Bike evacuation

Jose Luis Maradillaga, 59, pedals his bicycle north on Texas Highway 3, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005, leaving the city of Webster, Texas, bound for Dallas to flee Hurricane Rita. Dallas is about 260 miles from Houston.

In broken English, Maradillaga said he once traveled from Los Angeles to Houston the same way. When he traveled to the United States from his native Honduras, it was primarily on foot, Maradillaga added, walking his index and middle fingers across his left hand.

His clothes were in a black plastic garbage bag, strapped to a rack at the rear of the bike with a radio boom box. An old-fashioned, metal canteen hung over his handlebars.

Asked why he was leaving, Maradillaga answered: "George Bush: no more people," he said. "Vamanos!"

(AP Photo/Tim Whitmire) Tags: bike, texas, rita, evacuate, bicycle