From Erie to our namesake being dropped on us to some water

   With coming into Pennsylvania we thought that one day would be enough and started the day with the idea of leaving Pennsylvania and going into New York. To be honest our slice of PA wasn't that big to start with so more than a day would have been excessive.
    As we headed out of Erie and toward New York we started to hit prime Lake Erie wine country. It seems like a lot of places are good wine country that you would not expect. So with beautiful vistas of endless rows of grapes on one side and endless lake on the other side we easily made our way into New York passing our new buddies going from Washington to Maine.
   We made a quick stop at the border for a photo opp and then got a tip from some golfers that a storm was on our heels and expected to be hitting us around noon. With only 30 or 40 miles left in the day and our track record of minimal rain we thought nothing of their warning and continued toward our destination of Silver Creek, New York. The rest of the day was scenic and quite easy as we continued our path along Lake Erie.
  Upon arriving in Silver Creek we first hit the grocery store as we all needed drink mix for our water bottles. When we came out of the store we were offered up a surprise as our bags were wet with some sort of liquid substance that fell from the sky. I'm talking about RAIN of course. Yes people it finally happened. We got rained on while we were biking. Ok it was when we got to our destination but we still had not found a place to stay so we had to bike in the rain to find a spot. We asked some people about a place to stay and no one really had any options for us so we took our usual route and hit up the local churches. We went to two that were locked and one said that we couldn't stay inside but that we could camp in the backyard.
   So with this in mind we went to another church and it was locked but we found a spot to sit not in the rain. So me (Matt) and Joey sat down and had some lunch while Nate went back out on the hunt for a place to stay indoors. With our bellies full we laid down for a bit but within a few minutes the rain and wind really picked up and started blowing through our spot and misting us. It was fun seeing a real storm finally. Just as the storm was at its worst we got a call from Mr. Nate who informed us that he found a place for us to stay.
    Yay Nate!! In a few minutes Nate arrived with Wayne, and me and Joey quickly biked through the rain from one church to another. Wayne was nice enough to open up the church office for us and let us stay there for the night. He then said that we should come over later for dinner. So after changing our clothes and getting cleaned up the best we could we went over to Wayne and Elaines for hotdogs and baked beans. GREAT!!
   We found out that Wayne has set up and has been running a run for handicapped kids since his daughter has Downs Syndrome. They hooked us up with Laurel run T-Shirts named after their daughter Laurel who has Downs. After dinner we went back to the church and got some good sleep before getting up for breakfast back at Wayne's house the next morning.
   The breakfast consisted of bacon eggs and toast. What else can you ask for? We took some pictures and then got on our way toward Buffalo New York. Thank you Wayne and Elaine for all of your help. It would not have been fun sleeping outside in the dampness. Also the hotdogs were great and everything you do is great so keep it up.
   With Silver Creek in the background we headed up to Buffalo and to Anchor Bar to the place where Buffalo wings were invented. It was only about 35 miles so we did it easily and got to the bar just as they opened at 11am. We got 50 wings because thats the most you could order. Half barbecue and half hot. They were great and it is worth it to go to Buffalo for them. We then called some people on warmshowers and one of them answered and said we could stay at his house for the night. So we got on the web and googled his address and made our way to his house so that we could drop off our packs before heading toward our great destination for the day, Niagara Falls!
   I'm not going to bore you with how great it is you will just have to go there to see for yourself or you can just look at the pictures below. So after seeing the falls we headed back to Andre's house and he and his wife Jenna cooked us up some delicious meat on a stick with spaghetti and sauce. As I speak we are listening to queen getting ready for bed. So for now that is that and now is then and later will come. For all you regular readers, keep it up and keep spreading the word. We are pretty close to the end now. Only about 6 or 7 hundred miles left. Thank you and good night.

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 Pennsylvania or New York wine country

 Just lovin life

 Crushin states likes it's no ones business

 GRAPES!!!!

 Wayne and Elaine with the raincyclists

 GODZILLA!!!!

 BUFFALO!!!

 Were gonna rock down to Electric Avenue, and then we take it higher

 Yes the wings were great. Totally worth going to Buffalo for

 Aparently the view from Canada is so much better

 Nate with the mist

 Joey being scared of the mist

 I guess it's kinda big

 Drink it in, It always goes down smooth

On top of the observation deck

Oberlin to Eerie PA!

Hey fine folks!
   Leaving Oberlin was tough... The people, the food (Magpie Pizza), and its overall quarkyness was meant for 3 traveling cyclists such as us. Yet the road always beckons you back like a hungry beast waiting to floss his teeth with the rubber of your tires.
   We all awoke late our departure morning, probably due to the comfort of the dungeon dark basement. We packed quick and made our way down the road to Rachel's (Jims wife) mothers breakfast joint Michelle's Cafe. There we all indulged on some wonderful breakfast foods and then said our good byes to Jim. Thanks again Jim, and we can't wait to stop back for some Magpie on our return trip home!
   The road had a lot in store for us yesterday... I got my package that my mom sent to me a day late delivered by someone from Flying Horse Farms! It was filled with food goooooooodness! Right when we hit Lake Eerie we stopped to check it out. There was a camp for autistic kids there and we got to chatting with some of the staff. They were amazed, like most people are when we tell them what we are doing. As always, we were thankful for their reception of us and the amount of happiness that is put into us when others are happy about what we are doing. Thanks!
   100 miles... We decided to do 100 miles yesterday, and I'm about to check if we hit 100 or not... give me a minute (like this is a live blog...). So it turns out, the Rain Cyclists turn 100 miles older yesterday!!!!!!
   Along our route we deciphered the city of Cleveland, battled with the worst motorists... WE'RE FOLLOWING THE LAW (INSERT MEAN TERM)! Got split up, taking two different ways thanks to the motorists and their (INSERT MEAN TERM)! Yet nothing stops men on a mission! We made it to Geneva on the Lake for an all you can eat Friday night fish fry!!! Yup, it was extra tasty! Then we made our way back to a campground where we tried to sleep on the beach and got kicked out right away... Still, never stopped us as we got to camp for free anyway at the actual campsites! Gotta love free camping when your full of sand! Nate stayed up late and chatted with the neighbors while Matt and I slept! Nate's throwing a shout out to Danny and the crew of pirate campers!
   This morning we awoke and made our break for Eerie PA! The ride was good, but our butts were killing us. Along the route we encountered a lot of other cyclists and also a FREE PIE! Dorothy was kind enough to donate a blackberry pie to us and it was the best pie of the trip! Thanks Dorothy!
   We just ran into another cyclists right before Eerie. He is biking from Ohio to Vermont to where his son is working at a camp. Pretty cool guy, I believe we will be crossing paths with him for the next few days quite a few times!
   Now we are chillin in a Starbucks... We just got place to stay off of warmshowers.com! Posting our blog and mapping our next route and what not! Just another casual day with the most uncasual of peoples, the rain cyclists.
   Thanks for everyone who is still reading! Keep up the good work! ya'll know what to do! Please, DONATE TODAY!!! The days are counting down until we hit Portland, we have a really long way until we reach $20,000! Please, anything helps us reach our goal! WOOP! Thanks ya'll and until next time, smooches and farts!

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 THE GREAT LAKE EERIE

 Car is a rocket ship

 yup 

 oh baby oh baby!

 SO AWESOME

DAS RIGHT BAD BOI!

Ohh the places you'll go!

Greetings yous guys and gals!

   Whew, sorry for no posts for awhile... We have been quite busy, here-there-and everywhere! Without further adu, this is from us cyclists too you!

   The ride into Columbus was pretty cool. It was mostly downhill to downtown which always makes for some good, easy riding. We cruised up to a cafe because we were a bit early on our ETA to my cousins house in Old Town. Cafe Brioso! The manager, JJ was kind enough to give us some free coffee! He made me his favorite drink, maple syrup, honey, and some good espresso with some fine steamed milk! Must I say, it was delicious! He also mentioned how the United States is starting to win world barista championships, Chicago being the big producers of the winners! GO USA! He then told us about some good breweries in Columbus which, of course, we had to stop at at least one of them!

   We left Brioso to hit up a bike shop then Elevator Brewing! The bike shop was cool, it was tiny but the manager seemed like a cool guy. They had some fast looking bikes, that's for sure! The brewery had some great beers! One of their wheat beers just won gold at the world championships in Chicago beating out some Sam Adam's and Goose Islands 312! The bartender was a great guy to chat with while we watched the Olympics... EQUESTRIAN??? We wanted badminton and ping-pong at least! The beers were good, but I wanted to hang out with my cousin, so we made a hasty escape after paying only to get lost for awhile. Fear not, we found our way!

   It was great to see my cousin Kevin and his wife Tina! It was also great to meet my other new cousin, their baby, Sadie! She is adorable, although I'm a stranger to her and she cried when I held her... Which most babies do... Guess I'm just scary to babies. We also met my cousins band mates for his band Pink Reason. They were both pretty cool guys and they are making some good music! If your ever in the Columbus area, check them out! Everyone else we met were also good people. They all seemed to have lived some interesting lives and I wish we could have stayed for more than just one day. We all ended up having a great barbecue of grilled chicken with homemade barbecue sauce, hot dogs, and brats! We love grilling out! After/while eating we started messing around with the badminton and had a blast! 

   Once the barbecue was over we went back to Kevin's place. Stayed up for a bit chatting quietly but sooner rather than later, we took to the sleeping. The morning rolled around and we delicious homemade banana ice cream! Basically just frozen blended bananas, raspberries, and blueberries! YUM YUM YUM! I could eat that deliciousness all the time! But soon enough, as it is in the mornings with us, it was departure time. We said goodbyes and thanks, it was great to see more family on this journey! Then we set off to make our way to Arthritis Camp!

   Along our route to Flying Horse Farms we met two bikers who caught an interest in what we were doing. We chatted them up for a few miles while getting lost on a bike path that wasn't on our route but we took anyways to chat with them. They were both grateful for what we were doing which always makes us feel good. Sometimes a thanks is all you need to make your day. 

   We saw a sign along the road for fresh peaches, blackberries and other produce... Good reason to stop no matter what your mode or means of transportation is. Wow doesn't even say it all! The Lyons were the farm owners and we got to chatting about our story. They gave us a tour of their little farmette and let us try Flat Wonderful Peaches, apples, other peaches, fresh blackberries, and let us feed their chickens. They allowed us to take a bunch of free peaches, apples, blackberries, farm fresh eggs and honey. We started chatting about Mr. Lyon's life as a professor for OSU and his travels/teachings of traveling all across Africa. They showed us some amazing things in their house and just made our faces start to hurt from smiling constantly. To put a cherry on top of what was already wonderful, they ended up donating money to the Arthritis Foundation! Just a whomping thank you!

   A wonderful ride turned into an even better day! I have completely neglected to mention that this day, July 31st, was my 22nd birthday as well! We finally strode into Flying Horse Farms Arthritis and G.I. Camp! We got a grand tour and just smiles from everyone we met. This camp is SOO COOOL! All of the kids were so excited to meet us and talk to us about our journey. This was the perfect way to spend a birthday! The staff was all excited to see us too. Basically everyone was just so thankful for what we were doing and the thanks alone that we got was enough to fuel us the rest of the way to Portland! We basically hung out all day with some of the staff while walking around and meeting all the kids. 

   It turned out that we couldn't stay overnight due to no immunization record or background checks but we did get some free dinner! Camp dinner was just CRAZY! SCREAMING AND SONGS AND BANGING AND ENOUGH ENERGY TO FUEL A COUNTRY! These kids just love being at camps like this, to be able to be around other kids that are experience the same pains. To be able to just feel a normalcy, to not get laughed at for being in pain when you look fine. To be able to be encouraged by your peers to get up and play, but at the same time, know why you can't get up to play. Camps like this change lives, I know because Camp M.A.S.H. has changed my life. Thanks to Flying Horse Farms and to Karla for telling us and letting us come!

   Sadly, like I said before, we could not stay the night at camp... However, during the day we called up Deb who we met at the JA Conference and lived about 15 miles away. We cruised off from camp at around 8 at night and got to our destination around 9:30. Once there Deb greeted us warmly! She had a bunch of food out and Nate ended up making lots of it for 2nd dinner. It was delicious! She was there with her friend and they were working on a super awesome patent/design! I would tell you about it, but I'm keeping it secret... It's amazing though! We watched some Olympics and had some beers for my birthday, but when a bit after midnight rolled around, it was time for bed!

   We awoke in the morning and had a wonderful breakfast of some Special K with strawberries and orange juice! It was a slow morning due to our late night, but none the less we trucked off a bit after 8 am. Before we left Deb told us about how thankful she was for what we were doing and made a donation to the foundation to us! Everyday on this journey I am amazed at the people in this world.

   So yesterday we strode off from Debs house and made our way to Jim's house. We met him also at the JA Conference in St. Louis! His daughter, Maggie, has juvenile arthritis and was diagnosed three years ago. When we arrived in Oberlin, Ohio, we made our way directly to Jim's Pizza place called Magpie! He made us some of the best pizza we have ever had! It was soooooooo soooooo good! After the pizza Jim showed us around and we took our bikes to Swerve, the local bike shop. Chris the owner, and Chris the bike mechanic were both extremely kind and let us clean our bikes and give them a bit of a free tune up. We then left our bikes at the shop so we could get them tomorrow (which is today). We made our way then to Jim's place where we met the rest of his family. His wife, Rachel, we met at the conference and his daughter Maggie, but we met his son Mason (who is 11 and is almost 6 ft!). It's always great to meet these families, to meet the people we are riding for! It lifts our spirits and inspires me especially to continue to push myself at what I am doing! Without meeting these families, this ride would be way different. Not saying I wouldn't love it, I'm just saying this way, I love it even more. 

   We then went back and had some more pizza! You can never have enough pizza! I thought the two pizzas we had were the best barbecue pizza and best buffalo chicken pizza I have ever had! MAGPIE PIZZA ALL THE WAY! After pizza we had some of the best ice cream ever at Cowhaus Cremery! They gave us free ice cream and super cool t-shirts! Big thanks to Cowhaus Cremery! We then went back to Jim's and watched the Olympics... Just a great past time.

   By the way we found out that Jim saved Debbies Sons life at the JA conference. And it just turns out that we stayed at Debbie's and then Jim's the next night. He saved her son's life because he hit his head and then fell into the pool and jim dove in and pulled him out of the pool. 

   So to start this morning we had some delicous spinach and feta  omletes made by Rachel and Nate. Then we went into Oberlin and got our bikes tuned up. Thanks Joe for making our bikes run smooth again. Nate then went to the post office to get his passport while me (Matt) and Joey watched olympics. Yea we just watch olymlpics all the time. Then we biked to the bike co op and found out that it was closed. Boo. Later we came back to Magpies for some sandwiches. Great. Everything there is great. We then biked back to Jim's house and waited for him to get done with work. Once he got back we went back to Magpies for the 3 hundreth time, not complaining, and had some pizza with his family. Pizza was great again and I don't think I can get sick of pizza. Well its been fun in Oberlin but tomorrow we head out on the road again and set our sights on Niagara Falls. Thank you Jim for everything and wwe have had too much fun her in Oberlin. 

   Like always remember to tell your friends and family to keep up with our blog and tell all your rich friends to donate to the Arthritis Foundation.

Jim Strader's (Oberlin Ohio) Pizzeria: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Magpie-Pizza/149597168388891 Check it out on Facebook and like their page!

Cowhaus Cremery (Oberlin Ohio): http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cowhaus-Creamery/168833176498995 and http://www.cowhauscreamery.com/

Swerve Bike shop (Oberlin Ohio): http://www.facebook.com/pages/Swerve-Bike-Shop/281943428491842 

Check out all these facebook pages!

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 Sadie,  Joey's Cousin

 Kevin, Sadie and Tina with the Raincyclists in Columbus

 CHICKENS!!!!

chicken bro

 Millions of Peaches

 Flat Wonderful Peaches

 Apples please

 Nate with his best friend Happy the Dog

 Monkey Brains

 Peaches for Me

 MORE PEACHES!!!!

 The pond with William

 Big Bird

 Woof

 Our camp hostsessese

 SCIENCE JUICE

 JOEY'S BIKE JUICE, UNRIDEABLE

 Tribute to Raggio

 Pro archers

 Bedazzled Gator, Girls just wanna have fun, GRLZ RLE

 Flying Horse Farms Buildings

 Our dedicated servers

 Blue Beard, R

 Blue Lip and soul patch

 I don't even know

 Thanks for the shirts!

 A gentleman and a scholar

 Artists and Canvas

Cowhaus Creamery with Jim the Hero

No Words

 Alex, Layna and the US!

 Loop swoop and Pull Ohio

 55 or cry

 This is a giant park!

 This shows it gets gigantic 

 Rock sitting in Springfield

 Average everyday college foundation

We climbed every route... because we are awesome

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Richmond, a quart of chocolate milk, to Springfield Ohio!

Hello hello hello and heelllloooo,
   Streaming to you live from the Clark County Public Library, where Nate is reading a book about black holes, worm holes, and time machines...
   A wet substance covered the ground this morning, we were confused as to what it was as we did our yoga... We have a few ideas, but it probably was NOT dew or anything like that... Our cold breakfasts are always a morning delight before we set up to set off into the morning light!
   Mark and his two children rode with us this morning out of town. They showed us a natural spring/well where we filled our water. Then we took the scenic way out of town which was very enjoyable. Thanks Mark. Also, Thanks for letting us sleep in your yard and use your shower! It was actually a cool 60 degrees or so last night!
   The ride wasn't bad at all. Turns out truck stops have no stickers for souvenirs and it doesn't tell you when you enter into Ohio... Oh hey, we made it to OHIO! We are state crushing monsters on the road, so watch out! On smaller scales we also crush counties...
   I (Fearless Leader) slammed a quart of chocolate milk about 12 miles outside of our ending spot. It was delicious! Both Nate and Matt thought it probably a bad idea to drink it all.... YEA RIGHT! 880 Calories, 32 grams of protein, high in potassium and salt. What more does the body need?
   Before we hit Springfield we crossed path with another cyclist. Robert was his name and he is an IRONMAN!! He has finished two Iron Man competitions and is training to do his third in under 10 hours! If you were wondering, that's a 2.5 mile swim, 112 miles on a bike, then a full 26.2 marathon... Going BIG, that's what we like to see!
   Now that we have made it to Springfield, a bit of the ole interwebs was used at Wendys to find a park. A sweet park was then found, in which we have been hanging out at for the past 3 hours. We did casual rock climbing and casual frisbee playing. Always enjoyable!
   Currently we are residing in the Clark County Public Library. Here we are typing the blog for, YOU, our readers. Also, we are killing time before we can meet up with our warmshowers host tonight at his house for a comfy bed and couch to sleep on! WOO! Of course, we are also spreading awareness that kids get arthritis too!
   Ohio has been a pleasure, and I'm sure it can only get better! Tomorrow is my cousins house in Columbus! Then its Rhuematology Camp on my birthday! Those kids are getting a Squigee Hunt!
   As always, we wouldn't have made it as far, or done what we have without the help of everyone along the way. Just a huge shout out to everyone who has been kind to us, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
   Keep on checking out the blog and reading it up! Tell you friends and family. If your in Wisconsin, please eat some cheese for me... Most importantly, help us reach our goal of $20,000 to the Arthritis Foundation!!! As for now, see ya later alligator, not now brown cow, til then penguin, asta minyana iguana, and okie dokie artichoke! Please post comments and or follow us on our facebook page: The Rain Cyclists!

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Crickey! we have some great pics but the webs is being slow, they will come at a later date! SORRY YA'LL

Indy to Richmond!

Greetings those of you who read this from time to time, or all the time,
   Today started with a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice! IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! Bess forced us to eat as much as possible, so of course we did. Then before we knew it, we were off to the streets for a 70 mile day to Richmond.
   The ride today had a lot of wind coming from the north and since we were heading east it was a bit of a cross-wind. That may make it seem like it was a possible bad day until what I have to tell you next. IT NEVER GOT TO 90 DEGREES TODAY!!!!!! IT WAS PARTLY CLOUDY FOR ALL THE RIDE!!!!! IT WAS CHILLY THIS MORNING, WE WERE CHILLED WHILE BIKING! IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! Even though the wind shifted at around 50 miles to come from the northeast, it still didn't stop us trucking.
   We stopped in Cambridge City Indiana at their library to check out the weather conditions for the rest of the day. Turns out that it seemed suitable to continue to the next town, Richmond. While at the library we check warmshowers.com, a touring cyclists website for places to stay. We emailed a few people in Richmond and a few in our town for tomorrow Springfield. Then we went outside to enjoy a bit of lunch before we took off to Richmond.
   While eating lunch we got a phone call from Mark on warmshowers! He said he had a shower and a yard to set our tents up in! We said we'll take it. So the ride continued to Richmond which was another 15 miles. Upon arrival there was a brewery, which you always have to stop at breweries to taste their selection. Well, that was actually a bad idea... Best part of the brewery was watching the US Womens Olympic Volleyball team start to crush Korea! The beer was not all that good besides the IPA which Math enjoyed.
   Now we are all showered up, its 5 o clock and we are about to eat some din din and catch a good nights rest. We would like to thank Mark and Hopie for letting us stay in their yard and allowing us to use their shower! Thanks a bunch, showers are the best thing on the road!
   As always, please tell everyone about us! Spread the word that "kids get arthritis too"! And most important... EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!!! Thanks ya'll for being the bomb diggity! Read up and eat up knowledge like a professor at a book eating contest...

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 Matt, Bess, Alora, Will, Lockelen, and the Rain Cyclists!

"We're getting the band back together"