Cruising to Chicago!

What an amazing week! We past our toughest day of cycling yet in Indiana, as we travelled 115miles from Grand Rapids, OH to Huntington, IN. The distance coupled with a strong headwind made the day's ride extremely challenging. Luckily we had a day off in Huntington, and the great parish of the Evangelical United Methodist Church took amazing care of us- arranging showers at the local YMCA, preparing meals for us, and being geniunely welcoming.

While the wind remained strong for the next two days, it fortunately changed directions, giving our team a great tailwind as we road to Winamac and Chesterton, IN.

Everyone on the team is excited for our arrival in downtown Chicago today- we are arriving at the Cloud Gate in Millennium Park at 1pm today!

Saturday and Sunday are exceptional days, where supporters and friends will be joining our team as we cycle from Homewood, IL to the U of I campus in Champaign, IL. If you'd like to join us for a day or an hour, please click here for more info . A group of riders will even be joining us in Rantoul, IL for the last leg of our ride in Champaign on Sunday, June 10th. If you'd like to join the group, meet us at 1pm this Sunday at the intersection fo Sangamon St and Century Blvd in Rantoul, IL.

H-O-M-E-S

Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior- Erie, at least, we've seen quite a bit of lately- and it is a gorgeous great lake! Not only are the roads friendly for cyclists, the people are too! The hospitality at the First Methodist Church in Perry, OH and the the First Assembly of God in Vermillion, OH have been amazing- our entire team is immeasurably grateful for the support!

We've unfortunately accumulated a backlog of thank you's in Pennsylvania, so I'd like to thank:

• Harlands Family Style Restaurant- home of the original 21 bun salute for the generous meal provided to our team in Wellsboro, PA
• Greg and Caroline Hayes of Edinboro for hosting us in their awesome home in Edinboro, PA

The Chicago to Champaign Ride Along on June 9 & 10 is shaping up to be quite an event! The Alumni Association is taking out all the stops in planning the festivities in Champaign and we're excited for a big turn out. Expect 2 days of fun cycling, new friends, good food and entertainment- you dont want to miss out on this! Check out the details here.

Reports from the road- Day 5! Kane, PA

It's amazing how quickly the first 5 days of our journey have been! We're in Kane, PA right now- in the middle of Pennsylvania. We've just passed the mountain range know as the Endless Mountains and you can guess that the cycling is very tough.

In our first 5 days I'm amazed at the hospitality and generousity of people we have met along the way!

A special thanks to Pastor David Killeen in Tuxedo, Ms. Florence Brown, Pastor Chuck in Tunkhannock, Pastor Dave in Wellsboro and the crew at Costa's in Lord's Valley, PA!

Tonight and tomorrow we're staying at the First Methodist Church in Kane, PA. We're taking the day off from cycling tomorrow to meet with members of the church's parish as we begin field work for our Portraits project. Stay tuned for updates as we cycle to Erie, PA and enter Ohio.

Chicago to Champaign Ride Along!

Join us for 2 days of scenic cycling from Homewood, IL to Champaign, IL on June 9 & 10!

Transportation to/from the ride are easy, and we'll even transport your bike for you!

Look here for more info!

Here we come, America!

Wow! We're only 6 days away from our big departure in NYC! Our team has come a long way and we're all itching to begin the 4000. To all of our donors, thank you for supporting our cause! We are pushing to reach our $100,000 by the time we reach San Diego, California on August 4th!

Check back here for (nearly) daily journal entries and photos from our teammates.