"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

I hope he has enough warm clothes! It's COLD here - and we are several hundred miles SOUTH of Ryan! I'm happy to read that he's pushing on - he'll make it yet!

Very cool. Excellent interview. After a rocky start Ryan seems to be doing great. He has presented himself well and is a good representative of the cycling community in addition to being a booster of the change that Obama promises.

Hats off to Ryan!

What I meant was about the talking heads going on and on about the tent. Anyone that tours or backpacks and camps is going to use a small tent. There is nothing amazing about his choice in shelters. It is the only thing practical if your choice of lodging is camping.


He hasn't finished yet. If the post above is correct that he is going to break the ride to Houston up in 2 days then he is not going to make DC on time if he continues that practice. He seems to already have a number of long days under his belt so hopefully he is just using this as a little break but he can't afford too many more.

Tuesday 12/23/08 6:00 PM

Just spoke to Ryan at Bellville, Texas.

He and Joshua were eating Mexican Food.
Chase rode the day with them and got picked up by car.
They had Five Flats and asked me to bring some patches.
They are staying the night in, The City Park in The Tent.

Meeting them at 7:00 AM to ride to Spring Texas.
Where they will be staying with friends Wednesday Night.

Well yeah, the Fox interviewer was completely completely clueless.

True enough. He may or may not wind up making it. Weather is likely to be OK, but can be fickle. Regardless I still maintain that it wasn't an irresponsible or impossible plan (at least after he moved the start up a bit). You are correct that he can't afford to take many days off or many short days. He needs to decide based on how he feels and how much time he has.

I hope it all goes well and he pulls it off. If he doesn't I will still give him credit for the effort.

Don't Despair. He will make it.
Why don't you call him and Wish Him Well?

1-503-888-1987

Thanks

What he proposed WAS foolhardy. Biking from LA via San Diego to Washington, DC in 35 days in December and January.

It's increasingly obvious that he has not been up front about traveling by car from SoCal to Phoenix. It's now clear to me that his language was evasive and is now buried on his website, and it obviously mislead a lot of people on this forum alone. Also, his map (as well as those posted here by others) falsely give the impression that he is biking the entire way.

Personally, I have no interest is doing point A to point B tours for the sake of saying I did it. I believe it is generally wise to take advantage of public transportation to avoid dangerous and/or boring stretches. But since Ryan said one of his goals was to ride all the way from LA to DC, it's undeniable that he failed in his stated goal less than a week after he left LA. That doesn't mean, however, that he's not a very strong rider or that he hasn't put in an impressive physical effort.

My biggest problem with Ryan, however, is his appalling behavior on this forum. He made outrageous comments more than once and has yet to apologize for them. There's little question that his comments were gross violations of this forum's guidelines. When several posters quite reasonably objected to not only being asked to finance his trip, but to finance a mind-boggling wish-list of unnecessary and expensive equipment, his response was to attack people, making assumptions about their race and/or political beliefs. He shamefully attributed any criticism by others to their presumed race or presumed political beliefs.

An appropriate time to read the good book.

Mat 21:22

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

I think I have to agree with axolotl at least in part.

It was not the time of year or the poor planning or the short about of time or the lack of obtaining proper equipment or lack of preparation that made the ride foolhardy. It was a combination of all of those things.

Certainly others have done the same but it does not make it any less foolhardy

I want the guy to make it but I also want him to do it safely and without injury to himself. I also hope that he gives a proper account of his trip to the press once he has a chance to get his thoughts together.