Tag Archives: clif bar 2 mile challenge

NEWS

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The Fall riding has just been wonderful! Lunch time temperatures are very mild in the 70 degree range. It’s almost even a little chilly upon departure, but feels perfect once you start generating some heat. It sure makes the hills more fun when you’re not close to heat stroke!

Vicee Canyon Rim
Vicee Canyon Rim Trail

The Fall trail conditions are another story entirely. With no rain worth mentioning all summer, the trails continue to get sandier, and washouts are becoming more and more common. I’m amazed that all the plants in the canyon have survived this long without rain! It really shows you how well these plants have adapted to this area. Especially when compared to my vegetable garden that gets cranky after only a few hours without water. Let’s hope for some rain soon!

7 Steps Trail
Riding the 7 Steps Trail

The Nevada Appeal has a new story up entitled, Blogs You Should Check Out. Bike Carson is on the list! Some of the other blogs I recognize, but some are new to me. I’m looking forward to checking them out.

Dahon Bikes, one of the leaders in the Folding Bike industry, recently did a small piece in their new catalog about the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge. They had a hard time finding pictures, and ended up using some of mine for the catalog! Charlie and Tasha G are featured, as well as Jason G’s fixie. Pretty cool! (The picture below lost some of the colors when I converted from PDF to JPG…sorry)

Dahon Bikes Catalog
Dahon Bikes mentions the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge and Bike Carson

The Gonads-N-Strife Bicycle Club is having another Poker Run in Reno this Sunday. Be careful if you go though, as this weekend is Street Vibrations, the annual (motor)biker gathering in Reno. There will be hundreds of motorcycles everywhere, so sharing the road will be more difficult. Also, leave your mock Hell’s Angles or Mongols jackets at home. While no violence is expected, these two rival gangs are currently experiencing disharmony!

Poker Run
Poker Run!

And finally, a funny story for the Commute Report. As I told you recently, we have a commuter convoy for the ride home.  The Safety in Numbers rule paid off last night during an incident we had on the way home from work.  We had made it out of the traffic, and were cruising the back streets in a residential area.  We were riding two abreast, which is legal, but when we saw a pick-up truck behind us, we moved over single file to be courteous.  The guy in the truck gave a little blast on the horn, as you sometimes get as a warning when someone passes you.   Scott J looked back over his shoulder to assess where the guy was and almost got a face full of truck!  The driver buzzed us for no good reason.  He had plenty of room to give us a wide berth.   This was obviously retaliation on his part due to his lack of patience.

I was a little ticked off and started chasing him down. I backed off a bit though as I realized I really hadn’t thought about what my plan was if we caught him, as it looked like we were going to do. Before I had time to finish my thought, mild mannered Scott J was flying past me, and caught the guy at the stop sign. Words were being exchanged. At first I thought maybe he knew the driver of the pick-up with California plates. Jesse and I rolled up on the scene, and there was a confrontation in progress! Scott was informing the guy that there was no excuse for his behavior and that he almost hit us. Scott says the guy warned him that he had a dog in the back of the truck and that he was not afraid to sick it on us. By the time I was picking up on the conversation, the guy was explaining that he’s new in town, and was not familiar with our state laws. Things got a little heated, and the driver unbuckled his seat belt. He was obviously nervous and shaken up. I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out, but eventually we said our piece, and we rode off.

So giving this guy the benefit of the doubt, I’d like to share a couple laws of the land for anyone new in town:

1.) Attempted Homicide is frowned upon. Using a several thousand pound vehicle as a weapon is illegal.

2.) Carson City is a VERY small town. Think twice before pissing someone off. Chances are very good that you will see this person again. And soon. Quite possibly the very same time the very next day! Be courteous to fellow citizens.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge Report

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There was a little confusion on the start time for this event, but in the end I think it worked out well for everyone. The bus didn’t arrive until after 5pm, but from 3pm to 5pm would’ve been too hot to be enjoyable anyhow. I towed the bike trailer full of Muscle Powered goodies, and Kristy and Charlie rode the tandem.  We rolled up sometime after 5:30 and were greeted by the usual cast of characters.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge Tour
The 2 MC Tour Bus

The first order of business was to check out the Tour Bus. I imagined the bus as sleeping/living quarters for the crew, but the whole thing was designed for people to walk through and learn. Big screen computers and many informational signs were available from the back of the bus to the front. In case you’ve missed the message of the tour in previous posts, the 2 Mile Challenge is challenging people to use their bike for trips of 2 miles and less. Clif Bar says that 40% of U.S. urban travel is 2 miles or less, so it’s pretty easy to imagine the huge savings in money and energy consumption we’d all realize if we all rode our bikes more. Not to mention the cleaner and friendlier neighborhoods we’d create.  The bus and crew were here to help people accomplish this task.  Getting out of your car and using your bike more IS a challenge.  The world and our minds are accustomed to using the car for everything, and it’s hard to make the leap.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge Tour
Inside the Bus

There were some fun urban bikes out front to check out. The crowd favorite was the stretched townie. By pedaling the bike for just a minute or so, you could generate enough power to play the stereo on the back for several minutes at a pretty high volume. Pretty amazing really. Possibly even better than something the professor on Gilligan’s Island could come up with. You couldn’t even ride that guy’s bikes.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge Tour
Playing the Tunes with Human Generated Power

Shortly after 7pm we got the movie Seasons started in the Community Center theater. We had a pretty good crowd at this point, and the big theater was great for watching this film. The movie focused on the mountain bike world of BIG AIR and INSANE SPEEDS. There were no insane climbs like we saw in Off Road to Athens during bike to work week. This movie was kind of on the other end of the spectrum. It was pretty entertaining though, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge Tour
Gears Not Gas

Another great thing about the tour is that they helped us raise money for Muscle Powered. All the movie goers dug deep in their pockets and generously donated over $160 for bicycle advocacy in Carson City! Clif Bar kicked down some very nice merchandise to help offset the pain of the big donations, and everyone went home happy. Jerseys, hats, DVDs, socks. Great stuff!

Thanks again to everyone who showed up and helped promote this event. And thanks again to Clif Bar for coming to Carson City!

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge is Today!

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The Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge is Today! I wanted to re-post the flyer, and make sure everyone knows this event is today. After talking with people, there seemed to be a little confusion as to when this event was taking place.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge
Clif Bar 2MC – Be There

The bus will be in town later this afternoon at the Carson City Community Center, and will be open around 3:00 PM or after. It will stay open into the evening. The Mountain Bike Film “Seasons” will be shown at 7:00 PM, so even if you have work and after work obligations, you should still be able to make the movie.

I’d like to also remind people that there will be a voluntary admission donation for the movie, and all proceeds will go to Muscle Powered. I’ll be down there with Muscle Powered goodies to give away, so come see me!

Also…ride your bike there if you can! There should be plenty of places to lock up. If you have any safety lights for your bike, you might want to bring them for the way home.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge Tour Comes to Carson City

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The Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge Tour Comes to Carson City on Wednesday, Aug 13th!

The promoters for the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge recently contacted Bike Carson to see if making Carson City a stop on their tour would be a good idea. I said YES! Carson City may not be big, but this is precisely why this campaign is such a good idea here. Whether you live or work in Carson City, many of your daily errands and trips can easily be done by bicycle.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge
Photo courtesy of Clif Bar

Here’s a quote from Clif Bar:

Did you know 40% of US urban travel is 2 miles or less? Ride your bike to fight global warming. The bio-diesel powered Clif Bar 2MC bus will be onsite to help educate everyone on the benefits of riding your bike within 2 miles of your home or work to conduct errands versus driving! Those participating in the 2 mile challenge will help all of us cut down on our carbon footprints! Be sure to stop by and check out the bus and for your chance to win some prizes! While you’re here don’t forget to grab your Clif Bar sample to fuel up with.

Some of the details of the tour are still developing, but it looks like they will be setting up in the Mills Park / Community Center area. The Clif Bar 2MC crew wants to show a cycling film to raise some money for a local advocacy group. I thought admission donations would be a perfect fund raiser for Muscle Powered! The movie will be shown at the Bob Boldrick theater at the Carson City Community Center at at 7pm. The cycling film to be shown is Seasons, an independent biking movie from The Collective. Here’s a teaser:

Now here’s where I need YOUR Help! The Clif Bar 2MC crew is counting on us to promote this event! I’m going to need help with this, and won’t be able to do it all myself. I think the first thing we’ll need is a good flier to put up around town. Any volunteers? Please share your ideas here in the comments or send me an email at moserjd@gmail.com.

I think Carson City is well on its way to becoming a fantastic cycling city, and a successful event like this could go a long way for us! Let’s all work together to make this BIG.

To follow the progress of The Clif Bar 2MC tour, you can visit the Clif Bar Blog.  Also visit the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge site to map your ride, take the challenge, and more.

I’ll give you more details as I get them!