Originally Posted by
axolotl
Ryan has carefully avoided telling the media (whom he has very aggressively sought out) that he both seeks and accepts rides when he feels like it.
We don't know what he was asked or what he told them. Only what they chose to print or air.
There are whole stretches where his blog says absolutely nothing about riding a bike. That certainly makes me suspicious, given what we do know.
Fair enough, but he sees this as a cause more than a bike tour. I think that is probably at least part of what his critics don't like about him.
I find it surprising that you are consistently forgiving of Ryan's serious mistakes, but went off on that guy who started a thread titled "Newbie- Things I have learned". I suppose it may be a matter of which buttons get pushed. I do think that Ryan was very crafty, however. Doing things like asking various people on this board to be his "friend" early on. (I declined. As I said previously, my BS meter was already in overdrive) Folks who agreed to things like that are probably more likely to defend him, at least for a while.
I have been critical of Ryan on various points. I don't think much of the charity angle. His list of stuff he said he needed when begging for contributions was appalling. I was very disappointed with the ride to Phoenix. That stuff has been said enough now and I don't feel the need to bring it up constantly. He surprised us by showing more grit than most of us expected. I was just a little surprised by that.
My read of the "Newbie- Things I have learned" thread is that the OP pretends to be naive and intentionally asks provocative questions and makes snarky comments on subjects that he has to know are kind of hot button topics with some here. My read of him may be off in which case he is just merely clueless. I think my read is right though based on several (most of?) the threads he started. "LHT- How do I know when I am ready? ", "You guys like to tinker", and "New Air valvle question" all set off my troll meter. I could be wrong though.