes – but it goes much deeper than that. We love bikes for all the reasons you can muster. It’s a complete blast to get behind the handlebars and not be encumbered by traffic or parking, enjoying the ride at a slower pace on the backroads and paths of this great country. So it’s our job as a values-driven organization to support things that matter to us so that there is a better future ahead!
Our little project in 2 Mile Challenge began to help motivate ourselves and our friends to get out of our cars more often: to do right by the environment and our health by replacing car trips with a bike. And five years later, CLIF Bar is proud to continue the “2MC lifestyle” in 2012 by renewing our commitment to the future of biking.
When it comes to the good work being done for the “bike movement,” it really comes down to the inspiring work being done at the grassroots level. The bike and pedestrian advocacy organizations are the ones that are fighting the good fight from sea-to-shining-sea. We’re frequently inspired to hear the great work that’s being done across the country, increasing the number of “bike friendly” communities along the way. Three cheers for that good work, for sure!
As it goes, there are an equal (or even more) number of American communities with a much larger climb ahead of them in the push to be truly “bike friendly.” We believe it can and will improve to that state with time (and a little help from friends!). To that end, CLIF Bar will give away $100,000 again in 2012 to invest in the future of biking. But we need your help! In efforts of getting more funds to the future best biking communities slow build; we’re here for the long-haul!) throughout the rest of the year, all your activity on 2 Mile Challenge will actively support some younger and smaller communities within nonprofit bike advocacy. CLIF Bar will be highlighting a new beneficiary group each month throughout the remaining 8 months of 2012, and beyond.
If you’ve joined us on the 2 Mile Challenge before, the way to participate will feel pretty similar (and much simpler!): register or login, ride your bike and log those bike trips, manually or from our new official iPhone App. Each bike trip you log is worth $1 (*up to a pre-determined dollar cap each month*). The nonprofit beneficiary will rotate each month with the hope of spreading the love as much as possible. Speaking of love: it floweth to you, too! As always, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to hear about our giveaways for great prizes along the way.
To kick off the May Challenge, we’re excited to welcome our first 2012 beneficiary organization, BikeWalkKC. Learn more about them on the Challenge page.
We welcome you back to the 2 Mile Challenge. Join the Ride!
New this year for iPhone users, log your trips on the official app of the 2MC, Biologic BikeBrain.