Japanese cyclist finishes ride across US Route 66 to Santa Monica Pier

Thank you so much for sticking around Fox Local. You're hearing the voice of Marla Tejas here in Los Angeles. This is a live picture courtesy of our Stu Mundell up there in Sky Fox and the crew. And I wanted to, if I could, on the fly, bring in Stu, because as far as I understand, Stu, you are, he is very close to finishing his route, his ride along Route 66. Definitely getting very close, and we are blocks from the actual pier itself. He's going to have to make a left turn here eventually. I brought up the information just so everybody can follow along, but let me get like a wider shot. I promise I won't lose him. Well, promises, promises. But yeah, there's the, where's the pier? Oh my gosh, there it is. So yeah, we are literally just a couple of blocks away. And we're going to see him probably going to, if we're not live, we're definitely going to see him make his way over there. The last time he did this, there was a group of people waiting for him as he arrived. And like I said, two years ago, I started in New York and then the bicycle that he brought Brought from Japan. ...broke down in Chicago, and he got a replacement bike that he rode the rest of the way out here to Los Angeles. This time, he flew to Chicago, his bike was repaired, because he left it with somebody, and now he is riding that original bicycle that started in the New York area, spent two years in Chicago waiting for him, and now is making its way... To the pier itself, but this time he rode entirely through Route 66, 62 days. Today is his 26th birthday, and you can see the group of people that are with him out here in Los Angeles, but apparently he's getting this kind of love in almost every state, every city that he's been riding in. He's got an Instagram page. I think it's Human Revo, but I'm sure if you Google this, you'll be able to find a link. The stories on that page are amazing. His interaction with random people, law enforcement, everything is on there. And you really get to know, you get to know Rivo. He, Rio, he is just this amazing, happy person. And he's, like you said, we interviewed him for... Good day, LA+. And, you know, he basically said, they asked, why are you doing this? And he said, because he loves the United States, he loves the people out here, and he wants to... show everybody about the United States. And, you know, come on, does it get any better than that? I don't think so. But anyway, the group is almost at the pier right now. I think we're going to be making a left turn here in just a moment. More and more people are joining, which I suspect is going to become even a larger group as we get closer. But hats off to you, buddy. I mean, come on, 62 days on the road, living on people's goodness out here and the Internet. internet and, uh, He's doing just a fantastic job riding across here and showing basically the world or on the internet how wonderful the United States is. Do we know? Yeah, it's amazing. And I didn't realize, forgive me, I didn't realize today is actually his 26th birthday. Do we know how many miles this is altogether, all said and done? No, I don't. Maybe Jasmine can look at that real quick, because basically he rode Route 66 almost the entire way. The only time he got kicked off of 66 was, I guess, a portion of it is actually a freeway right now. And they were, you know, that was when he had a little interaction with law enforcement. And to say that the guy that pulled him over, not knowing who he was, Also, very kind, very nice guy. Actually helped him out quite a bit. If you catch that little clip video, it is actually, it's funny. Pretty much everything that he posts, you're going to smile. And how often can you say that? Is he off the bike walking it right now? Yeah, I guess he is. But you can see the crowd's getting a little bit larger. People walking along the sides there, the bike path. Not using the bike path, but... You know, that's something that, you know, also is unusually has a... connection to what's going on in Los Angeles. I guess Nithya Raman wants to make some more bike paths and taking away more lanes of traffic. Totally different story. Right now we're going to keep an eye on my buddy here. We're getting very, very close and the crowd getting larger and larger and he's going to complete his ride. I love it. Chicago, I believe 62 days ago and now ending at the Santa Monica Pier. And okay, a couple of things. Today is his 27th birthday. And we learned this from our reporter, Susan Hirasuna, who is on the ground. She is waiting for him, along with photographer Sam Dubin. They are there to meet him as he crosses the finish line. So we do have a ground shot. I can't pull it up just yet. It's not ultimately ready. I'm looking at it right here. But nonetheless, we got that ready for our viewers as well. So we have two different perspectives from the air and from the ground. You know what? Yeah, okay. But yeah, look at the crowd. Oh, I wasn't expecting that. This is amazing. So yeah, this is the crowd right there. He's coming up. There we go. It's all coming to an end. The journey completed. Right now, we're watching it live. This is amazing. I think that is his girlfriend slash wife. I think last year or two years ago, he actually asked her to marry him when they arrived. It's another one. I vaguely remember those facts, but I think there was a proposal involved. Hopefully, they did get married. I'm sure she said yes, but look at the crowd. This is just so awesome. I love doing stories like this. It's not that often that we can do stories that have so much positivity. Look at all the media down there as well. Here, I thought we were the only ones following them. Look at all those cameras down there. This is great stuff. And Marla, coming to an end, Santa Monica. I'm just happy to be here, being part of this ride from Chicago to Santa Monica. We love it, and we want to show our viewers I'm going to... Replace me with the ground shot. So here we go. There's our ground shot. Susan Harasuna is assigned to this story. So she's going to talk to him. You can see him down below in the midst of everyone, all the cameras, including our own. And now we're zooming in. And there he is. I can't imagine what he's feeling. Can we bring in? Can we bring in Susan? Is she ready? Okay. With all due respect, my friend, Stu, I'm going to lower your microphone. I'm going to bring up Susan's and have this conversation with Susan, but I'm going to use your picture as well. So here we go. Lowering Stu and bringing up Susan. Hi, Susan. What a moment this is. Lowering. What does it look like? Lowering. That's a good thing to tell somebody in a helicopter. Well, you know, I've got to tell you, I've been here for a while and it was really remarkable because we're at the very end, you know, there's a sign that says Santa Monica 66, end of the trail, right? Route 66, end of the trail, which presumably is where he's going to wind up. So there's a whole big collection of people and you can just listen in and And you can hear people saying, oh, I started following him in Arizona. Oh, I started following him, you know, whatever, in Fontana, et cetera, et cetera. So there's a lot of people here. They came for this moment to celebrate with him his 27th birthday, the end of Route 66. This is also the 100th birthday for Route 66. So that's why he decided to do this Chicago to LA leg. Okay, Sam is suggesting he's going to go, what, a different way? He's going to come from that way, it looks like. He's going to come from that way. He's past the pier already. He is past the pier. I think he's taking kind of like a victory lap. But it really is remarkable. And I just saw a gentleman who was asking me, like, where's the stage? Because at one point we thought there would be a stage set up for the presentation when the city of Santa Monica presents him with a certificate to mark this amazing feat. Right. But they were also at the Veterans Day event a little farther north or northwest of where we are right now and thus they might be a little delayed getting here but in the meantime we're all like very excited to see Roe and to see what he has to say now that he has accomplished this great feat. Okay so Sam is suggesting we move over. We have Santa Monica's Finest here. They are also here to do a little crowd control and to make sure that he is safe on the way Keeping in mind that there are a lot of people that want to cheer him on and celebrate the end of his journey. So, you know, I really love. Go ahead, Marla. No, I was just going to kind of give you what also what we're seeing here from Skybox. He's just, you know, he's off his bike and he's running, walking it in with the rest of his crew and all of his amazing followers. And he's at Seaside Tier or Terrace, rather Seaside Terrace and Appian Way. Um, and he's making his way, I think, closer. I think you two are coming together, bottom line is what I'm trying to say. Okay. Yes, I'm going to get closer to him because we were so, at one point, Sam, and you know this about him, he was on his bike earlier today. He was like, maybe I can send my bike to him and get some ground shots of him as he rides his bike through the city of Los Angeles. Sam, the overachiever. He was a little too far. Oh, there he is. Yeah, all right. Yes, lots of people. It's amazing to see him. Well, everyone out there, you're all getting your workout in today, that's for sure. Exactly. All right, we're keeping with your shot. We have Skyfox up too. So our viewers are seeing your ground shot, and then we're seeing the Skyfox shot as well. So it looks like you have... Yes, here we go. Susan, here's Suna. Hi, nice to see you. Thank you. A little bit of the ride, you're actually walking. Oh yeah, so that's amazing. How are you right now? I'm so happy! And look at all these people. You can hear all the people that are so excited for him. There are people on the pedestrian bridge documenting the end of his ride. I guess it would be kind of hard, actually, now that I think about it, to ride on the pier. All right, Sam has gotten a ride, so now he's got these people. Sam, don't forget all the people that want to mark the end of his ride. So, row. What was the hardest part? The hardest part is Missouri State. Missouri State? Was that when you had to push your... get your bike over that fence? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And ultimately what happened? How were you able to do it? So many people, American people's kindness, so supporting me. And the police officer helped you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know there are people who flew in from different parts of your route to come and greet you? I met a man who's from Arizona. Arizona? Yeah. Oh really? Yeah. He came just to see you at the very end here. Yeah, Arizona is so very nice, but strong windy. But it's nice. I love Arizona. What about from Little Tokyo to here? How did that go? Little Tokyo to here? It's not hard. Not hard? Especially after everything you went through in the past. Yeah, because so many people supporting. And so flat. Flat road. No hard. I met a man. His name is Ogawa. And he serves Japan dogs. And he might have a Japan dog for you. Japanese-style hot dogs. Ever have one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. Well, he has one. Yeah. I'm giving a shout-out to one of the members. And Susan, I love that Sam has hitched a ride. Thank goodness. Yeah, amazing. No, sorry, I don't... So, okay, so what do you do tomorrow? Tomorrow... Take a rest. A deserved rest, yes. Will you be riding your Mamachari any time soon? I don't know because the brakes are broken. The front brakes today are broken. Almost broken. This is so very broken. Yeah, maybe I won't display anywhere. And what people have to understand what a mamachari is, basically it just means old heavy bike, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So not really ideal for a cross-country journey. Oh, I need to get out of the way. People want to celebrate him. The stage. People were wondering. He's got to make it to the sign though. I love that he has a custom-made Dodgers jersey with his last name on the back. Murata. I can't believe how many... Oh, do you hear them singing happy... Okay. Lots of happy birthdays, photos. People want to document this moment. I've got to find the guy from Arizona. I've sort of lost Sam in the crowd. All right, let's see what he has to say at this time. You did it! You did it! You did it! You did it! You did it! So the great Pete Demetrio is here, Marla. Oh, listen to that. Happy birthday, dear Marla. Thank you. Happy birthday to you. Thank you. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Yes, sir. Good job! Okay, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Okay. We're live streaming now on Fox Local. So what do you have to say to all the people who supported you along your route from Chicago to LA? Yeah, I want to say to so many people, thank you so much. Because I can do this by myself. So many people! So many people! How many people actually made it to you and tried to find you because they were following you on Instagram? Yeah. So, Instagram and so on the road, I am, I have to say, I need help. So, so many people kind of me, giving me help, giving me hugs, and so many giving me that I can do this. Yeah. Did your parents decide to come out for this? Yeah. Your parents? Your mom and dad? Is living in Tokyo? No, no, no. In Japan. Maybe happy. I don't know. Are they following you on social media? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, of course. Are those tears of joy? Happiness? Or sweat? My parents said appreciation to so many people. So tell me. for me so because yeah my parents know I can do this by myself so I have to say so many people appreciation yeah I can learn and yeah yeah what is your plan here in LA you've reached the Santa Monica Pier now what no what what's next for you next next is a so now I'm making a documentary film by myself I'm recording now and yeah, I'm making a documentary film by myself next year. Definitely Chicago to Los Angeles by running, I want to give back so many people, I want to show so many people for free, so my documentary film I want to show. Who do you want to meet here? Is there anyone you want to meet in Los Angeles in particular? Any celebrity, any sports star, who? Otani! Yeah, Otani! Otani! Yeah, I love Iris. So respectful for Otani-san. From one athlete to the other, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I want to meet you, Otani-san. What was the toughest part of the last, say, 100 miles coming into LA? Yeah, uh, hardest point? No? The 100 miles, the last 100 miles, how tough was it? Ah, I'm not tough because so many people helped me. At one point you needed help because a part of Route 66 is now a freeway, so you couldn't traverse, you couldn't travel on that part, right? Yeah, so Route 66 is only, sometimes I have to go highway. We need to travel, we need the back road, more green road. I hold this for you. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When I talked to Tony, he said at one point he helped you. Wanted to talk to him on Sunday, right? Remember when I talked to Tony, your host family in Fontana, he said something about how he saw where you were and he came to help you. Was that on his trip or the last trip? Because I know you did it two years ago as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So two years ago I met the family, like a family, so they helped me. What did you say? What are you trying to say, sir? They gave you sort of a ride between Devor, I think, and Downville. You got help. They gave you rides in between. Yeah. Okay. Sometimes you got rides. Yeah. That was part of the help that you got. Ah, yes, yes. We want you to meet city council member Dan Hall and honor you on stage. Do you want to come on stage real quick? Oh, okay. This is the moment that we were talking about, Marla, how the city of Santa Monica wants to give him an award or certificate. So you need to walk that way, follow that guy towards the stage. It's between these two. So, Susan, I'm bringing my mic up right now. So would now be a good time, you think, to step away for a quick two-minute break? Yeah. Why don't you take a two minute break? Okay. Get situated at the stage. Okay. Why don't you do that? You can come back. Okay. Terrific. Okay. Very good. And we want to let our viewers know the other pictures you're seeing there. A couple of Veterans Day parades underway. Both of these are in the Bay Area, one north of the Golden Gate in Petaluma and the other in San Jose. We got you covered here on Fox Local. We're going to step away for our first two minute break of this hour. We will be right back with more live news right after this. Stay with us.