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It was a nail-biter.

In the final weeks of the competition, the Alliance’s Gold Team mounted a valiant come-from-behind surge in the 2 Mile Challenge.

Alas, it wasn’t enough to propel us to first place. But we’re excited to congratulate our friends at Trips for Kids for bringing home the victory and grateful to the nearly 2,000 participants who pedaled for the Alliance.

The 2 Mile Challenge is a national competition created by CLIF Bar to encourage people to replace short car trips with bicycle travel. To lead the charge in 2010, CLIF Bar selected three nonprofit organizations, awarded each a $25,000 grant and assigned them to represent one of three teams: Gold, Blue, or Red.

The Alliance went for the Gold and 1,825 residents across the country joined our team. Over the past six months, our dedicated team members pedaled thousands of miles in their communities and logged their bike trips on the 2 Mile Challenge interactive website. The results are impressive.

The Gold Team:

• Traveled 166,441 miles

• saved 153,126 pounds of carbon dioxide

• and logged 18,106 trips on their bicycles

We may have come in second place, but we put up a first-place effort. Kudos to all our amazing Gold Team members for their efforts this summer.

“People from all 50 states have responded to the 2 Mile Challenge because it’s fun, healthy and gives them a tangible way to battle climate change in their own communities,” Lauren Hatfield, lifestyle experience manager at Clif Bar & Company, said in a press release this morning. “They also get to do twice the good by supporting non-profits who bring the bike and climate movements to broader audiences nationwide.”

“Our heart-felt thanks go out to all the participants helping to raise awareness and funds for grassroots bicycle advocacy and climate change education this year,” added Gary Erickson, CLIF Bar’s founder, co-owner and co-CEO.

While the CLIF Bar 2 Mile Challenge team competition is over for the year — slated to return in Spring 2011 — the website remains active for people who to want to continue or join, log bike miles and challenge friends to ride their bikes for short trips.

Click here to take the challenge.