I nominate txvintage, since he's closer and he did such a good job rounding up support for me when I had a damaged bike on tour in Confluence, PA. I didn't need any help, but I found out later he'd not only rallied the troops, but was going to arrange for a rear wheel to be shipped to me.

I'm glad to hear he's OK! Is he still following the AC route? If so - pass on to him to take 90 to Alpine from Van Horn rather than going through Ft. Davis. We are now in Ft. Davis and it took us TWO WHOLE DAYS to make the 52 miles from Kent to here - the hills and wind are wicked! People told us it would be flatter if we had taken 90 - but I guess we like the punishment or something...

If my calculations are correct is is 2200 miles from DC. He still has 38 days. That is around 60 miles a day assuming he rides every single day and has no problems. difficult but still doable.

By the way, I can confirm that taking 90 from Van Horn to Alpine is reasonably flat. That is also the choice I made in 2001 with the following journal page for that day: http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/Jo...21.htm#March23 It took me 1 day to ride from Van Horn to Alpine. It is fairly open land, so would be susceptible to wind but otherwise ok.

If Ryan is near Deming, then he likely took the same cutoff I took in 2001 and had suggested before in this thread (btw: took me 5 days from Phoenix to Deming). I'll have to see in my journal where I next deviated from ST route. I think it is around LA where I ended up taking a somewhat more direct path along the Gulf Coast rather than ST a little further north. Most likely slightly larger roads but fairly flat and direct and potential choice that could save a little distance. However, probably not the best choice if one ends up trying to do too much riding after dark. Also I don't know if changes were made to roads there after Katrina.

Considering I do internet systems administration for a living, coding to use another's bandwidth is a lower form of lame. Regardless of your percieved benefit, it's my job as a site owner to pay the bills - subsequently *I'd* prefer to decide what I'm paying for, not you.

-Roger

I have people use my images all the time. When I find them (via web stats), I change the image to something obscene and offensive, rename the original image, and change the img src on whatever page(s) used it. Takes time, yes, but it's so funny to see the new image up on someone's site. I've had a couple of people steal my content before, too. One guy stole an entire page, changed my name to his, and even had my name in his META tag. He lost his hosting AND his ISP. I really AM an evil *******....

The most recent image theft one has apparently been shut down.
http://homewoodfloor.com/index.php

Is that 2200 as the hawk flies, or on the ACA routes? He was riding to St. Augustine, and then north.

I'll try. I'm not sure it's wise for someone who has never ridden the route to start passing detailed instructions to Ryan, however, so please, nothing more detailed than that. :)

I need to find a good time to call. He's three time zones away, so I should figure to call him after HIS riding day is done.

Spin, is that the "New" math I've heard about? I thought he started with 3900 miles according to his website and he's sure not done 1700 yet. LA to Deming, NM is supposedly about 710 miles.
Not hatin' just statin'

Just using Google Maps (not following the ACA maps), it's:

2500 miles from Deming to Washington if he goes through St. Augustine.
2428 miles if he goes through Jacksonville, Fl., instead
2362 if he "cuts the corner" and jogs north through southern Georgia to Savannah instead of heading straight for the coast in Florida.


All of these routes assume he wants to basically stay as far south as possible until he hits the Atlantic Coast and then head north. A direct route from Deming to Washington Dc would be around 2,200 miles but it jogs pretty far north (just go to Google maps and get route directions, choose "avoid highways" as an option.)

Yea very remote out on this section. I am going to do this portion on my x-mas tour. I am glad he is still alive it was frightfully cold the last week.

That was a simple solution Historian. Funny how BFs are running up the 225th post with nothing better to d0/tour :(
lets see five days / 225 posts = 45 posts a day . Dang we need to catch up to FlyinRyan. POST POST
Nothing can go wrong when you are touring; because you are living life.

Stay warm!

Dec 13: Video
http://www.bikingforobama.com/

I agree it was a simple solution. I wish I'd thought of it sooner.

Edit: And many of those 225 posts, too many in fact, have been attempts to explain to some folks the meaning of the word "h*t*."

Thanks, 10 Wheels.

Let's hope his road bike holds up. That's a low-spoke count wheel on the rear.

Guessing his knees would go out before the wheels.
He might weight about 140 Lbs?

Yeah, not that easy for us unfortunately. We have a rather elaborate CMS system, and making those changes requires change control and an editor's input and a senior editors buyoff. When you pull about 1.2gb on the 95th percentile for bandwidth though those couple images are usually inconsequential. Not like a site like Ryan's sees that much traffic to cause much pain :). It's more the ethics of the matter for me.... until it causes me pain :P I only usually worry about the top 25. But then I see 20+ mil pageviews a day too.

-R

Yes, but who knows how much stuff he is carrying in his panniers and on his rack? Remember, he's a first time tourer. Overpacking is the rule. So is carrying the 'wrong' stuff.

I did a quick Mapsource route from Deming to DC. ATA routes might be a bit longer.

Spin, if you and Benge are correct and he's only got 2400 miles ahead and 38 days, that's less than 65 miles a day and assuming the young man remains healthy, that not that difficult. I don't know where they came up with the initial 3900 miles.

Anyway, it's a shame he's not coming thru farther north and he could join me in my charitable ride. You see I'm trying to raise cash so I can buy the Senate seat left open by Obama. I'm calling it,
"Biking for Blago....One Bike, One Bribe" :D

Been away most of the day caging my way a 1/4 of the way across the state to watch a HS football play off game. It's good to hear he's doing ok and is still moving.

I'll call him sometime tomorrow and get my number to him. I'm much further North than his route will take him, but I can get in touch with several people if it ever became necessary. It now looks like I will be in Houston next weekend, but I don't think he will be there by then. I could at least buy the man a meal.

I just did another rough estimate based on his maps. I still got only 2800 miles But he is going to St. Augustine, I am not sure why he would want to swing so far south.

Do you mean like a guitar? :)

Following Adventure Cycling routes should be ~2190 miles from El Paso to St Augustine + 750 miles to DC or 2940 miles.

The occasional cutoffs of Adventure Cycling route I took was 250 miles shorter from El Paso to St Augustine and it would make sense to go via Jacksonville rather than cutting further south, so I'd say roughly following this route with occasional choices would be closer to 2600 miles.

Leaving El Paso on December 17th and arriving in DC on January 19th is 34 days so we're talking just slightly more than 75 miles per day, a little more if you factor in a rest day or contingency day or two. Going a little further north might save a few more miles but also increase the number of hills you go over and increase risks of inclement weather.

Everyone is going to look at things a little differently, but if it were me, I'd keep along the rough original southern plan with an occasional cutoff and keep in mind cities with Amtrak baggage service that aren't too far away as a backup plan to go either forward or back if needed in a contingency because time runs short or other reasons.

The ACA maps lead to St. Augustine, I think.

Yes. :)

I am going to try to meet up with him in La Grange or Huntsville.
Pleasee PM me if anyone gets some type of location on him.
Thanks.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...heels/Ryan.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jni20...gforobama.com/

Might the route this guy took be a better alternative?

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/poorguyonabike

I'm not familiar with specific roads and he ended in Abilene which is going to be in the pan handle and quite a bit colder. However, reading through report above and looking at the maps, there are probably a few ideas to borrow from. I'll also note my route is described in my journal: http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/usa.htm might also have some things to choose from.

Routing and route choices is going to be a personal thing and preferences are going to differ. However, the route above used some choices that I would also do if I were time-constrained such as Ryan in:

1) Several portions of route above use US90 and US190. Those larger US highways are sometimes hit and miss. They are likely to be more direct than what Adventure Cycling prefers. Occasionally they'll be busier and every once in a while, they'll be really the wrong choice. So the trick is to blend things a bit and to ask folks along the way. When you get close, buy a state map and look at combination of the state map & adventure cycling maps. Make your choice, read what was in other trip journals and ask folks (ideally cyclists). If it really turns out bad, anticipate choosing smaller roads to get you back closer to AC routes. Often these highways such as US90 that parallel an interstate can be a good choice if major traffic stays on the interstate though you do have to watch out about road construction that occasionally redirects interstate traffic onto the alternatives. Also roads I've been on in LA, MS and AL frequently don't have much shoulder and some drivers not anticipating cyclists so one will need to be extra careful.

2) Both his route and mine had one or two awkward spots to get past: Houston and Mobile in particular. I avoided Houston in following Adventure Cycling route and he got a bit closer. Mobile on the other hand, I went south and around and he had some fun with tunnels around Mobile Bay. The Adventure Cycling route misses the entire issue by going a moderate amount further north.

So I'd still suggest he default to following a rough routing of Adventure Cycling southern tier, but occasionally make alternate and more direct choices looking at state maps. My own personal preference coming up:
= Mostly follow the adventure cycling route to Del Rio, though take US 90 from Van Horn as suggested before.
= After that, in Texas I'm less certain of choices.
= Gulf Coast, seek a compromise between Adventure Cycling and the most direct routes with special care
around Mobile and Houston.
= By Florida, US90 tends to be a good choice. Don't bother swinging too far south to St Augustine but instead
start looking to going up the Atlantic Coast. There might be wiser choices cutting across Georgia but I don't
know much there.
= Ask folks as you go along, particularly cyclists and get local info such as road construction.
The result is likely to be a somewhat more direct route that saves ~350 miles from what was posted on his web site without going completely further north and taking some more weather risks. With short hours of daylight, some spots using more direct choices such as US90/US190 will need to be extra careful and avoid riding after dark if you can.

Glad to hear that Ryan is doing well.

I want to point out that the figure "750 miles" from St. Augustine to DC keeps getting thrown around. That distance originally came from a post of mine on the original thread, but I said at that time that the 750 miles distance was for the Interstate. In other words, the cycling distance would definitely be longer. Ryan seems to have taken that 750 miles distance and put it on his website, and everyone here seems to have taken it, in turn, from Ryan. This is how rumors get started! I'm not absolutely certain how far the Adventure Cycling "Atlantic Coast" distance would be, because I'm not sure of the exact route or distance they use for the Richmond, VA, to DC portion. (Perhaps someone on this forum knows.) Nevertheless, the segments from St. Augustine to Richmond alone add up to 1,020 miles according to the Adventure Cycling website. I think you would need to add at least 120 miles for their route from Richmond to DC, so conservatively, I'd put the St. Augustine to DC distance at 1,140 miles, at the very least.

Having said that, one could definitely reduce the distance for the Southern Tier + Atlantic Coast routes by not going all the way to St. Augustine, Florida. I imagine there must be a decent way to get from, say, Tallahassee heading northeast toward Savannah, that would cut off at least 200 miles from the 2 routes combined. That figure is just a guess on my part.

Another thing worth pointing out is that if Ryan was in Deming, NM yesterday afternoon, and left Phoenix on Dec. 8, that means he only biked about 320 miles in 5+ days. (Yes, he presumably got further than Deming on Dec. 13., but that would also make it 6 full days) And it sounds most likely that he went by car from San Diego to Phoenix. So in his first 12 days, he really hasn't biked that far, considering the distance he's trying to cover. Just trying to keep it real, folks.

One practical question to ponder is if you were trying to get from southern New Mexico to DC by bike in the winter, but were going to travel 1/3 of that distance by train, which part of that route would you want to do by train?