There's also the matter of "how does he get home?" Or, perhaps putting it another way, "what does he do on his homeward trip?" I'm guessing after riding for 40 days, he'd prefer to travel by something other than a bike.

Does he have any idea where he is staying in DC? The city is expecting nearly 4 million people turning out for the swearing in. I can't imagine the Secret Service is going to let him tie up his bike just anywhere. Camping in January is unpleasant, at least up that far north, and besides I understand most campgrounds in the DC metro area are booked.

:roflmao2:Was that a big surprise to him?

You know, no part of the country is really as red and blue as the electoral college maps make it look. No matter where you go, two out of every five people voted for McCain, and another two voted for Obama; the only question is how the fifth guy voted. Sure, from Texas over to northern Florida, he voted for McCain; but there's still plenty of Obama supporters out there.

I bet Ryan will like Texas. I've never been there, but I've never met a Texan I didn't like (I've seen one or two on TV, of course, but I'm not sure they were real Texans).

Maybe, but I hated to have to stop after doing the TA. I would have been delighted to turn around and ride back if that were an option for me. I doubt that I am alone in that. The bigger factor may be whether he can keep his "real" life on hold or not.

Someone from Northern VA or DC must read this thread. Hopefully they will step up and help. If not he is welcome here. I am far enough north that it might not be the most practical place for him to stay, but I would pick him up and drop him back if he needs that.

I think I will post a link to the Commuting Forum. There are a LOT of DC area bike commuters. At least they could provide information on getting into and out of the city.

I agree.

In addition, I think that a lot of the supposed hostility is way exaggerated and over blown. When meeting face to face people are likely to be kind and generous and if not that at least civil. This is almost always true unless you project something negative in your demeanor. If you are open and friendly folks will generally respond in kind. I don't know Ryan, but suspect that he will make a good impression and be fine.

Texans are friendly toward bicycle riders.
Texas is pick up truck country.
Drivers stop every time they see a bike laying down and ask if we need help.
Ryan will like Texas if the weather gives him a break.
Right now he is in a 13* wind chill on a lonely highway.
I will not be surprised if he is offered a ride, and I hope he would accept it..

Post made to the thread "Commuting to the Obama Inauguration."
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...8&postcount=62

The curent weather is a concern given the remote stretch of riding he is on with not much for shelter for a hundred miles or more at a time.

Having spoken with him I doubt he will have any problems presenting himself as a friendly young man on an adventure. I think that is an important trait no matter where you find yourself on your bike.

I've lived in Florida, Washington State, Connecticut, Hawaii, and California, and of course my Native Texas. I've traveled extensively in all points in between. The term "Southern Hospitality" didn't invent itself, lol.

I sincerly believe most people are good at heart and kind to strangers. Unfortunatley, there is always a segment of society that will not hesitate to do harm. I don't think the demographic is limited by it's geogpahic location though.

Yea, I live about three miles as the crow files from this place. Lot's of folks have a lasting impression of Texas, and Dallas, from this show, lol.

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l...68B4B15717.jpg

Hey everyone!

I just got off the phone with Ryan. Apparently he is in the tiny town of Fort Stockton, TX. Traveling on the Interstate may be a problem - he happened to run into a British woman who bikes around the world and writes books about it (I didn't catch her name from him) who recently got a "warning ticket" for being on I-10. Ryan says his goal for tomorrow is to get to Ozona, as he had mentioned earlier in this post, and to arrive in Austin this weekend.

He says that his knees are feeling better and that icing them helps a lot. Ryan also let me know that he expects to have driver support again in Louisiana. The temps have been cold, but he says he is doing okay. It's also okay to call him at any time - he has a headset and says that sometimes the best parts of his days are cycling and talking. Other than that, I think that's about everything. He sounds like he is in good spirits and having a great time. :)

One thing I would like to point out about the interstates. They tend to be the least hilly routes. That is, they sought out the flattest routes for them and then did more flattening of the routes as compared to other roads. So when you head through "the hill country", the more of a back-road it is, the steeper and more frequent the hills will be.

I recall seeing signs in various places saying "no bicycles" on interstates. But I don't remember seeing those on most Texas interstates. I would guess out in the boondocks, nobody's going to care much.

Got an e-mail last night that he is having good weather and making good time. I had e-ailed him about remembering that churches and police stations are great resources when in remote areas and small towns.

He spent the night at a church last night and they have taken very good care of him from the sounds of it. He still expects to make Austin on Saturday at some point and will be taking 290 when he gets to it to make his way through Austin. This where he will find near endless rollers, lol.

It's been almost 30 years since I was in the little town I was going to try and meet him in on Friday. A mapquest session showed me it would be around 12 hrs round trip to drive down and back. It looks like I will have to find an alternative method to deliver the care package since working all night and then spending 12 hrs behind the wheel seems ill advised.

The one thing you may find on some interstates is an increase in the number of flats due to wires from shredded truck tires. A friend of mine cycled across the southern US in '98 and was doing a pretty fast route (with car support). He spent most of his riding between San Diego and Austin on shoulders of interstates and got more than 10 flats. The number of flats went dramatically down once he stopped riding interstates (which logistically I believe becomes more awkward once you leave sparsely populated regions anyways). I've ridden shoulders of parts of interstates in OR, CA, NV, NM, AZ, TX, CO, WY, MT and not quite had as severe an issue as my friend but it might also be a factor. I'll ride the interstate shoulder where it is the best route for what I'm doing, but I have at least as much fun on the major US highways or some smaller routes. I do also agree with the fewer hills (good example is I-84 on Oregon side of Columbia River gorge vs. WA-2 on the other side).

Check it Out:
He now has Pics
http://www.bikingforobama.com/gallery/

I just rifled through the photos. I want those sweet rasta gloves hes got.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/...7fc0a7.jpg?v=0

I don't see any pictures. Am I missing something?

Click on the arrow when the Gallery comes up.

The LA Times had an article on Ryan: http://www.latimes.com/la-na-moment1...,3535091.story

There is a picture of Ryan and his rig at the top of the article.

Ray

i'm liking the mccain/palin sticker touch.

Doesn't work with Firefox. :(.

worked fine for me on Firefox 3.04

Must be some kind of security setting, not sure which one.

http://www.bikingforobama.com/2008/1...r-obama-merch/
http://www.onewaynorth.com/republic/shop/
Now he is selling t-shirts? What happens if he fails do I get my money back?
Would I be stuck with an epic fail t-shirt?

Nice photo in the LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-12/44001487.jpg

Update:

Ryan is in Sonora, TX about 200 miles from Austin. He didn't make great time today after doing about 110 miles the day before. He still expects to be Austin on Saturday and stay until Monday morning, and then spend Christmas in Houston.

Care package is in route and special thanks to Joshua for taking it fown to Austin for me since life got in the way of delivering it myself.