To visit the birthplace of the President-elect? :)

Perfectly true; hence the word "if."

That is true as well. My point was that (for all I know) in some interview Ryan may have mentioned that he got a ride here and there. Not having heard every interview (in its entirety) I can only speculate.

I agree that using a phrase like "ride a bike from LA to DC" implies riding only a bike to get all the way from LA to DC, and that's not exactly what he's doing. But in the context of an interview I don't think you can blame Ryan for not mentioning something that falls outside the scope of any of the questions.

Hair splitting....
On a coast to coast trip I got a 50 mile ride through the desert somewhere around Sanderson to Langtry, TX.
It was 108 degrees in the shade. No water facilities. A local took a look at my 4 gallons of water jugs tied on and said I'd never make it. Would not take no for an answer.
Good thing I disclosed. I'd hate for my trip to be dismissed as fraudulent.

You're going to make me say it again, aren't you.
You think putting a smiley after it makes it not racist?

He was born in Kenya. Hit your edit button quick. :D

http://genealogy.about.com/od/aframe...rack_obama.htm
"Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kenyan father and an American mother."

I really think you should stop hatin', valygrl. And buy a dictionary; "racist" is another word you need to look up.

I regret making a joke about a silly conspiracy theory around so many Ryanistas.

I agree with you about the use of a smiley not rendering things less obnoxious, but I don't think the comment is racist. I do think it's right-wing conspiracy theory nonsense, however.

So do I.

Once again... the concept is lost through the internet.

I took the Historian's remark as a wry jab at a ridiculous conspiracy theory. Then comes the knee jerk non sequitur "racist" comment. It seems overly sensitive to me.
Then again, I may be feeble of mind and completely off the mark....

+1

I set a timer so that every 72 hours I can come back and post the same thing - only in BikeForums land would *anyone* think Ryan is doing anything fraudulent by accepting a ride here and there.

He's biking to the inauguration. Accepting a ride here and there doesn't change it, except in a tiny backwater of the Internet where we debate how many angels can fit on the head of a pin.

I have a son in college, who's got two or three adventures on his "to do" list at any given time. Would I be proud if he had done *exactly* what Ryan has done? Yes.

Would I advise him to modify the tone of some of his statements? Yes.

Would he listen to me? Probably not.

Would he be a better person at the end of a journey like Ryan's? Yes.

You're making me feel guilty about updating the thread on my Univega Gran Tourismo upgrade.

But I'm going to do it anyway...

Speedo

See? An old dog CAN learn new tricks.

Speedo

I may be an old dog, but I'm nice enough to attempt to communicate with someone in their native tongue when they don't understand English.

Text message from Ryan with his schedule for the rest of the trip. My apologies to the Ryanistas, who I'm sure already have this information from on high:

Savannah GA today
Charleston, SC 1/09
Myrtle Beach, SC 1/10
Wilmington, NC 1/11
Goldsboro, NC 1/12
Roanoke Rapids, NC 1/13
Richmond, VA 1/14
Fredericksburg, VA 1/15
Washington, DC 1/16

BTW, Ryan's asking me to post his schedule coming on the heels of Valygrl's namecalling is the best birthday present I've had in years. The irony is so thick and rich one can eat it with a fork - steel, of course. :)

Email from Ryan. He's asked that I 'organize' something. I'm not sure what. I assume he and Josh will need a place to stay and perhaps people to ride with.

It's not clear to me why you've invented the term "Ryanistas," presumably to refer to folks who are cheering on Ryan. It seems unnecessarily snarky to me.

In any case, thanks for passing on the info. I had not heard it from "on high." I did notice a chorus of angels singing outside my office earlier today, but I had security arrest them. My mistake.

While it may ruin Neil's fun by having to explain it, I will make my comment anyway because I think some people are taking some comments way too seriously.

I have chuckled at the term Ryanistas... I think it has more of a political slant than what I would coin, since I see the people it refers to in more of a religious light than a militant movement... and for some reason in my mind something like Ryanists, without the "a" may capture it more precisely... but that is just my opinion.

There are some in this thread who seem to get very defensive at any comment that can be taken in any way to portray Ryan as anything less than worthy of immediate recognition as a saint. Let me be clear, I currently admire Ryan, but in no way believe he is in line for beatification.

While I am completely surprised that he has the fortitude to get as far as he has based on his initial messages, and have grown to deeply admire him, I think some hero worship expressed here is just too extreme.

There are a couple of people here that seem to hold a grudge against him, but frankly, I think some of the Ryanistas ;) need to take a deep breath and go back and read the messages that the Historian has left in a less confrontational way and see that he isn't attacking Ryan... While not participating in the worship, he has done quite a bit of supporting Ryan, both directly and indirectly. Read again and see that he is holding up a mirror... do any of you see yourselves in the term Ryanista?

Do you find yourself reading words or phrases that in other threads would mean nothing to you, but in this thread make your blood boil because you think your hero is being unjustly attacked?

Unfortunately, those who are famous, especially those who overtly seek it, open themselves to criticism. Ryan placed himself in that position, as did the person he is riding to DC to honor (although I think it is still open to debate whether he is riding to honor Obama or himself). History will judge Mr. Obama, and perhaps (if he has more than a few weeks of fame) Ryan as well.

The Historian isn't making fun of Ryan by coining the term Ryanistas... Nor is he referring to all people cheering on Ryan. I am cheering on Ryan, but I am confident that Neil would not call me a Ryanista. Neil is cheering on Ryan, but he obviously does not consider himself a Ryanista...

I didn't get this "joke" since I have not been paying attention to the news, and apparently this is a reference to something that I didn't know about. Therefore I thought it was racist.

Makes more sense now.

So I apologize for calling your remark racist.

By the way, my initial use of the word I used "hate" was not about racism. Others here have hijacked that. It was about how negative people were being about Ryan and his trip, especially around the issue of the requests for donations.

This forum used to be a nice place. People were respectful even when they disagreed. Not so much anymore. Sorry to all for my contributions to that.

A Ryanista, or as Little Darwin described them, a Ryanist, assumes Ryan may do no wrong and he's above criticism. They also assume all criticism of Ryan has an ugly, ulterior motive. And the sum total of their contribution to his ride is posting personal attacks on Bike Forums.

Meanwhile, I need to respond to an email from.... guess who. Can anyone along their route put Ryan and Josh up for the night?

Warm Showers shows a few potential hosts in Charleston, and Wilmington, NC. After that, there's not much until Virginia Beach and Richmond.

I don't think he'll have a problem finding somewhere to crash here, around Wilmington. An email was sent out via the local cycling club about Ryan a couple of days ago. A lot of nice people around here, some 250 members on the email list, I believe. I sent a message to him.

I know there was rain down south, and it became snow when it got up here, but the weather for the ride now is looking pretty good.

Any insight into the forecast for the rest of the trip?

I am also getting curious about another point. I'm guessing he has to have lost 20 pounds or more... or managed to consume a very high calorie diet.