Ryan Bowen rode his bike from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., a journey he’s cataloged on his blog Biking for Obama. Today he and a group of supporters met up in the parking lot at Gravelly Point, near National Airport, for a quick ride to the Jefferson Memorial, where Congressman Earl Blumenauer presented him with a ticket to the swearing-in.

Karen ComenComer and Monique Buzzarté are friends from TakomaTacoma, Wash., and New York City, respectively. They joined Bowen and the 20-strong posse at Gravelly Point, both are riding folding bikes. Comen Comer has seven bikes, including the folding job: two tandems, a mountain bike, a tri bike, a commuter bike, and a fast break bike, which I don’t know what that is. She takes the folding bike with her whenever she travels.

Comen Comer says that she thinks the Mount Vernon Trail, on which the group rode in, is “touristy” and “cute,” she says there’s a debate over whether bikes belong on trails or on the road with other vehicles. “I’m from New York, and I love not dodging cars,” says Buzzarté by comparison. Buzzarté found the small wheels on her folding bike a challenge: “It doesn’t do hills,” she says.

Comen Comer does hills: “Biking’s a very important part of my life,” she says.