DRAFT Magazine

Ryan Van Duzer has never owned a car, and he doesn’t have a driver’s license. No, he’s not 10. He’s just a firm believer in living green, being fit, and getting around on sheer, two-legged, two-wheeled manpower.

You’d think this guy’s life-radius is about seven blocks.

Though, last week, Van Duzer embarked on a two-month bike trip from San Diego to Washington D.C., with hopes of spreading the message about fitness and creating more bike-friendly communities.

VanDuzer hosts “Out There,” a Boulder-based, local-access TV show about the outdoors. A Fat Tire fanatic (since high school, he confesses), in recent years, he visited New Belgium’s Tour De Fat and shot films of the event for his show. Last September, New Belgium gave him one of their signature cruisers, and he decided he would take it to the streets — all of them, everywhere, across the entire country. He’s been welcomed to a slew of cities by Team Wonderbike, New Belgium’s global network of bike enthusiasts, where he plans to share beers, talk shop, and ride with locals. But, more importantly, he will meet with city officials and other advocacy groups to motivate kids and adults to ride for health and to promote ways to make cities more rider-friendly.

“I would like to inspire other people to think, ‘Okay the grocery store is three miles away, I could probably ride there once a week,” he says. “I’d also like to start the whole movement of getting people to think about humans having a negative impact on the world and the health benefits of riding.”

This is not Van Duzer’s first lengthy sojourn. He served in the Peace Corps in Honduras and, when he finished, he biked back home to Colorado. “It was an awesome way to travel and see the world,” he smiles.

On this trip, he’ll also be rolling through some new places. “I’ve never been to Kansas, and I don’t know how much I’m looking forward to it, but I heard it’s downhill which is good,” he says. “I’m going to see a lot of different landscapes, from desert, to farms and cornfields, to the West Virginia mountains.”

If you see a guy on a New Belgium cruiser, wearing a bike helmet with a propeller on it, you’re probably getting a first-hand glimpse of Van Duzer in action. Rather than waiting for him to swish through your streets, you can track his journey on www.ryanvanduzer.com, and if he’s coming to a city near you, meet him for a beer or keep him company for a bit of his ride.