The Train to Oceanside and then some..

It was a beautiful Monday morning in good ol' Fond du Lac W.I. beautiful because it was our departure day! After a pretty crazy last night in town, My (Joey) dad made record time to Union Station in Chicago in only 2 hours and 23 minutes! Once at Union Station we met up with the Funny Dog, Matt, who was in Chicago at a friends graduation party prior to the train station.
After my dad left us at the station we played some footbag in the Great Hall of Union Station (which has outrageous echo abilities). Then proceeded to grab a beer before our departure at 3 pm.
The train ride was definitely something else... Something none of us had ever done before! It was a total ride of around 48 hours, so you can imagine sleep and its uncomfortableness riding in coach... Mostly we hung out in the observation deck, which is the room with all the big windows and picnic table style seats! Although a lot of different things did happen whilst this entire train experience..
Our first "stop" (45 min. break) was in Kansas City Missouri. Matt and I got off the train and did some exploring down a train station alleyway. We took a few pictures of this pretty cool building lit by the streetlights (it was dark at this time, around 9:30?). Kansas City wasn't all that interesting for the 45 minutes we were there, besides the all around feel in the air of ADVENTURE!
While on the train there were a few interesting characters.. As I suppose there always will be on a train ride. The Mennonites (could have been Amish) had the cutest baby in the world! The man who can eat hot dogs and walk faster than us, only to eat more food at a pizza place before we even arrived at the pizza place... Good guy, he hooked us up with a free 2 liter of Pepsi and some orange Crush! The British travel companions raged so hard they almost got kicked out of their sleeper cars into the observation deck... The guy sitting behind us on the train with an Autistic daughter had a really good conversation with me about how life can just hit you all of a sudden. So fast and without any knowledge that it forces change into your life (I hope if your reading this that your daughter likes her bike!!!). The train was just full of characters, and to mention all of them would take a list the size of the Bible. Alright, maybe not, but those stuck out on the ride from Chicago to L.A.
Once in L.A. we had to board another train to Oceanside, the Surfliner! While hanging out in the train station, confused as to where we actually had to be, we met a man from Chicago. Not just any man, a Daley! Matt and Mr. Daley spoke of how the Bears are awesome and how the Cubs suck. We all chatted about how the Daleys were crooks, and how much Chicago people don't like L.A. people. A fast talking Daley, who after our conversation was finished, would appear again out of the blue for one last remark.
Waiting in line, after finding our line, we started chatting with two girls who seemed the same age as us. One of them is a Sicilian rebel who just graduated high school. The other is a Cali native, moved to Lebanon at the age of 4. Once in Lebanon she had a British Tudor who taught her to speak like British people. Then she moved back to Cali at 15 or 16 where she got an English tutor and learned American English. So she has this ability to talk "normal" in her British accent, then THROW YOU OUTTA LOOP and speak like shes been living in California her whole life. Oh, and she speaks Lebanese and is moving to Portugal. Did I mention that she is also the captain of the U.S. Women's Roller Hockey team?
Soooooo, we shared the train ride with them chatting up a storm about how to make new friends and other random chatter until we finally arrived in OCEANSIDE CALIFORNIA! We put Alex's bike back together with some difficulty and then strode off to rampage the city! We ate a DELICIOUS lunch at an organic cafe called Hill Street Cafe where we met my mom and my cousin who drove all the way from Wisconsin with our gear! (their blog will be posted on here soon to come, before we leave on Sat. Morning). Then we went for a nice stroll in the PACIFIC OCEAN OHHH YES! After that we made our way to Matthew's mother's cousins house here in lovely Oceanside. Once here we spent the night, had a brew or two, got fed (even though we just ate they are trying to fatten us up), and got a GREAT night of sleep!
Now its Thursday morning and we are about to go hit up a farmers market for picnic foods and then a hike after that. OH YEA, and biking here in Oceanside is just.... is just.... uphill....downhill....uphill....circle a hill..... brakes..... stop..... uphill..... uphill.... lost.... lost.... uphill....found...... HOME! We will be posting pictures really soon! Sorry this post is so big, but hey, a lot has happened already! Talk to you soon again world, probably Friday night! As always, tell your friends, tell your family, and tell your foes! Post comments, send ideas, send kisses (we just love kisses), send chocolate or even better CHEESE! With love and signing off Joey Michels, Fearless Leader.. Oh yea, please help us reach our goal of $20,000 for the Arthritis Foundation by donating here! http://jointsinmotion2012.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1002344&lis=1&kntae1002344=EF300BE708944C1699D288CC2CBE6157&supId=355267381

The Unveiling of Frintner!

Greetings to our followers,

I am the one they call Frintner. I will be joining the group on our journey across the good ol' US of A. I have been waiting to go on this trip for way to long now. Joey and I were talking about doing something like this last summer and then he went off and got a job in Montana. So, when Joey got sick and couldn't go to Arizona this last winter he came to me with the idea of biking across the country for the Arthritis Foundation. Obviously I said yes without hesitation. Now we have come a long way since then and now I'm getting extremely excited to get out on the road. I’m graduating from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point on May 19th with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. Since I ain’t got no jobs lined up this is going to be a perfect way to spend the summer. I'm pumped to meet some cool new people on the way and to see my star shadow.

Your friendly neighborhood botanist,
 Matthew Frintner

Kind words by a small man! Nate, Frintner, and I went to Wheel and Sprocket of Appleton this past Friday to pick up our bikes and gear! We got to pick up our shoes, cleats, pedals, bikes, and rear panniers (saddle bags)! Nate and I both got to leave the store with our new Trek 520 tour bikes! Frintner, on the other hand, is a shorter fellow. So we have been poking fun at him because they didn't carry his bike size in stock, for he is short. HAHA MATT! (Not that we don't like short people, indeed we love them). Needless to say, Frintners bike will be arriving on either Wed. or Thurs. of this week and we will be picking it up on Thursday most likely! Since picking up the bikes, Nate already went 50 miles on day one from Oshkosh to Fondy and back! I (Joey) have done about 40 and am going out for another 25+ after this post!

Wish us luck on our training! As always, tell your friends, tell your family, and tell your foes! Ask us questions! follow our blog, tell us about your blog and then we can follow eachothers blogs! Without further adue, two bike pictures for you!

Time to meet Nate Martin!

Well Hello,

I’m Nate Martin, one of the cyclists that will be chasing this endeavor down whole heartedly.

Born and raised in the good Ole Fond du Lac city. I’ve wandered here and there but Fondy is still the place I call home. When I first caught wind of the idea to bike across the country I thought… Hells yeah, sign me up! Ruffin it cross country with the wind in your face meeting new people and seeing new places. Enjoying the out doors and doing something completely different than the same old same. Sounds like a great way to spend the summer. I’ve been friends with Joey for years and never knew how much arthritis was affecting his life. Until we started talking about this trip and I found out that its some brutal stuff. So now that I know what’s up with the arthritis shindig, I’m even happier to be a part of getting the word out about childhood arthritis and raising money for those who are suffering from it.

                             With Love,

                                    Nate Martin

Ladies and Gents, calm your witts because you will not win in a battle against me with them! This is the fearless leader at the helm of the keyboard now! Today has been a great day for the Rain Cyclists! We should be picking up bikes either this friday and/or the upcomming monday! (side note, thanks for the cheap trick on the phone there Nato!) Today I did a good walk of downtown Fond du Lac trying to spread the word about our trick and most importantly why! I found a few good leads on a couple of possible donors so lets keep our fingers crossed! DONATIONS, HAVE YOU NOTICED WE'VE HIT $1,000!!!!! This is a thank you to all who have donated already, THANK YOU!

Tomorrow I've an interview with a journalist who's writing our story for the FDL Reporter! Along with that, my mother has found a lead for some radio time! So stay tuned in, for next time you'll learn a tad bit about Sir Matthew "The Funny Dog" Frintner, and Alex "Galexy" Wright! The next post should come by this Sunday or early next week! Complete with calf measurements and prospected mustache growths!