Blumenauer lends a hand to Obama bikers

Blumenauer presents the
coveted ticket.
(Photos: James Koski)

Back in December, Los Angeleno Ryan Bowen and an energetic band of friends and followers left L.A. for D.C. on their bikes to be a part of the Inaugural event. They dubbed their journey “Biking for Obama” and kept up a great blog about their adventure.

And, showing a bit of hopeful audacity, they didn’t even have tickets to the Inaugural when they left.

Fortunately, D.C.’s highest-profile bike-lover (and Portland resident), Congressman Earl Blumenauer answered their plea for tickets on their website and presented them to Bowen and a friend on behalf of the Congressional Bike Caucus and Bowen’s hometown Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.).

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Blumenauer’s deputy chief of staff in D.C., James Koski, went along for the ride and was kind enough to send this report and a few photos.

“A bunch of riders met at Gravelly Point in Virginia, then rode together to the Jefferson Memorial where we met Earl and gave Ryan a ticket to the inauguration. Then Earl led a quick tour along the Mall and we ended up at the Capitol for the final group shot.”

— Check out BikingForObama.com.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
15 years ago

Nice!

This was much better than the trio of Detroit execs flying to DC for bail out funds.

Opus the Poet
15 years ago

I asked this question on my blog but nobody answered me, where did Blumenauer find that helmet? That has to be the best looking winter helmet I have ever seen.