Maybe its because I’ve been “on-the-go” for two months now, but my intuition tells me that slowing down is not going to be easy.  In fact, it might not even have to happen at all.  In the interviews and conversations I had in the days leading up to the inauguration everyone seemed to pop the question, “What are you going to do next?”  Well, since I’m all the way on the opposite coast, the easy answer- “I’m goin to Disneyland!”- didnt really work.

So what do I do from here on out?

I’ve crossed an entire continent on my bicycle; received international media attention for what I’ve done, met countless amazing individuals along my journey; been welcomed into DC by Congressmen; got the hottest ticket of 2009 (a SEATED one at that!). It would seem like everything I could have dreamed came true.  I must say that this entire endeavor–accidents, frustrations, and pain aside– was quite possibly the most positive thing I have ever been involved in.  To cap it off, I was able to sit with everyday people involved in the campaign way up near the front of the crowd.  (I could see Obama’s shoulder for most of his speech-the media tower obstructed the rest of him).

My frenzied travel schedule made it difficult to maintain the level of lucidity that I had intended to provide with this blog.  Now that I have had a few days of rest, and haven’t ridden much in over a week—this NYC winter is proving to be a little too bitter for my SoCal style—I actually have some time to really think about what went on these past two months, and let you in on the experience as well.

While the future is uncertain at the moment I’ll let you in on a couple developments in my, as well as my team members here at Biking for Obama.

On Sunday Josh and Albert and me all met with Sven Melkers, of Helmers and Melkers an entertainment and sports media agency.  He’s interested in promoting our gang in Europe, and seeing where the bicycle touring can take us.  I’m pretty excited about the prospect, and while I’m not getting my hopes up too high, I have strong feelings that something advantageous can work out for all of us.

As for an update on where we’re at today: We are sleeping in an editing studio. Literally. Josh Apter of  the Manhattan Edit Workshop , has set us up in order to start the post production process of our documentary. I really couldn’t have asked for a better situation (well maybe having showers, but I don’t stink so much now that I’m not cycling 6 hours a day).  Josh is an awesome guy, he heard about my story in early January and sent a cinematographer to film my last week in Virginia.

Anyway, I’ll be keeping everyone more updated with details on future projects as this week progresses.  Gotta get back to work!

The day started off odd as Josh and I left Jennings, Louisiana today at nearly 9:00am, 2 hours late. Due to my scheduled Fox News interview that was nixed because the Israeli Prime Minister took up a lot of  time, and then they had to show off the “Best Animal Videos of 2008″.  So we took off from the Waffle House and headed off into the grey horizon.

Within 20 minutes the light rain had turned to a fairly substantial downpour, but I pushed on through to the next truck stop I could find.  Josh, who has been riding with me since Austin, was a ways back so he ended up under an overpass waiting for the rain to clear up, which it didnt.

After getting coffee I pushed forward another 10 miles through the nasty weather, now adjusting its winds against me as well as continuing to unleash the heavens in a downpour.  Next, what didn’t seem lucky at the time, my rear tire got a flat. Again, I thought, This has to be number 20 by now! Pulling into the station I fixed the flat then sat inside waiting for the weather to clear up, which it didn’t.  Two hours later I convinced two truckers named Ed and Jan to give me a ride down the road about 20 miles to the next big truck stop.

Simply put (I’ll spare the hitching stories for another time), after two more rides across spans that are impossible to cross on the I-10 I finally got to Baton Rouge and reunited with Josh, who had lucked out in his hitching expedition and was waiting for me at the Chimes Bar next to Louisiana State University.  After finishing the local brews and gumbo, we headed out to our host’s family five miles away.

Sure, the visibility was low, and the rain on the pavement made all the lights seem to blur together.  I was following right behind Josh, he had a bigger headlight and my tail-lights we’re better.  But the next thing we knew we were smashing into the side of a Jeep wrangler.  The driver, an LSU student, hadn’t seen us when he attempted to make a left turn out of a residential street.

Even though Josh hit first, he bounced off the pavement and got up without hardly a scratch.  I, on the other hand, was struck by the jeep’s front fender on my inner thigh, causing standing and walking up to be uncomfortable.

The young man who had hit us was shocked and very apologetic.  He offered to give us a ride to our hosts house, only a few blocks away from the scene of the incident.  Today he helped us out by taking us to the Bike Shop for repairs to the damaged bikes.  I went to a physical therapist who examined my leg and said I have a hematoma, but that it shouldnt deter me from riding. (Huge thanks to Gloria from GO P.T. in Baton Rouge for the treatment as well as encouragement.) 

So it looks as though this is just another bump in the road.  As for the repairs, Josh lost his GPS receiver in the chaos, and I may be having some further costs for therapy coming up, so if you’ve been thinking about contributing, now would be a much appreciated time.

While I’m currently limping around, I’m still happy that neither of us were seriously injured. Hopefully I won’t be coming into contact with another car ever again!