Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A note from Tim Case - Racer


Hi all,
My last day in Minnesota has been very low key and has afforded some time for reflection about our team and the essence of what got us all to the finish line in "beautiful" Atlantic City.
I want each of you to understand that I am forever indebted to you for your tenacity, kindness and respect as we rolled across the country. I've been a part of some high performing teams (on and off the
bike) and some low performing teams and trust me when I tell you that at the end of the day, being a part of Team Strong Heart was the number one experience I've had in my short 30 years.
Returning to Colorado tomorrow will be
semi-bittersweet as the past three weeks have renewed my love for the people and places of the Twin Cities.
Since returning to the area I've reconnected with so many close friends that I'd long since lost track of, have rediscovered a true passion for cycling and have come back with a whole RV full of road-weary people who I now count amongst my core group of friends.
Each of you have made a vital impact in my life at a time when prior to the race I was already pinching myself about how good things had gotten for me. I just want to echo Bill's thoughts and thank you for shining yet another beam of light into my crazy little world.
See you out on the road...
Tim

Monday, June 25, 2007

A note from Bill Nicholson - Crew Chief


Friends!
I hope you all have had some down-time to rest and recover from our trip. I don't think this email will be a summary for my experience, as that may be months simmering in my mind. I do want to convey my sincere gratitude to each of you for providing me with a wake-up call for my life.
After our return on Thursday, I have been back to work on all of my various projects, including bicycle races, my daily job, and other things. At every turn I am reminded of what I learned about myself during our adventure.
This was especially clarified for me on Sunday evening, when I attended a reunion of friends from a job I did for 8 summers during my teenage and college years. It was a summer camp for urban kids. Most of the staff that I worked with were not outdoorsmen, but were often like myself: had some experience in the outdoor arts, but were committed to a single purpose of giving city kids a chance to do things that are foreign to the 20th century experience. We were, for the most part, successful.
Our Team Strong Heart adventure and the crew I worked with reminds me of that crew: we took a group of comparative strangers and worked towards something larger and grander than any of us could have attained as a solo effort. And, as time unfolds before us, I will come to think of the grand time we had and the tales we will tell of the outlandish story of fourteen strangers helping one another across the continent twice in 2 weeks.
Each of you accomplished more than you can imagine, and I applaud the efforts you made for the Team and Camp Odayin. I hope that as time gives you perspective, you can apply the experience and spirit of our quest to your daily lives, and search for new pinnacles to summit. All of us were there at Wolf Creek Pass, and on Greg's shoulders as he made his amazing descent. And the weeks of work came together in the 'rollers (hah)' of West Virginia and Maryland; we truly became parts of a cycling machine that brought all of us home.
Thanks to you all,
Bill Nicholson
Crew member, Team Strong Heart 2007

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Mission Accomplished!

They finished! Six days 15 hours and 13 minutes, what an amazing time. I think Team Strongheart has exceeded all expectations, averaging 19.11 mph across the country and finishing 3rd is an excellent result. What a team and what a crew! The most important part of this endeavor isn't the results but the fact that it was done to raise awareness and funds for Camp Odayin. This is the real mission, this is what is important. This is why I'm proud to be associated with such a great group of people. Here's to the kids, parents and staff at Camp Odayin, you rock!

Signing out now, thanks for reading the past week, I'll let the heroes take back this blog...

Skibtastic

Monday, June 18, 2007

Plus 45 minutes...

Bernie just called, they have their 45 minutes back on VMG, there may have been some mistakes in the posting of the times on the internet, but Team Strongheart's strategy in the hills is paying off. Tim and Bernie started it out when they attacked a 3-4 mile long 8% hill with a hard tempo, the excitement is definitely back in Bernie's voice, as he stated that was fun! Today has been the hardest day of the tour, but it's almost payday as they are expecting to be done in a little over 12 hours. After they get through the hills of West Virginny, the roads flatten out some, and they expect to cruise in. The first 2 4-man teams have already finished, so the race is on for third. GO TEAM STRONGHEART!!!

Almost heaven, West Virginia…. NOT!

350 Miles to go and Team Strong Heart has found themselves in a race for third place! Today has been hot hard and hilly in the Appalachians of West Virginia. Greg and Neil pulled an overnight 7 hour shift with Tim/Bernie now on the road. Neil and Greg are prepping to get back on the road. The lead they had over VMG has shrunk since they got to the hills. The Strong Heart guys are big flatlanders, for example they smoked through Kansas, but the VMG guys are smaller and better climbers. So this is making it interesting. Strong Heart has decided to fight for third and are changing their strategy. They are going to put the teams out for shorter intervals to try and make it quicker through the hills.

I finally got the interview I have been waiting for, I finally talked to Neil! He said it has been an amazing journey. He said RAAM actually stands for "Racing Across Americas' Worse Roads". Before RAAM started, he saw a statistic that said 95% of this years participants were rookies, and now he knows why. Do it once and you aint coming back. He said the one word that describes the trip is "Filth". It's the most filthy thing he has ever seen. The RV is a total mess, with no time to clean it. The riders go through 2-3 kits per day, so they are washed and hanging all over. And the high carb diets aren't friendly to the gastro-intestinal system. The four riders are like out of a Dr. Seuss cartoon "Horns out of a_ _ es"! Thus causing a strange mix of nauseus odors!

He said the crew has been amazing the way they have come together. Greg's friends Mike/Rick have been especially entertaining on the night shifts. The race itself is very "manic" you can go from it feeling like the best day of your life to man this totally (expletive deleted) in about 30 minutes. It is a physical and emotional rollercoaster. I asked Neil if he was going to keep his legs shaved, and he thinks so! His wife was initially against it, but right before he left, it was hmmm, not bad. And from the narcissistic cyclist view-point, it makes one feel stronger, to look down and see the muscles, I told Neil that the only reason I continue to cycle is so I have an excuse to keep my legs shaved!

Amazingly this journey is about over, and right now they are experiencing the toughest day of the whole journey. Neil said that the Appalachian climbs aren't as long as in Colorado but much steeper. It would be nice to finish on the podium in 3rd place, but it's not a motivator to Neil. As always he just wants to ride his bike and share with others the beauty of his personality. He really can't wait to get home, and he will be coming home to a hero's welcome, as we are all extremely proud of these guys! GO TEAM STRONGHEART!!!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

1800 miles only 1 flat?


Talked to Nuxie again today. He had just finished taking care of the only flat they've had (as far as he knows). That's some pretty good fortune, I typically flat about every other ride... Bill echoed what Tess said in her previous post about the free McDonalds food, it was like a banquet! They passed the halfway point last night in Pratt Kansas, today they are in Missouri. I checked the weather forecast it looks like they are going to be in hot weather for the remainder of the trip. I asked Bill how the riders were coping with soreness and Bill gave a shout out to Linda Bergstrom and Tess for the excellent jobs they have been doing in massaging the riders. That really helps. Bill said that they weigh the riders before and after they get on the bikes, recording their fluid intake, electrolyte intake and food intakes to keep them properly maintained. In the picture above from the start with Greg being massaged by his wife Angie, look to the left (or greg's right). There's Tim with his goofy silver aero helmet on, Zukko and I had commented to each other that Tim looks like he's ready to do a tour prologue of 4k rather than a 3,000 bike race! There's no much ventilation in that lid! Bill verified that Tim has been wearing the helmet at night, it's actually warmer and does provide some aero benefits. During the day it would be pretty hot. All the riders besides Bernie have a bike with aero-bars on as well. The aero-bars not only put the rider in more of an aerodynamic position but it is also used for resting in an event like a RAAM. Apparently Bernie was unable to get comfortable with them, so decided to go without. Well, I've got to go race at the track, SHORT, fast, no hills! Ciao!

ps. Tess, if you give the photographer my email I could post some photos.
pps. If anyone has any burning questions you could also e-mail me and I'll get the answer for you.
schaefku2@comcast.net

The Kindness of Others

I woke up at seven this morning to the sound of Tim, Bernie, Brendon and Gary making extremely crass innuendo (and some rather blatantly unwholesome statements besides) at each other. This is actually one of the best parts of this trip; even though I wake up tired, I wake up laughing.

I can't speak for everyone, but I feel like I've gotten more into the swing of this. Like there's an actual pattern, so that even when we're still tweaking the details, we're not all feeling clueless or anxious.

We had our Pratt, KS stop last night. Pratt was the town with the McDonald's giving out free food to the RAAM participants (crew and cyclists!), and since none of us turn our noses up at free food, we all got a meal. Even Kristy, who hadn't touched McDonald's in four years. It was appreciated by everyone.

Warren Fairleigh is the fellow who set up the McDonald's stop. He is currently serving in the army over in the Middle East. He couldn't even be here to receive our gratitude in person. The people working at that particular McD's gave out loads of cookies with tags featuring Warren's name and his email address; if those of you reading would also send him an email to thank him for caring about your loved ones, we would appreciate it. He's Warren.Fairleigh@usarmy.mil or WFairleigh@yahoo.com. Thanks, everyone.

The sunsets in Kansas are beautiful, for the record. Also, Kansas is full of fireflies.

There was a route alteration in Wichita last night that no one knew about until Gary and I turned onto 119th and encountered a road block. I called in, got the right directions, returned to the course… and discovered the GPS was playing silly-buggers with us. Cue ten minutes of confusion, followed by shutting off the laptop completely and relying solely on the 'RAAM Bible' for directions.

It figures that the GPS would act up when I'm the only one using it. Everyone else was going out of the book.

At some point while I was sleeping this morning, we crossed into Missouri. Missouri -- at least, in this part -- is significantly less flat than Kansas is, and has more trees and water, and bright orange lilies growing wild along the side of the road.

I don't really have much else to observe right now. Everyone in the RV is sleeping except for Brendon (who is driving) and me (who is navigating and, at the moment, taking the time out to blog).

Oh, a good thing to note: Team Strong Heart is definitely in third place right now, after some back-and-forth "Are we, or aren't we?" "By a lot" is all I know about the specifics (check the RAAM website for details). We're slowly gaining on second, though I think we'll all be thrilled just to keep third.

Ooh, breaking news! A photographer fellow by the name of Eric who appears to be from Team Donate Life (Team 605) just came over to visit and request an email address. He and his group saw Team Strong Heart burnin' rubber last night, and he got some pictures. The race will probably be over before we can post any photos, but he's got my email.

We're currently stopped at Time Station 32, over halfway across the country. They're offering free food here, too, so I'm off to dig in!

EDIT: Huge thanks to Lena and Eric (I hope I spelled his name correctly) for providing food for us. The home made beef brisket and chili was delicious!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Kansas!

Neil clicked his ruby red slippers and the next thing you know they're in Kansas! Today's call was special for me because it was Nuxie! Nuxie is the nickname I gave to Bill Nicholson last year at the Opus Race Series. Bill is an USCF official and with me being a race promoter, him and I would go at it from time to time. Bill wasn't attached to a club so I urged him to become part of Loon State. He's a self-admitted geek and is invaluable to the team with his logistical and technical knowledge and connections. He's been wanting to be part of RAAM for 3-4 years now and when Bernie posted on the Loon State web site that he was looking for a crew chief Bill had heard I was interested and he was all over it. Then I back out and leave him high and dry! He reminded me of that today!

I don't think Bill has talked to anyone in a while because he talked my ear off. They had just hit the first time check in Kansas and Neil and Greg were finishing up their pull with Tim and Bernie itching to get back on the road. With Bernie back almost at full strength and everyone getting into the routine things have been going great lately. The only hiccup was when the RV got lost in Colorado and forced Tim and Bernie to ride an hour and a half longer than planned. So I was wrong in yesterday's post, the riders did not ride any extra miles, just extra time. Bill took the blame for that one. Bill said that the Wolf Creek pass was miraculous. They tackled the 4,000 foot climb with all four riders doing 1 mile pulls, then Greg won the lottery and got to do the downhill. Bill was driving the support car at the legal speed limit and Greg got a good mile and a half lead on him, now that sounds like fun! The team is now in 3rd place again, they've been hopping back and forth with Team VMG and the Austrian team. Bill said they run into those guys all the time at the rest stops. Seems like there is a lot of carmaraderie between the teams crews, they cover each others meals and do some smack talking as well. Bill said the one teams crew is subsisting on gas station hot-dogs. Ok, this may not be family friendly but I found it funny, Bill has been subsisting on bagels and peanut-butter because he wants to limit his bowel movements. He's proud of the fact that he is yet to use the RV biffy!

As for the 10 member crew, they have been stellar. Being around bike racing Bill knew what he was getting himself into, but many of the crew members were new to all of this. When asked how they spend their time, the jobs don't sound very romantic. It's mainly driving, cleaning biffies, draining septic tanks, preparing drinks and food for the riders and living on very little sleep. Bill got 5 hours of sleep in the subaru last night, doubling his sleep intake for the trip. They are "only" 3 days into the trip, but it seems like a lot longer.

I made the mistake of asking Bill what technical gadgets he had, and most of it went over my head, but they've got 3 gps units, one for each vehicle. His boss at Change Masters provided him with some gadgets that enable them to have a rolling internet cafe. They've had difficulties getting online because of the remote areas they've been through but he anticipates that soon they'll be hitting civilization and be online. Civilization -Kansas? (I can make cracks like this, my mom's from Kansas). I told Bill to have Neil call me next, I can't wait to hear what's going on in his head! Thanks for reading, they appreciate all the support and well wishes!





in ur Kansas, rockin ur osm!11!!! (hahaha)

We've almost made it to the half-way point, and I think it's fair to say the crew is handling it a lot better than we expected. No one has attempted homicide, nor has anyone seriously declared they were defecting to another team (though we've joked about it; Team NUBS might appreciate an extra hand, after all...)

For a bunch of rookies, we're kickin' butt. In spite of losing about two hours of racing time, we're in third place. We didn't really start out to compete, but the competitive streak has been surfacing in the racers and in the crew.

You're probably wondering about those two hours. About an hour and a half of it was due to an RV navigational error early yesterday morning (...Yeah, my bad. Though I hear the van missed the turn, too; Kristy was the only one paying attention to the GPS, and thus the only one to tell the rest of us where we messed up). We had a very irate pair of cyclists and an agitated crew chief as a result of that one, though Bernie and Tim were patient enough to not strangle anyone for it. The remaining time was due to a bike problem last night/v. v. early this morning. I don't know the specifics; something about the wheel wobbling in a dangerous way while Bernie was descending.

Otherwise, things are amazing. The crew has been getting along fabulously well, and no one has threatened to kill each other (except me and Kristy, but this is normal.) I keep forgetting I'm crossing the country with -- quite literally -- a bunch of strangers.

Tell everybody: Team Strong Heart is rockin' hardcore.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Feeling Better....

Bernie checked in with me this morning after pulling the night shift with Tim. He's back on the bike! He's feeling much better and feels recovered from his dehydration experience. He's feeling so good that he was finally able to eat something of substance: a Sonic Double-Cheeseburger! Now I kind of wish I was out burning all those calories so I could have one of them babies! Bernie is so happy to be riding again that him and Tim even tacked on an extra hour and a half riding, seems they got lost! I'm blaming that one on Nuxie! :) Sounds like people are starting to get into a routine and are getting more rest. On a family note, Bernie's parents who live in Colorado are going to meet him briefly at Alamosa. That will be a welcome respite. The team was heading to Cortez Co when I talked to him. They should be in Kansas tomorrow, out of the mountains and into the wind. I don't know what is worse. Bernie said that the scenery has been amazing, riding in the desert at night is like being in a planetarium. I asked him for any funny stories, and he said I'll have to get them from Neil, so here's hoping I can talk to him eventually. Thanks to the supportive comments, I'll pass them on to the guys next time I talk to them. Go Team Strongheart!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Starting to Feel it...

Bernie just checked in with me 1:45 CST. The usual excitement in Bernie's voice has been replaced by weariness. The Team just left Prescott and are on the TS 7-8 route. After a good start things have started to unravel a little bit. Bernie says that they made a typical rookie team mistake and started out too hot. Now they are starting to pay for it. This morning Bernie had to be taken to the Prescott hospital to get 2 liters of IV to treat dehydration. It has been extremely difficult to get enough food and drink. Bernie said that all 4 riders are probably running nutritional deficits. Neil has lost 4 pounds already, while Greg and Tim are maintaining. They're each burning approximately 6,000 calories a day, it's hard to consume that much. Sleeping has also been difficult. With the crew and riders all sleeping on the RV, it is difficult to get rest with the RV always on the go. The riders and the crew are all in sleep deprivation. They had to force Nuxie to get some rest. Bernie said he has probably slept a total of 3 hours so far. So while Bernie has been out, Neil, Tim and Greg have been forced to take turns riding. They have been taking hour and a half long pulls each. The route from TS 6-7 had a difficult climb to Prescott and Greg hammered it all by himself, while other teams were able to rotate the climb with more guys. Bernie said he is starting to feel better, he'll need to rest some more before he can get back out there and give the other 3 stalwarts some relief. They have concsciously backed off the pace as there is a lot of riding left.

Thanks to Laurel's comment post I found the pictures, here's a link to a team picture, when they were a little bit fresher. Till the next update, hang in there Team Strongheart!!!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

And they're off!!!

After all the preparation and planning the moment Team Strongheart has been waiting for finally arrived. There was a 13 mile neutral parade to get out of town before the race started with Bernie taking the road first. The way they are riding the race is that they are broke into two teams. Neil and Bernie are one team and Greg and Tim the other. They plan on taking 4 hour turns. During this 4 hours the one group will be sleeping while the other group will be riding the race. One rider races at a time with the support vehicle bringing the other rider up the rode. Then when the rider on the road catches the relief rider, the relief rider takes over and the other rider rests and in turn is taken up the road. They practiced this in their training and Bernie says it works quite well, they don't take long turns so they can stay fresh. They will be repeating this for the entire 3000+ miles! This shows how major of a role the support car plays in advancing the riders up the road, the support staff play as much of a key role as the riders do in this endeavor.

The teams were started with 30 second time gaps and Team Strongheart started 36th out of 39 teams. As of midnight on Day 1 Team Strongheart is currently in 3rd place out of the 16 4-man teams! After time station #2 they are averaging 20.17 mph. The beginning was hot and hilly and according to Bernie, Neil took some strong pulls up the hills out of the San Diego basin to move them up in the race. The race started in the afternoon so a lot of the desert riding will be at night when the temperatures are more bearable. He said the downhills were fast and fun. They both drank 6 water bottles from the start to time station 1. Greg and Tim took over and rode to time station 2, then Bernie and Neil will ride through time station 3 to time station 4 before being relieved. We'll have to give these groups names, any suggestions? I'll keep you posted as reports come in. You can follow the race on line at http://stats.raceacrossamerica.org/2007/reports/overview.html
This is so exciting!

Ready to Race!

Unbeknown to me, Neil aka "American Flyer", shaved his legs before he left Minneapolis. They look smooth, and much faster! (Thanks to Jay Thompson, Velogeek for the pic)

Here's some more exciting news. The guys are going to be guest "diarists" on www.cyclingnews.com. For cyclists this is the pinnacle website of cycling. Us addicts usually check out cyclingnews.com at least 3-4 times a day. Now the boys are going to be famous! When I talked to them yesterday they were busy prepping for the big show. They were doing interviews, getting pictures taken, basically living the rock star life. Bernie said that they had gotten in a good night's rest the night before. They hadn't ridden their bikes much since leaving Minnesota, but were hoping to get in a spin yesterday to check out the equipment and get rid of some nervousness. There's already been one area of concern, Neil was losing his voice and had a chest cold, his wife convinced him to get checked before he left, and he was diagnosed with bronchitis! He's on anti-biotics, hopefully he heals quickly. The Dr. reminded him that "your wife is always right"! How true!

They depart today at 4:00 PM CST or 2:00 PM PST, so after a year of planning and training it's almost go time!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Rider Report


Hello All, Skibby here. As Tess is going to be giving crew reports, I will be posting entry's for the riders themselves. There was a time when I was going to be part of this "epic" journey, but after meeting with RAAM veteran Ben Popp, I realized this wasn't for me. I could also see how badly Neil, who was an alternate at the time, wanted to do this, so I gladly gave up my spot. Good move to, he's a much stronger rider than I am! One thing I noticed in this pic of Bernie and Neil, is that Neil still hasn't shaved his legs! For those of you who aren't familiar with bike racing, most racers shave their legs. There are a myriad of reasons but the main one is that you're showing that you're part of the bike racing clique. With Neil being the independent person he is, refuses to shave his legs. However, I am willing to donate $100 Camp Odayin if he shaves his legs! Any one else willing to do the same?

Last night Bernie and the crew called me while they were traveling through Utah. Bernie, Greg and Tim are all on the RV and expect to arrive in Calif on Sunday. Neil is flying out and will meet them in San Diego. The race doesn't start until Tuesday but there is a lot of prep work that has to get done. First and foremost is getting their bicycles ready for the event. Not only do they have to be mechanically sound but for all of the night-riding that they will be doing, they have to have lights and reflector tape on the bikes. From the sound of Bernies voice, I can just tell how excited he is. He's like a kid on the day before Christmas Eve! Stay tuned as I will be providing daily posts from the riders, giving their perspective on the RAAM and how it is treating them. Remember that the race can be followed at http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/ as well. Go Team Strongheart!

Saturday, June 9, 2007

On the Road to RAAM


Hello, readers! This is Tess, one of the crew members on this grand, cross-country adventure, and now the designated Head Journalist. (Just a fancy way of saying I'm in charge of updating the blog.)
The story thusfar:
On Thursday evening, Linda, Kristy and I arrived at Bernie's to help with packing and make the Friday morning departure a little easier. (I learned my first important lesson of the trip: Pack light! Do not, however, forget your clothes in Wisconsin...) There was a lot of arranging of Stuff, and debates over what was necessary and where we would put it, and travel plans were discussed with the people driving.
Friday morning went without a hitch; no one needed an alarm to wake up, we were so excited to get on the road, and Bernie made fantastic waffles. The goal was to make it to Boulder, Colorado before parking for the night, with an estimated time of arrival between midnight and three AM.
What followed was ten hours of midwest green and a very pretty sunset -- not terribly thrilling, but the weather was pleasant -- and another six hours of driving in the dark until we found Tim's street.
We managed to fit nine people into one RV for sleeping. If you can avoid it, I would recommend against ever having to do this; just because we could find the space doesn't mean it's a comfortable idea.
Since it was definitely after midnight when we arrived (we were tucking in for bed at 12:45; how we made it there that fast, I'll never know), we hadn't really gotten a good look at the scenery. Waking up, as a result, was a surprisingly pleasant experience. From the street Tim lives on, you can definitely see geological features those of us living in the midwest can only dream about.
We ate breakfast at Panera, which was a new experience for me. (The Egg Soufflé with spinach and artichoke hearts? Delicious.) Once we were fed, and the gas tanks on the vehicles were filled, we set off again, now with ten of our fourteen team members.
As I write this, it's 5:32 PM local time. We've traveled through the mountains, and we're somewhere in Utah. We spent about an hour or two stuck in traffic due to a car accident (engine fire? Definitely involved fire, and a big charred spot on the ground) in the mountains in Colorado. We made the best of it by starting a little dance party along the side of the road. Kristy and Linda and I did a little T'ai Chi. We all observed that, if we had to get stuck in traffic anywhere, we'd probably picked the best place for it.
When the accident was finally cleared, Bernie let off a little steam by honking in the tunnel through the mountain, which started a chain reaction of people honking their horns in the tunnel just for the joy of it.
While many members of the team will riot before having to drive through Iowa and Nebraska again, we all fell in love with the geological features we've been seeing from Boulder until now. Even in the more arid terrain, it's gorgeous.
So. From wherever we are in Utah, the last I heard was that we're heading towards Las Vegas, Nevada, and then towards San Diego/Oceanside, California. I'm hazarding a guess that it will be at least eight hours before we arrive. In spite of how much time we've spent in cars over the last 36 hours, I would say we're all still playing nicely with each other. Bernie's said it before, and I happily reiterate: We have an excellent group on this trip. I'm so glad to be here.
~Tess




Big thanks to Bill our Crew Chief for setting up WIFI in the RV! Coast to coast, rolling connectivity!

Friday, June 8, 2007

Off we go, into the wild blue yonder (sing it with me now)!

I can't believe its really time to go...after a year of preparation, training, work to pull all this together, we're finally heading out at 8am. We'll be driving down to I-80 and then west to Boulder to pick up Tim Case, grab a few hours of "good" sleep then finish the second 1,000 mile stretch to Oceanside.

I think the drive out will be an adventure in itself!

I'd like to send out a huge THANK YOU to all of our friends, family, supporters and sponsors that helped make the Team Strong Heart mission fly!

You can follow us at www.raceacrossamerica.org!

Stay tuned to the blog for all the details!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Team Strong Heart Story on KARE 11!


Eric Perkins from KARE 11 did a great job representing Team Strong Heart and Camp Odayin. What a lot of fun!
Perk Rocks!
Click on the following link to see the story and video:

Monday, June 4, 2007

Perk at Play!

Hey all!

Just wanted to give you a heads up that Team Strong Heart will appear on the "Perk at Play" segment during the 10pm newscast on KARE 11 this Tuesday, June 5th!

Neil and I had some serious fun interviewing and shooting clips with Eric Perkins. What an exceptionally nice guy! Funny too! That's right...nice and funny...funny like ha, ha...

We're really looking forward to seeing some more local coverage for Camp Odayin and the TSH mission. Thank you KARE 11!

Perk Rocks!