Of the millions heading to Washington, D.C., for Barack Obama’s inauguration, my nephew, Matthew Huffman, is involved in one of the more unique trips.
Along with two friends, Matthew, 26, a graduate of N.C. State, is biking to Washington from Raleigh. The trio left Thursday morning and are expecting to arrive in D.C. today.
The trip totals 277 miles, every one of ’em sure to be pretty darn cold.
Matthew mentioned to me over the Christmas holidays plans for his trip, but I figured with the deep freeze we’re experiencing, he’d probably canned the idea.
Nope, Matthew and his friends ó Matt Watts and Darryl Jones ó rode from Raleigh to South Hill, Va., on Thursday and spent the night there.
The trio was planning to spend Friday night in Midlothian, Va., just south of Richmond. From there, the ride to Washington shouldn’t be bad.
Matthew told me at Christmas he was especially excited about seeing Sunday’s concert in the National Mall. Bruce Springsteen will perform.
Matthew and his friends are returning via Amtrak.
I tried to track Matthew down for an update Friday night, but didn’t have any luck. Maybe his cell phone froze, I’m not sure.
As a last resort, I called Matthew’s father and my older brother, Jim.
Jim said he hadn’t spoken to Matthew since Thursday. He said Matthew’s biking companions wanted to camp that night, but with the temperature falling into single digits, Matthew insisted they get a motel room.
Jim said he never considered trying to talk Matthew out of the trip.
“I was just concerned about his safety, about riding a bike that many miles,” Jim said. “But he’ll be fine with the cold. It’s not that big a deal.”
Matthew has always been something of a free spirit. He’s visited more than 40 countries and takes off on around-the-world jaunts whenever the mood strikes.
“He’s been all over the place,” Jim said.
I may be a tad prejudiced, but Matthew has always been outgoing and friendly, the kind of young person who’s fun to be around.
He’s the oldest of my parents’ 12 grandchildren.
One of the Raleigh television stations picked up the story of Matthew and his comrades preparing for their grand adventure. The station interviewed them and showed video of them riding their bikes around Raleigh.
CNN jumped on the bandwagon and also produced a segment about them that aired nationwide Friday.
In the interview with the Raleigh station, Matthew said he decided the day after the election to bike to Washington for the inauguration.
He said he was prepared to make the trip alone, but with all the excitement that Obama’s election generated, he figured he could find someone who’d ride with him.
“Surely, in this community, there’s somebody just as crazy as I am,” Matthew said.
He’ll have a story to tell when he returns.
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Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@ salisburypost.com.