"Mapmaker, mapmaker, make me a map..."

Thanks, Neil.

Good deal Zipper. So far I don't know what support he has lined up after he leaves Texas. Someone made mention he may have a support vehicle in Louisianna.

I see he's selling t-shirts now....... Is it just me, or is the site low on detail and high on commercialism?

His thoughs, musings and progress would be of more value to me than free shipping with a t-shirt.

-R

Ryan - Clarence Bekker ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A_ma...d.php?t=495794

Ryan should expect problems in downtown DC.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...7&postcount=78

Ryan's LA Times piece got noted and quoted on www.bikingbis.com (which is a very good blog about bikes and bike touring, BTW. Has a Pacific Northwest focus).

http://www.bikingbis.com/blog/_archi...9/4027353.html

Inside Scoop... tune in this morning to Fox and Friends 9:00am Eastern Time.

I'm in Austin, TX.. was treated very well today by the folks at Performance Bicycles. Thanks to TXvintage they tuned up the bike for free and even gave me a new rear wheel (32 spoke is much better suited for the load i'm carrying.))

Must be the bumper sticker..... :)

For anyone wanting to see Ryan on FOX and Friends this morning, here's the video: http://www.foxnews.com/video-search/...m?pageid=24615

You have to admit, this guy is pretty amazing. :)

Not sure if it is amazing, but it looks like he is doing a good solid ride and should be proud of himself. I am sure that it has been a great experience and hope he meets his goals. I was happy to see he got some press and is doing well. I hope the weather cooperates and he is able to do good enough time to get there for the inauguration.

He has already misrepresented himself. He did NOT ride from LA. He rode from Phoenix (with some riding in CA). Still something to be proud of but he should make sure he gets the story straight.

I wonder if Obama has heard of Ryan's trip. My guess is that if and when he does, Ryan will not have any logistical problems in DC! Might even end up on the reviewing stand with the Prez!

:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

I wouldn't assume that Ryan misrepresented himself.

It's entirely possible that he told the reporter: "My intention was to ride from LA to DC. I rode from LA to the start of the Trans America trail, rode part of the way out into the California desert, , caught a ride to Phoenix to regroup, and have ridden the rest of the way since then."

Which the media will then shorten to, "He's riding from LA to Washington."

I don't think it's fair to hold him accountable for every short-cut the press takes in explaining his story. His own website makes it clear he caught a ride part of the way.

I think even a casual observer, if they focused on every detail of his trip, would still walk away saying "he's riding from LA to DC."

+1 he is up front about it on his web page. I think it was kind of a shame that poor planning forced him to take a ride, but it isn't like he lied about it or anything.

"Ryan" for Secretary of Transportation.

He's going to have some cold weather tomorrow when he leaves Austin. Last night driving back from Houston to Dallas the temp fell from 78 degrees to 30 degrees in about 4 hours. Up here in N.Texas it hasn't climbed mych past that since.

Austin 6:30 PM
Temp 40*
Wind 6 mph
Wind Chill 33*

I don't think Ryan mis-represented himself during the Fox and Friends interview. He really didn't get a chance to say anything terribly intelligent because the "Fox Friends" were wasting time asking stupid questions.

Anyway, I think he is going to make it, one way or another. Like someone said earlier, "He is a bike rider", and as far as I am concerned, that is part of the main point, the other being he actually up and did it, caution thrown to the wind. Who here hasn't wanted to do just that? A foolhardy adventure, perhaps, but he's doing it anyway, and with great conviction and intent it seems.

And I think that kind of conviction and intent will win him this ride.

Regardless of whatever opinions I or anyone else here share, I'm happy for him and find what he's doing to be terribly inspiring. I think it's safe to say we all wish him a safe and introspective trip...

To Ryan, good weather, nice tailwinds, and a lot of food to you!

Snipped for content
This pretty much sums up where I stand on his adventure. Having spoken with him several times I can say from my perspective he has a growing appreciation for the journey and the people and places he has encountered.

At least he's warmer than Dallas!

Looks liike his new wool socks and neoprene gloves are going to get a road test in the morning.

You expect reporters to get the story right? And Fox reporters at that?

Actually it is as close as the news media usually gets on anything and probably close enough that their audience doesn't care for the most part.

After giving it some thought I think you might be right. He could have interrupted the questions and made a correction. But maybe he did not hear the intro and we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

The talking heads probably looked at his maps and the first paragraph of his website. These should be reflected to show where he hitched a ride, so that people not reading deep into the site will see the true story.

This story is probably one of the greatest self promotion / human interest stories in a very long time. It most certainly will get the attention of Obama and the press at the other end. Let's wait till then to see if he give the full story.

It would have really been a fantastic human interest story had he actually rode from the door of Obama's old college to the "door" of Obama's inauguration. Ryan can no longer make that claim. With just a little more planning, he could have easily done it, judging by his current performance.

And yes I liked some of the questions too. Especially the one about the tent. What did they expect him to do? Haul and Airstream trailer behind his bike?

Ryan is not doing anything differently then thousand, maybe even millions of bike tourers and hikers do every year with the tent. I can't figure why they were so amazed.

Monday 12/22/08 7:30 PM

Just talked to Ryan.

He is in La Grange Texas for the night. Heading toward Houston in the morning on Highway 71.
Staying in a hotel sponsored by a church pastor.
Joshua rode with him today.
Chase is joining the ride with the two of them in the morning.
I will call Ryan tomorrow night too see where we might connect..

Woot, didn't know Joshua was taking his bike with him to ride. That's outstanding.

I'm jealous 10 Wheels. I can't work out the logistics to ride with them with the Holidays here.

I'll be meeting up with Ryan and Joshua in the morning and will be riding with them for the day. I believe he plans to break up the 100 miles to Houston into two days.

-Chase

I think it's great that you Texas folks are helping out young Ryan. That's what community is all about. Way to go!

Most people would never do anything like that. To them it is amazing. To another bike tourist it may be just a tour, but 99.99% of the public are not bike tourists. To that 99.99% this is like nothing they would ever consider doing. Then again even here some folks acted like it was foolhardy or impossible when he proposed it.

FWIW: Yes I think it is a shame that Ryan needed to take a ride due to poor planning, and yes I think that he needs to be up front about it, but I think he has been up front and presented it fine. He doesn't hide the fact, and most of the public probably don't care about the ride which will be a very small percentage of the trip.

There was an interview on NPR's Talk of the Nation today with Ryan enroute in Industry, TX. It was part of a segment on how various people are getting to the presidential inauguration.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=98647934