First things first

So I carry things with me and I thought some might find an inventory of interest.

Let’s see…

One Trek 520 Touring Model Bicycle
One Axiom brand bicycle rack
Two water bottle cages mounted on frame
One Trek brand Bike computer
Two Axiom brand panniers (bike bags that mount to each side of the rack)
Credit cards, driver’s license, and voter registration card (unaffiliated)
One pen
One cellular phone and charger
One 80 gig iPod with charger
One Belkin brand digital iPod microphone
One copy of Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple
One laptop retractable cable combination lock
One Petzl brand LED headlamp
My retainers (sigh)
Native brand sunglasses with four sets of lenses (clear, yellow, orange, and dark)
One Nikon brand D70 SLR (it’s a camera)
One chest harness to sling about my big camera and have it easily at hand while riding
One bottle of sun block
A knife
A pencil
A pencil sharpener
Some duct tape (or if you’re high spirited, “duck tape”) rolled onto a small plastic card
Some electrical tape wrapped around my seat post
A lighter
One flashing red Cat Eye brand light to deter the cars that chase me through the night
Chap Stick
A spoon
One S-Biner clip
One small bendy tripod deal
One small notebook
One large notebook
One super light 2 liter Camel Back brand water backpack
One Avenir brand handlebar bag
Two long sleeve shirts
Three white under shirts
One pair of camp pants
Three pairs of bicycle socks
Two pairs of Pearl Zumi brand bicycle shorts
Two bicycle shirts
One Bell brand bicycle helmet
One pair of Sidi brand bicycle shoes (mountain bike style so I can walk around without looking like an elf)
One MSR brand single person tent (Zoid – smells like a barn)
One pair of fingerless wool gloves
45 days worth of multivitamins and Glucosamine Condroitin with MSM for joint care
A small sewing kit
An ace bandage
Assorted band-aids
Three spare inner tubes
One patch kit
Two tire wrenches
One tire gage
One “bunch” of Emergen-C electrolyte packets
One small frame mount Topeak brand bike pump
Toothpaste/toothbrush/tongue scraper
Revlon brand nail clippers (eh)
A small bottle of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap
One shaving implement
One Nikon brand wide-angle lens with case
One polarized lens filter
One collapsible fill light reflector
One wool cap
One fleece neck warmer
One Topeak brand Alien II bike multi-tool
One inflatable Thermarest brand inflatable ground pad
Two camera batteries and charger
One crescent wrench
Two spare links
Maps enough to get to San Fran
One pair of Teva brand sandals
One copy of The Father Brown Omnibus of G.K. Chesterton
One stack of English vocab cards
One pair of wool socks
One pair of bike gloves
One pair of bicycle booties (they zip over bicycle shoes to keep your feet warm)
One pair of spandex leggings
One thin fleece pull-over
One REI brand raincoat
One flag (made by my darling mother) hung on a fishing rod and displaying the question “Who should I vote for and why?”
My grandfather’s watch
Um…and food
…and 5 liters of water (but I will probably carry as much as 8 across Death Valley)

PA Junkyard

It's been brought to my attention that my previous post sounds defensive. It's true I was a little on edge from not sleeping, going on little sleep, packing my bike,and sending off some last minute emails. Oh well!

After getting two and a half hours of sleep, I set out and rode 75 miles today, and I'm staying the night in Pennsylvania just past Gettysburg.



During the ride, I got a little bit of attention from a guy who wanted to talk to me about Ron Paul, but not much else. I didn't really stop today as I've been playing catch-up. Tonight I camp in a junk yard. I was a little intimidated still I did want to talk to the owner of the junkyard about his political views. Unfortunately, he left almost immediately after giving me the "ok" to camp there.



A small dog, whose name I later learned is Maria, has been barking at the amorphous white blob of my invading tent most of the night.



Tomorrow, I will try to ride 100 miles.

A Parting Shot

I am about to leave. Before I go however, I wanted to comment about something interesting that has happened since I sent out the first mailing about the trip. The responses that I have so far received fall into a couple of general categories: the “wow, cool, good luck!” replies, and the “oh, hey, you know what you should do” replies - I have been thrilled to get that kind of support, but then there’s this third category, what seems to me like a kind of social/political pressuring and I’m not sure how I ought to feel about it.

The few republicans I’ve heard back from seem cynical and to have lots of concerns about the sincerity of the project. One went so far as to say, “oh well it’s sort of too bad…if he does in fact decide to vote republican in the end, his whole generation is going to disown him.”

The Democrats, on the other hand, have been amicably threatening. They don’t seem prepared to expose me to republican thinking: I could never be convinced by their ideas, only corrupted. They are concerned that I will defect, become a turn coat, or convert.

These questions of loyalty and fidelity might reasonably come up among sports fans as they root on their team and curse the opposition, among members in a congregation of faith about those that stray, even in family where blood can be thicker than all else, but it's unreasonable where voting is concerned. The nature of this project is to try to vote based on reasons, to try to speak with people about how candidates represent their ideas, and to avoid using voting like a strategy to beat out an opposing party.

It seems that there will be speculation about my political leaning, and about whom I will vote for – both are healthy questions and I encourage them. I am however quite certain of my sincerity as regards the project itself and feel no obligations as regards my final vote. I welcome anyone (which includes members of other parties than the two mentioned above) to speak with me about their basis for electing a president.

Oh! I should add that I have made sure the sign on my bicycle does not read “whom”, but “who”. There was almost as much interest in that damn sign as there was in my well being.

That must be all for now, I have to be starting…

Ever out there,
Eric

The List

I am not sure about all of the cities yet, but here is the list of States I'll be passing through in chronological order:

Maryland (Obama)
Pennsylvania (Leaning toward Obama)
Ohio (Tossup)
Indiana (Leaning toward McCain)
Illinois (Obama)
Missouri (Tossup)
Kansas (McCain)
Oklahoma (McCain)
New Mexico (Leaning toward Obama)
Arizona (McCain)
California (Obama)

(state standing in the polls given according to http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/10/electoral.map/index.html)


View Larger Map

I think that if you look at a map of the political territories I'll be getting a pretty good mix of supporters and undecideds from both of the major parties.

Now! I have so many little odds and ends to tidy up before the trip. I'll post more of interest when there's more to tell.

Who I Am And My Project

I'm Eric Gleysteen, a young man from Maryland with a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and a Masters in Spanish Literature. I do not know whom I will vote for in November. I will find my answer going coast to coast on my bicycle this October, over 3400 miles before Election Day.

I will be traveling with a digital SLR, a tape recorder, and a notebook to record my encounters with the people I meet as I bicycle across the South. I will have little money and will rely largely on the goodwill of the people I meet in my travels. Through it all, I will be displaying a sign asking anyone, everyone, "Whom should I vote for…and why?"

A kid on his bicycle in search of his political identity, getting by on the kindness of the people he meets, working his way through daily physical hardship, with no money, just so he can make it to where he's mailed his absentee ballot in time to vote about the country he's been crossing for a month...I feel that it's a compelling American story.

This blog is meant for anyone who wishes to follow the progress of this project and might want to share their own opinions regarding our country and its future. If you're interested in my travels, check out my website. If you're a local newspaper or a radio host, come meet me along the way or send me an email. More than at any other time in my life, I am interested in hearing what others have to say and in passing it on!

I will soon post a detailed itinerary of the trip here on my blog. In brief, I will be traveling for one month, 3,400 miles, from Maryland to Pittsburgh, from Pittsburgh diagonally across the country to San Diego, and then finally from San Diego north to San Francisco. At the end of my trip I will write an article about what I have learned, for whom I've decided to vote, and explain my decision; I will also be keeping recordings of my conversations and taking pictures of the more memorable people with whom I speak.

I thank you for your attention and for passing the link to this site (http://earningtheright.blogspot.com/) to anyone else who may be interested in the project. Thank you.

All questions and suggestions may be sent to earningtheright@gmail.com.