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Mayor gives adventurer key to city
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| Standing with their bicycles Monday evening are (from left) Gonzalo Garcia, Ryan Bowen and Josh Atteberry. Bowen is the man who started the ride from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. The men were with Bowen in Lake City as they prepared to continue on to Gainesville and Jacksonville, where they rode on Tuesday. JEFF M. HARDISON/Lake City Reporter |
Cyclist credits love for his success on cross-country ride.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
Watch Video
Lake City Mayor Stephen Witt gave a 22-year-old American adventurer the key to the city Monday evening during the regular City Council meeting.
Ryan Bowen spent the night in Lake City on his way from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.
Lake City, the “Gateway to Florida,” gave its key to a traveler who is passing through the state on his way to the nation’s capitol as he expresses hope for the future, which he sees as a result of the presidential election in November.
Bowen gave a press conference Monday and he answered other questions Tuesday, before biking to Gainesville and Jacksonville.
“I couldn’t have done it without love,” Bowen said. “Somehow that four-letter word doesn’t get in the conversation enough.”
Love has been shown to the bike rider so far as he crossed the country during his 50-day trek to the White House, he said. He plans to watch President-elect Barack Obama take the oath of office on Jan. 20, although he did not have a ticket as of Tuesday.
Bowen calls his venture “Biking for Obama.” Some people ridiculed the tag line, he said. He knows the campaign is done. But calling it “riding a bike to inspire hope and collect a national dialogue on a trip to the inauguration,” seemed too long, he said.
“I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, how wonderful. A boy and his bike,’” Bowen said. “I’m all about being real.”
Bowen said when he was in student government in college, he helped people understand issues and become involved. The grassroots effort leading to Obama’s victory, he said, is what is needed for the coming years in America.
Among Bowen’s goals on his mission are to have more bicyclists join him, he said, and to ride a bike with President Obama after he takes office.
It is not only love, but faith that helped him ride across the nation on the “Highway of Hope,” he said.
“I was raised Christian,” he said. “I am a practitioner of the Christian faith. God’s definitely been looking out for me. I look to the Supreme Being for trust.”
The charity of strangers has given Bowen a place to sleep on several nights during the many weeks leading up through Monday night.
Bowen rides on the “Highway of Hope,” he said. Faith, hope and love are among the forces driving his bike pedals.
Obama’s “message of hope and progress” inspired Bowen, he said, “to take on this monumental task of biking across the country to further inspire the entire nation to be the change they have desperately sought after forever.”
During his Monday press conference, Bowen said Florida has been the nicest looking part of his bike trip. He was very impressed by seeing signs that said “Share the road.” Bike trails are another asset this state has, which he did not notice after leaving California as he headed east.
He was not a marathon biker before this journey, he said.
“I want to challenge and inspire people to do more than what they thought they could ever do,” Bowen said.
As for his visit to City Council and the subsequent presentation of the key to the city, Bowen said Lake City has been very gracious to him. It is the only key to the city he has received since starting.
On Tuesday, Bowen was off to Gainesville and then Jacksonville.
Joining him for the whole, or parts of the ride from Los Angeles as they arrived in Lake City, were Albert Vazquez, 22, Gonzalo Garcia, 22 and Eleni Polakoff, 22, all of Los Angeles, and Josh Atteberry, 26, of Dallas.
Bowen, Vazquez and Polakoff are all 2008 graduates of Occidental College in Los Angeles, they said. Obama is an alumni of Occidental, according to records.
Vazquez is filming Bowen’s adventure and the group plans to make a documentary of the journey.
Ryan Bowen spent the night in Lake City on his way from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.
Lake City, the “Gateway to Florida,” gave its key to a traveler who is passing through the state on his way to the nation’s capitol as he expresses hope for the future, which he sees as a result of the presidential election in November.
Bowen gave a press conference Monday and he answered other questions Tuesday, before biking to Gainesville and Jacksonville.
“I couldn’t have done it without love,” Bowen said. “Somehow that four-letter word doesn’t get in the conversation enough.”
Love has been shown to the bike rider so far as he crossed the country during his 50-day trek to the White House, he said. He plans to watch President-elect Barack Obama take the oath of office on Jan. 20, although he did not have a ticket as of Tuesday.
Bowen calls his venture “Biking for Obama.” Some people ridiculed the tag line, he said. He knows the campaign is done. But calling it “riding a bike to inspire hope and collect a national dialogue on a trip to the inauguration,” seemed too long, he said.
“I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, how wonderful. A boy and his bike,’” Bowen said. “I’m all about being real.”
Bowen said when he was in student government in college, he helped people understand issues and become involved. The grassroots effort leading to Obama’s victory, he said, is what is needed for the coming years in America.
Among Bowen’s goals on his mission are to have more bicyclists join him, he said, and to ride a bike with President Obama after he takes office.
It is not only love, but faith that helped him ride across the nation on the “Highway of Hope,” he said.
“I was raised Christian,” he said. “I am a practitioner of the Christian faith. God’s definitely been looking out for me. I look to the Supreme Being for trust.”
The charity of strangers has given Bowen a place to sleep on several nights during the many weeks leading up through Monday night.
Bowen rides on the “Highway of Hope,” he said. Faith, hope and love are among the forces driving his bike pedals.
Obama’s “message of hope and progress” inspired Bowen, he said, “to take on this monumental task of biking across the country to further inspire the entire nation to be the change they have desperately sought after forever.”
During his Monday press conference, Bowen said Florida has been the nicest looking part of his bike trip. He was very impressed by seeing signs that said “Share the road.” Bike trails are another asset this state has, which he did not notice after leaving California as he headed east.
He was not a marathon biker before this journey, he said.
“I want to challenge and inspire people to do more than what they thought they could ever do,” Bowen said.
As for his visit to City Council and the subsequent presentation of the key to the city, Bowen said Lake City has been very gracious to him. It is the only key to the city he has received since starting.
On Tuesday, Bowen was off to Gainesville and then Jacksonville.
Joining him for the whole, or parts of the ride from Los Angeles as they arrived in Lake City, were Albert Vazquez, 22, Gonzalo Garcia, 22 and Eleni Polakoff, 22, all of Los Angeles, and Josh Atteberry, 26, of Dallas.
Bowen, Vazquez and Polakoff are all 2008 graduates of Occidental College in Los Angeles, they said. Obama is an alumni of Occidental, according to records.
Vazquez is filming Bowen’s adventure and the group plans to make a documentary of the journey.
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