Can you believe the ride is so close? Neither can we! The members of Team Mightybytes (Tim, Joy, Bryan and Bill) head out to California today as they eagerly await the start of the ride.

For those who might be hearing about it for the first time, Climate Ride is a non-profit organization that organizes fully supported, charitable bike rides to support sustainable solutions, bike advocacy and environmental causes. Each year there are two rides, one from NY to DC and one along the California coast. The California Ride is set to begin on October 2nd.

Team Mightybytes (Tim, Joy, and Steve) recently returned from the 2011 NYC - DC Climate Ride, biking 300 miles over five days to support sustainable solutions and eight environmental organizations.

Yes, our legs and butts are sore, but we have some great take-aways from the trip. Before and during the ride, we learned a lot about each other, how to effectively raise funds using social media tools, and met dozens of sustainability experts who shared their wisdom with us. Here were some of the take-aways.