It's not about the stuff, Part II

Trying to do some good a little closer to home is Clif Bar, an energy food company with their Two-Mile Challenge program.
The company converted a 1959 GMC bus into something of a shrine celebrating bicycle commuting. The biodiesel-powered vehicle will travel to a number of college campuses, festivals and farmer's markets (mostly, alas, west of the Rockies), preaching the gospel of using the bicycle for transportation.

The premise is quite simple. According to widely quoted statistics, about 40% of all urban trips in the US are two miles or less. 90% of these trips are by car. 60% of pollutions from automobiles happens within the first few minutes of operation. Thus, Clif Bar's mission is to convert those unnecessary short car trips to bicycle trips.
Clif Bar has set up a website, where people will be able to map out a 2-mile radius of their address, and identify routes to services within that area, including grocery stores, cafes, bike shops, etc. In addition, the bus features displays about the use of bicycles around the world, a variety of ways to include the bicycle in your daily life, ways to customize your bike for commuting, and challenge cards that allow interested participants to commit to the cycling challenge at the level that's reasonable and comfortable.
To enhance the program, Clif Bar plans to donate $25,000 worth of bike gear to campuses to help jumpstart new bike programs, or bolster existing ones.
I love the idea of this program, and the only regret I have is that it seems to be largely confined to western states, including Arizona, California and Oregon, that already have fairly extensive bike commuting networks and participation. However, the Two-Mile Challenge website is open to anyone in the US, so we encourage you to map out your route today.