Hi,
I'm one of the folks who expressed some skepticism of Ryan at the beginning. I was bothered *not* because Ryan was asking for support (lots of people do that; we're all free *not* to help). I was a little bothered because it appeared to me at the beginning that Ryan had put his effort into building a website for
PR, assembling a very pricey equipment list, and doing (very little) research on the bike trip itself before suddenly popping up and saying "help me." I'm always a little more impressed if someone shows they have put in at least *some* research before asking for help.
Honestly I figured he'd either (a) never start or (b) ride for 2 or 3 days and stop. And I was actually hoping that he would (c) modify his plans and attempt something a bit less ambitious (say, cycle from New Orleans to DC, as some recommended).
Well, he's proven me completely wrong.
He's already accomplished a lot. It appears to me that he has gotten some help but certainly didn't get his "wish list." (He admitted the list needed reworking in any case). He appeared to gather what he needed, and took off - clearly he wasn't just try to get donations to buy stuff, or he never would have left.
I'm *extremely* impressed by what he has done, and I am guessing he has learned a lot, too.
He made a couple of pretty tart comments along the way. Seems to me they were duly noted and criticized in this thread already. I'm over it.
Best,
BB