Team Strong Heart 2009

Welcome to the Team Strong Heart website, a place where you will find frequent news and updates about the mission and activities of the members of Team Strong Heart.

For new visitors to the site, please be sure to check out individual member blogs, found on the right side of this page. For returning guests, welcome back!

Team Strong Heart was founded in 2006 for the purpose of raising awareness and funding for Camp Odayin, a national camp for children with congenital heart defects and disease.

Team Strong Heart is a band of dedicated bicycle racers and volunteers who have participated in many sporting events for our charity. The largest event that we have partnered with is the Race Across America bicycle race. This race is the biggest ultra-endurance event in the world and is a non-stop bicycle race that begins in Oceanside, California and ends 3000 miles later in Annapolis, Maryland.

For 2009, Team Strong Heart will be hosting two 4-person relay teams for the Race Across America. We are currently seeking both racers and crew members for the event which kicks off next June. If you have ever wanted to participate in an unbelievably rewarding and challenging ultra-endurance event, now is your chance!

For more information about being a part of Team Strong Heart, please contact team member Tim Case at tim@timcase.net.

Stay tuned for more details about our upcoming events, racer profiles and plans for the upcoming year...

Team Strong Heart

Channel 4 Covers Team Strong Heart

Channel 4's Heather Brown reports on Team Strong Heart!

Click here for the story

See the video here

Party Time!

John, Amy, Melinda, & Jay -- We did it!

That's right. We found our way across the country, crossed the finish line, and returned everyone home safe and sound. Now it's time for a little celebrating.

Trailhead Cycling and Fitness, our sponsoring shop, will host an open house this Saturday (6/28) at 6PM. The TSH raffle drawing will also take place at this time. Last chance to buy tickets!

TSH will be at the shop beforehand (early afternoon) offering Raffle Tickets, TSH Tee-shirts, and TSH socks. If you are interested in Team Strong Heart cycling clothes - orders are still being taken.

Thanks again everyone for your support!

Team Strong Heart

Pictures from the finish line

Please keep checking in for updatd posts, and look at Tim's personal page which you can click on the right as well.

Thanks again for your continued support!

Postcard from the Edge, I mean, Annapolis

Here are some preliminary words from Tim, with much more to come....

Everything is sore. I imagine millions of micro tears, deep within my bones and connective tissu. My heart is slow, but pounding massively. As I lay here in bed, I can literally feel each pulse of the heart and legs and lungs that just somehow got me across the country, by bicycle, in a bit over 11 days. The Race Across America, solo, is a unique metaphor and analogy for life’s ups and downs. Climb to descend, thaw to freeze, death and rebirth, every single minute of every single day. I’ve hand plenty of time recently to consider these ideas and what follows are just a few ideas spurred on by a simple guy with a simple goal, a crew with goals, a bike race across the country and what you come to understand at 3am in the mountains of New Mexico. Everything is connected. My body is held together by what quite simply are a system of levers, surface area, engines and the like. When one part of the system begins to fail, chafe, or otherwise draw-down, the another steps in for relief. Saddle sores are the bane of existence and the tiniest of problems will soon open the gate to hell for the rider who chooses to deny or ignore. Nothing is alone. Companionship is surrendipitous and often times completely unexpected. I count the cattle, the stars, cliffs and painted highway lines as my friends. Jim and Ryan are also now very important and we have shown that the true team draws closer with adversity and keeps the light shining on the lonely rider at all hours of the day. First light of morning reminds me that the sun also rises and shines for me and for every one in my life. Fatigue is relative. My fatigue was driven by hundreds of hours perched on my bike. The kids I ride for are born into a life of fatigue and pain and these things aren’t in the same universe. Bless my fatigue so that others might live well. The only thing bad thing about adversity is how you choose to respond. RAAM is about conflict, survival and finding moments of peace surrounding a mass of riders, crew, weather, technology, hope and failure. How we roll with the punches is by answering another call. Fight to get knocked down to fight again. Quite yer’ whining. The only easy day was yesterday is only true if yesterday was easier. The only easy part of solo RAAM is that there is no easy part. There are no easy yesterdays in RAAM. There are days that work and then everything else. We define RAAM. The Race Across America is defined by the racers, RAAM volunteers, the crew of each racer and the American countryside. The definition of RAAM changes each year because we are always changing, hopefully becoming better and treating each other with respect, dignity and kindness. RAAM inspires. The RAAM brings people from all walks of life together on a world stage that millions of people pay attention to each year. I am inspired by the quick and the bold and then I enter the race to inspire others. The effect ripples out from the center. The great effect of RAAM is that each year there are hundreds of “centers” and the ripples keep getting wider, traveling farther. RAAM perspires. Yep, you’re gonna sweat. In my case I sweat, I bled, I burned, I chaffed, I cried, I mumbled incoherently, I had Technicolor hallucinations that only ended with some rest, only to return later, I yelled for the sun to come out and warm me up and I cursed the wind pummeling me from the side. My vision is to stick with this thing and see where it goes. As I lay here, I’m already beginning to look at next year and see what that may bring. When we get back to Colorado I’ll be updating this blog frequently with tons of comments, pictures and thoughts on the race past. Your support and encouragement inspired me to reach my goals when the cards were down. Your phone calls, blog comments, prayers and hopes fueled my fire that sometimes raged like an out of control wildfire and sometimes smoldered like a wet log. You and I and our crew got there TOGETHER and that means everything to me, at the end of it all.

Wow

I am moved by this last update from Michelle. Thanks everybody, it made a difference. What an amazing thing.

From Yellow Scene blog:

Once again, the night was so difficult. The most difficult moment came around one in the morning. He just stopped.
“I can’t do it, I have nothing left in me in,” he said. “I have just no strength.”
In reality he was riding really well. He just hit a mental wall.
“Maybe I just need to sleep.” With that, he laid down.
While he was resting, I checked the Team Strong Heart blog. Neil had called for people to send their thoughts to help Tim.
I was amazed that there were 11 comments. I read every single comment to Tim that was on that one page.
That is what gave him the motivation to keep going. I told him, you owe it to them.
This is a blessing that these 11 comments came in at this time.
It is so surreal to him. He just doesn’t believe it that so many people are looking after him. He doesn’t comprehend how big of a deal it is.
He’ll get one day.
The real news is that we crossed the finish line at 7:38 local time this morning.
He is sound asleep right now. He had four slices of pizza, a shower and he passed out.
It was an amazing night, and an amazing ceremony.
He was riding really strong, we were feeling really good about the night. He was amazing in the hills, but as the night fell that was our difficult time.
Behind the messages, we motivated him with the competition. Basically one rider ahead of us, Julio Paterlini, had time penalties.
And we thought we could catch him. We used that as his incentive. We knew that was a good motivator for him even though he said that he didn’t care.
Once we realized that catching Julio was out of the question, we just wanted to give Tim an enjoyable finish to the race. The last 100 miles were the toughest of the race. We kept telling him the quicker you get through it, the quicker it will be over.
The crews kept leap frogging him through the night to keep Tim motivated. He rode the final 26 hours with only four or five 15-minute breaks.
But by early morning the sun was rising, and we needed one last push from Time Station 52, just 54 miles from the finish. Kevin, Tim’s brother and crew member, got word we had one more surprise waiting for us.
Tim’s Grandma, Nan, drove up from St. Augustine, Fla., to meet him at the finish line. She’s 85!
We had to find something else to get him to go on; that was the last piece of motivation.
Then we got a call from Annapolis. The fire department was there waiting for Tim (we didn’t set this up). They had two engines waiting for him at the finish. They gave him a huge salute as he pulled in.
When he pulled in to the finish, Tim was crying.
Everybody was cheering for him. He did tons of interviews. We felt like superstars, like NBA players showing up. The fact is, Tim is a superstar. In the history of RAAM only 200 or so of the solo riders have finished. He is one of those.
Of course, our bike seat awed the RAAM museum people, and they want it for a display. They were so impressed with our creative—that is what the RAAM is about.
Tim was so gracious, so happy as everybody talked with him. We started kidding him: You ready for your 15-minute nap? How about an energy bar?
He was so happy.
We hung around for a little bit; some people just off the streets were congratulating him. His Grandma had already booked a hotel room for us; she paid for everything. She is just so amazing.
Tim took a shower, when he got out there were two big pizza pies waiting. He is fast asleep right now. He’ll wake up in a few hours for the awards ceremony tonight.
He is a huge success. It’s going to take his body two months to heal from this. It is massive trauma to the body.
I am completely exhausted right now and trying to keep my eyes open. Tim wants to write something for everybody. We’ll get that up soon.
He says that now, but who knows if he’ll even wake up for the ceremony tonight. Thanks again for all your support!
—Michelle Pearl, Tim’s girlfriend and crew member. Dictated to Jacob Harkins.

HOLY COW!!! HE DID IT!!!

Tim is in. Stay tuned for reaction and reports!! Way to go Tim!!

ALmost there!!!!

Tim is less than 50 miles away from the finish line!

Creativity!

Tim Update

 

Yellow Scene Update

Keep those thoughts flowing!!

Update