Lawson for Congress

It’s not every day one gets to experience history. But on December 19-20, 2007, I and some friends from the Triangle Ron Paul Meetup joined Michael Maresco for a slice of his cross-country cycling road trip from Santa Monica, California to Washington, D.C.

I’m an avid cyclist, so I’m easily excited about a good bike ride. When I heard about Michael pedaling away from the Santa Monica pier in October, well, that was just too much to pass up. Thanks to help from a supporter in Texas as well as grassroots folks in South Carolina, I was able contact Ken and Shirley, his excellent support team, as he was approaching Charlotte. Then with help from Kevin Coggins, owner of The Spin Cycle, we suggested a route that would take us right through the heart of the Triangle and around our state capitol before exiting north to Henderson, NC and onwards to D.C.

The plans came together nicely, as Michael, Ken, and Shirley arrived in Cary on Wednesday night. We had a great Italian dinner with the Meetup at Casa Carbone (fantastic family restaurant!), and rose early Thursday morning for the ride. We met at The Spin Cycle, and my friend Jeff volunteered to drive the support truck so Ken and Shirley could get some time in the saddle, as well. It was a cool and crystal-clear day, absolutely perfect for a ride.

Our Meetup’s own Dean Hodgkins is a professional photographer, and he shot a fantastic portfolio from the “pregame festivities”. Here are some excerpts…

Michael in front of the support trailer

Michael being interviewed in front of The Spin Cycle by Patrick, a nice guy from Cable 14 who responded to our Meetup’s press release

Michael talking with Kevin Coggins, owner of The Spin Cycle. They’re a great LBS that sold me my Felt F4C (still loving it after 3,400 miles), and Kevin was kind enough to help us plan the route as well as give Michael some tubes and a new gel seat cover!

Patrick shot some footage of Michael and Kevin talking. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capture Cable 14’s segment for posterity, but I heard it was good.

Michael, Shirley, Ken and I prepare to hit the road

The best part of the “pregame” was my four-year old son warming up to Michael’s camera, and agreeing to discuss the importance of a Constitutional federal government:

Thanks to a handy webapp called MotionBased and my GPS-enabled cycling computer, we documented the ride for posterity:

We had hoped to go the distance with Michael to Henderson, but my time was limited since we were starting our drive to Florida for Christmas that evening. More importantly, though, Michael’s lesson was that success isn’t defined by how quickly one covers the miles. The ride gave us a number of worthwhile interactions with folks, and we made it into a leisurely spin with more than a few excellent conversations along the way.

As you can see from the map, our local crew turned back just after crossing Falls Lake, and Michael, Ken, and Shirley continued to Henderson before making it all the way to Washington, DC for Christmas. It was an honor and a privilege to be part of his journey, and riding with Michael for a day reinforced some critical lessons I hope to pass on to my children:

• You don’t need to be a “professional” to make a difference. Michael had never ridden a road bike before starting this odyssey in October, and he completed this amazing journey on a $250 Schwinn bike that required only lots of tires and tubes, a new bottom bracket bearing set in Louisiana, and a new gel seat cover in North Carolina. No technical cycling gear, no full carbon frame, and no Dura Ace components.
• Committed people working together can accomplish amazing things. Michael’s ride came together spontaneously as he made his way across the country, with supporters reaching out through Meetups to fill gaps and provide logistical support.
• Finally, the longest journey starts with a single step. It sounds trite, but Michael’s description of walking up some of the early steep grades getting out of California was downright inspiring. He just kept pedaling, though, and eventually found himself in Washington, D.C.

Let’s hope everyone working to restore a Constitutional federal government keeps pedaling, and meets with the same result!

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 13th, 2008 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Ron Paul, campaign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.