Thursday, March 29, 2007

First Team Photo!



We had fun getting together last month for the second round of testing at Dr. Halvorsen's lab and taking an opportunity to take a few photos with all the racers in the same place at the same time. We took pictures in different locations both smiling and serious. Note to team: we don't do serious well (they were more goofy lookin' than serious!) :-) I don't think we'll ever make the cover of GQ...but we do look better on the bike!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Marisa's Camp Odayin Story



Name: Marisa
Hometown: Cambridge, MN

Diagnosis: Familial Cardial Miapathy (enlarged heart)

Surgeries: 3, not including the several picc lines and biopsy’s.

What I like about Camp Odayin:
I love the fact that I’m around kids with the same disease. It makes me feel accepted and being able to share like experiences. I love the activities and want to volunteer when I am old enough. All of the staff is very friendly, I feel safe, just like I’m at home.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

2007 RAAM Race Summary

The 2007 Route has been confirmed! Check out the summary below and go to the CREW CHIEF'S CORNER for the full description. Very cool!

In all, successful, RAAM competitors will climb over 109,000 feet, cross 14 states and pedal over 3,000 miles.

RAAM leaves Oceanside and immediately attacks a series of moderate climbs. After passing through Montezuma Valley, the racers plummet nearly 4000 feet in less than ten miles into the southern California deserts. After several hundred miles of very hot riding – including some very muggy miles along the Salton Sea – the course climbs back into the cooler climates of Prescott and Flagstaff, Arizona.

The course continues into the Navajo and Hopi Reservations of northeast Arizona and the magnificent Monument Valley of southern Utah. Bending eastward, the racers will be challenged by the southern Colorado Rockies, and RAAM’s classic trio of mammoth passes: Wolf Creek, La Veta and Chuchara.

After Trinidad, CO, the course enters the high plains of eastern Colorado and the rolling hills of Kansas. In Missouri, the rollers become more significant – peaking along the banks of the Missouri River. Passing just north of St Louis, the racers cross the mighty Mississippi River and can start thinking of the finish line.

After slicing across Illinois and Indiana along US 40, the course bends southeasterly through Ohio farming country. The Appalachians are the next challenges to face the racers: east of Cumberland a series of three very tough climbs will make tired suffering legs scream. But even after these are behind the racers, the terrain through the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside will not let them rest.

Not until the racers have shuttled across the Delaware River outside Wilmington does the road finally flatten out – only shortly before the racers finish their epic journey across the US on the famous Historic Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ.

Solo racers leave Oceanside on June 10th: Teams leave on June 12th.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Korto's Camp Odayin Story


Name: Korto
Hometown: Gbarnga, Liberia-
*Now Winona, MN

Diagnosis: Severe Mitral Valve and Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation, Chronic Atrial Fibrillation, Congestive Heart Failure, Pulmonary Hypertension

Surgeries: 3 surgeries- August, 2005
August, 2006
November, 2006

What I like about Camp Odayin:
I like swimming and making new friends. I also like talking in the cabin all night long.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Prairie Roubaix II



posted by Neil Eerdmans

What a great time! We had a wonderful ride west of town repeating the classic from last winter. The roads were extremely different in comparison to last December, they were dry and fast. John R., Bernie, and I rode from the shop and headed out to the course. A perfect day for goofing off in the country.As we rode the start we chatted and recited poetry. It was very pleasant but you could tell that we were preparing for the ride ahead! When we got to town Dave H. was waiting for us and soon the other riders were pulling in. At the start we had 7 riders for the neutral lap.

Evan put on overalls and a flannel shirt as he said to keep the Prairie in Prairie Roubaix.









Go to Neil's Training Blog for the full story!


Check out Team Strong Heart Photos and Video for more!

Prairie Roubaix II

Neil's Great Minnesota Spring Classic

Friday, March 16, 2007

Oxbow Elementary Presents Camp Odayin with $2,500!


Oxbow Creek really came through when talking about the fund raising! The school raised $2,500 for Camp Odayin. The kids that helped out signed Neil's bike. It was a fun way to make them a part of the Team Strong Heart mission and the 2007 RAAM.


Thanks everybody!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Emily's Camp Odayin Story



Hometown: Woodbury, MN

Diagnosis: Single ventricle of an AV canal type;
sinus bradycardia

Surgeries: 12 total. Three of which were cardiac surgeries (Biodirectional Glen, Fontan, Pacemaker placement)

What I like about Camp Odayin:
Campfires, singing, Camp Odayin songs, and horseback riding!

Monday, March 5, 2007

Brittany's Camp Odayin Story


Name: Brittany

Hometown: Roseville, MN

Diagnosis: Tetralogy of Fallot

Surgeries: 1

What I like about Camp Odayin:
I have been going to Camp Odayin for 4 years. I heard about Camp Odayin on TV. It was my mom and dad who encouraged me to go even though I didn’t want to at first. When I first got there I was very scared and nervous. I ended up having a great time at camp. I met a lot of wonderful people who have some kind of heart condition like I do. Before I found out about Camp Odayin I thought I was the only kid that had a heart condition. I would always wear a one-piece bathing suit because I was afraid someone would laugh at me or make fun of me because I had a scar on my chest from my surgery. I wouldn’t even tell my friends that I had a heart condition because I didn’t want to lose friends for be made fun of just because I was different from them. I didn’t feel like that at Camp Odayin. At the camp I was able to wear a two-piece swim suit and not have to worry about hiding my scar because most of the other kids have one to. Every year when camp is over I am really bummed that I have to go home and leave all my friends. Every year I learn more about myself and others who share the same thoughts and feelings about having a heart condition. Camp Odayin is like my home in the summer, a place where I can go and not have to worry about anything concerning my scar. All year, I think about all the great times I’ve had at camp and how I can’t wait to go back next year and see all my friends and make new ones and experience new things each time.