Wow! I had no idea he wasn't carrying gear. If that is the mileage he is doing and he is supported at this point it does not look good at all. He either got almost no donations/sponsors or he spent the money very poorly.

Knee problems really don't sound good if they are occurring without a load and this soon. I hope he is playing all this up for drama and it really isn't as bad as it sounds, because if he isn't his prospects are already looking pretty dim. At least the ST misses most of the mountains.

I am still rooting for him, but think his chances are looking pretty slim.

I had to chuckle when I read that. It is generally true though.

Most, but not all, and there are large stretches at a fairly high elevation nonetheless. If you look at the historic weather data for towns along the Southern Tier route, there are places in AZ & especially NM with some pretty cold average low temperatures (in the 20s) this time of year. There's a pass in NM over 8,000 feet high. And although Ryan said someone at Adventure Cycling told him that people ride the ST in the winter, if you check crazymanonabike.com and search for "Southern Tier January", you'll find that few have attempted it in the winter. Fewer have succeeded, even over a much longer time period than Ryan has. Most of the hits you'll get are for journals that were updated or posted in January, but the cyclists actually did their trips in the spring or fall. Among the few who were actually riding in the winter, one guy encountered snow in NM in November and had to get a ride in a pickup truck across than stretch. Another guy went south into Mexico. Others talked about their frozen solid water bottles. Another stopped riding about halfway. Adventure Cycling organizes their own tours along the ST in the spring & fall, but not in the winter.

I have no idea if Ryan ever got lights. His website is asking for money for lights so I would presume not. That's going to be another major impediment if he has to stop by sundown each day.

This is assuming he rides the whole enchilada. I, and a few other posters, advised him to use Amtrak for part of his trip. I still advise him to do so.

Still no word. His last posts mentioned picking up a rack in DC from a poster here.

I'm not counting Ryan out yet. First of all, and most important, he's 22. Most of us are so far past 22 that we don't remember how much your body can take at that age, and how quickly it recovers.

Second, many touring cyclists start slowly and build up. This is especially likely to be true for somebody such as Ryan who was so incredibly poorly prepared and equiped.

On the other hand, it seems he may be stuck in Phoenix for a while trying to accumulate enough gear to be self-supported. And he's likely to be in for some surprises about how much more work that is.

Some of you seem to be hoping he'll fail--I really hope that's not true.

Regardless of whether you support him or not, you've got to admit that he does generate a buzz. 342 posts have been recently entered about him in this forum alone, not even counting the 85 posts entered in the "Assistance or Freeloading" thread which seems to have been inspired by his trip.

He's optimistic about the knee problem recovery time. I have tendonitis problems in my left knee, and whenever I have a flareup, I need a day or two off the bike. That said, Ryan is half my age, more or less, and perhaps he can recover faster.

Yikes!! We'll be there in 5 or 6 days... (But I guess we shouldn't complain - at least it's not 12 degrees like it was up in Wyoming!!)

Where are you guys getting the info about where he is - I tried his site but didn't see anything updated at all. Does he have another blog he's posting to?

The subject of freeloading comes up often enough. No need to credit Ryan with another thread on the subject.

True, but remember that the day night differential is large so it gets pretty warm in the day time. Once the sun gets up it won't be all that bad most of the time. The problem is that days are short so he can't afford to wait around for it to warm up.

He will have at least 10 hours of daylight. That should be enough, but it will be necessary for him to get going at first light and it will be cold then as you mentioned above.

My take on this is that this is all doable, but requires some real toughness and determination. It is a challenge, but probably not foolhardy if he plans better than he has so far. Regarding the weather, a little good luck wouldn't hurt and some bad luck could easily set the schedule back a few days.

Then again I have not ridden the ST, so I have no first hand knowledge.

Expecting him to fail isn't the same as hoping he will. Personally, I want to see him reach DC in time, in good health, and on two wheels. I don't see it happening for various reasons.

Some of that ten hours will be taken up with the video interviews he's planned. They should be the first thing he drops from his touring load.

I hope so too. It would be pretty low to wish for his failure.

I kind of frown on funding the tour with donations, but that doesn't stop me from wishing him success. It doesn't sound like he is off to a very good start and I hope he is better prepared once he is in the desert and at higher elevations. If he isn't it could be dangerous.

I just thought of something - we're picking up the southern tier here in El Paso and will be on it til Del Rio. He may come flying past us!

From Adventure Cycling's website:

When is the best time to ride a specific route?
Southern Tier: early fall to late spring, and into summer in the east. Caution: snow can occur at any time in the higher elevations in the Southwest, with the highest pass in New Mexico being over 8,000 feet. In the southeast, hurricane season is from June 1 to November 1.

Say hi if you see him.

I just left a comment on his blog telling him we're on the road - hopefully he'll stop and talk rather than blasting past!

It looks like his posts are locked out for some reason for me.
thanks.



This isn't looking too good.
Things will be getting really interesting around Phoenix.
They just started construction on his route Hwy 60 yikes.

GLOBE AZ
PTCLDY PTCLDY SUNNY SUNNY SUNNY SUNNY SUNNY
34/58 46/53 43/51 35/61 39/64 43/62 42/57
00/10 20/20 10/00 00/00 00/00 00/00 00/00

Event Id 287988
Location On US Highway 60, EW-bound from mile post 236.0, 6.70 miles West of Miami to mile post 238.0, 4.70 miles West of Miami
Duration from December 2, 2008 to February 27, 2009 from 6:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Sunday, through Saturday,
Description lane closed. Possible stop and go traffic
Restrictions Width: 11 ft.
Public Notes Concrete barrier closing west bound slow lane - Flaggers - speed reduced Daytime Buss Ph: 928-402-5620

This should be downhill.

Brrr I hope he has some warm clothes or at least a tarp.

Does this mean you can't post on his blog? And, in particular, this information?

Two different posters. The "locked out" one is Immorality, a guy riding from Philadelphia to Mexico. He left in October.

yea sorry two different posters ~ I was talking about Immorality.

Yea good idea I posted it to him, so he knows.

Accuweather predicts highs in the upper sixties and lows in the upper 40s for Phoenix over the next five days.

Globe Arizona is at 3500 feet. He goes from 1200 to 3500 60 miles Phoenix to Globe. highest point is 4500 known as Top Of The World.

I have it on good authority that a Bike Forums poster and cross-country cyclist is meeting Ryan tomorrow. I understand Ryan is going to be a little better equipped after that meeting. So it looks like the young man is going to be a bit better prepared for what he's facing.