Ryan says he is going to Africa this summer.

I think it's because most of us bike tourists seem to have more open minds and generally better attitudes. This forum is very mild mannered.

Mention a recumbent in the road biking forum and all hell breaks loose.

really?!? are you sure? have you read all 20+ pages of this thread? it seems to indicate that this group is is just as average as the others

i guess most people think that they are more open-minded than most (myself included)

I'm very open minded, and don't anyone dare suggest otherwise. La la la la...

except you, of course:roflmao:

Pbbbbtttthahahahah. You're kidding, right?

Biking for Obama has posted a new item, '281 miles in 2 days!'

So the last two days have been a real test of my own abilities. Yesterday I
destroyed my previous day's record of 120 miles by riding a total of 151.2
miles!!! So in two days we have ridden from Pensacola to Madison FL.

So now we know that Ryan is also math challenged. Perhaps all that riding interferes with your ability to do simple addition.

I think the investment bankers on Wall Street have the same problem. Are they riding to DC too.

Thank you for today's giggle.

At this point, wouldn't Ryan save some miles/time and big-city hassles by swinging north and picking up US 84 into Savannah instead of continuing on to Jacksonville? Looks like a chance of rain Tues night or Wed either way. Only issue might be terrain and road quality (US 90/north Florida vs US 84/SE Georgia). I defer to those of you more familiar with the two routes, but am curious.

Yesterday I had the whole family in the station wagon driving home from Christmas break, listening to NPR, and wouldn't you know it! Ryan was interviewed on "Here and Now." Sounds like a nice guy.

Here's the link, I think....

I heard it too. And I agree.

And once again not one word about the rides he has gotten. So much for full disclosure.

Other than some of the thing that he has posted and the lack of disclosure, I have to agree he seems like a decent guy. Obviously intelligent and well spoken.

They do mention and link to his page. Those who are interested in more than the short version of the story can and will look there. Those who don't care to look closer probably don't care.

The media never give the complete story, nothing unique here.

I know there is some mention of it on his website.

He talked at length describing his trip in the radio interview. He made mention of the people that help him along the way with shelter and donations. He could have easily mentioned the people that gave him rides along the way.

Okay, he took some rides. Okay, he doesn't mention it when interviewed. It's an old story, now repeated over and over and over and over and over and over again. We all get it. Let it go. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I don't see the hitching of rides as indicative of a character flaw, or even a negative to bicycle touring... the nature of touring shouldn't be too restrictive. After all, it is not a competition with rules, etc.

And, while it has been repeated over and over... it is the nature of cycling to repeat the same action over and over... ;)

Receiving rides is at least as relevant as any other help he has received on the trip, so it is interesting to me to know why he wouldn't mention rides during an interview... It sounds to me like he wants to protect his ego.

I think that one thing needed in this country is humility, and in thanking those helping him, that is one thing he is doing at one level. But to really show it best, it would be great to talk about not riding every mile. Now that would be showing a deep humility... especially for an athlete.

On the lighter side, I am still giggling a bit from the exhibition of math skills from a few messages back. :lol:

I do think Ryan has accomplished much on this ride, and applaud his determination!

To be honest though, I hope he gets to be part of the crowd in DC, and then fades into obscurity. As nice of a guy as he seems to be, I just think that getting to meet Mr. Obama just because he made enough of a ruckus to get attention just seems wrong. However, to be able to be in DC for a historic moment, and then to share the stories with his friends, children and grandchildren would be a wonderful end to this adventure.

I'm in this boat- not 'hooked', but curious and lurking. I thought Ryan's requests for exorbitantly-expensive equipment was funny (and TBQH, I think his politics are a little out of focus), but I'm also glad to see that it looks like he's going to make it in time. I couldn't care less about the rides he's taken- if failure wasn't an option, I would do the same thing, too.

Ryan has some ambitions. He is a Nice Guy. He has been advised to accept rides when they are offered. You would be his friend if you met him.

He took the first ride because of a knee problem.
He took the second ride when it was raining hard.

Check out His photo site.

http://www.bikingforobama.com/gallery/

I made it to the Atlantic Ocean. Its crazy to think that only a month ago I
was on the opposite coast!

At Jax beach (Jacksonville, FL) we stopped for a quick photo session after
being helped out by American Bicycle Co.'s Chris and Kevin. They not only
tuned up both mine and Josh's bikes, but [...]

I am glad to hear about Ryan's progress. This thread has been a wonderful respite from the usual winter threads about people's "custom builds", worshiping or bashing brooks saddles, obsessing over high end brands of stuff or extolling the virtues of cheaper stuff. All that gets kind of old, so it is nice to have this diversion from business as usual here.

+1.

You know, he's doing lots of interviews. Is he supposed to keep track of exactly what he says in each?
The interviewer will, in most cases, select the bits s/he wants to use... whatever seems extraneous will be removed. To most people, it's interesting that he's riding 100 miles a day for many many days, and catching a ride here and there is not interesting. So if an interviewer or someone removed that bit, it's not necessarily Ryan's fault.

True enough... We are not in a position to know what aspects are media spin, and what aspects are Ryan's spin.

I hope the final week of his journey is as successful as it has been so far.

You have no evidence whatsoever that interviewers are editing out the fact that Ryan is not biking the entire way to DC. Someone could just as easily claim that interviewers are also editing out racially-tinged remarks and insulting comments made by Ryan in interviews. There's no evidence of Ryan saying that in the interviews, either. Stick to the facts.

Keeping track of exactly what he says in each? It's not too difficult to be honest and upfront about what he has done. "Keeping track" has nothing to do with it.

Those aren't exclusively winter thread subjects. :(