RAAM Rehersal

A close third on the list of great things that happened on the May 12-13 weekend with Mother's day and the Fishing Opener taking the 1 & 2 spot (although some may argue the order), our pre RAAM rehersal really impressed us all!

Left to right in the above photo: Greg Kostik, Timothy Case, Neil Eerdmanns, Bernie Kaeferlein, Jon Boshea, Mike Nelson, Bill Nicholson, Tessa Hart, Brendon Stefancic, Linda Bergstrom, Stephanie Wisnet and Angie Kostik [not pictured].


RAAM is not only physically demanding on the riders but is also physically and mentally demanding on the support crew. The logistics of getting 4 racers from coast to coast in the fastest time possible while ensuring the utmost safety is tremendous.


Our team will use an XL motor home for crew and rider rest, and two minivans that will serve as a rider follow vehicle and rider support vehicle (takes the next rider up the road for the hand off). This is the "light" version of what some teams will employ to get from coast to coast. Some teams will use two motorhomes and 3 support vehicles but that takes no less than 12 crew members. Our goal is to use a strong and energetic crew of 8 to minimize costs and environmental impact (although the environmental impact is already significant!).


I was really impressed how well all of us were getting along, working together and problem solving for just having met and being thrust into close quarters and stressful conditions. The weekend goal was to focus on the logistics of navigation, vehicle use and rider exchanges. Neil and Bill worked out a 110 mile loop in the rural farmlands northwest of the twin cities that were then loaded onto three laptop computers with GPS...one for each vehicle. The route was exceptionally hard with numerous turns and contained some new roads that were not accurately depicted on the GPS.

We kept the exchanges short to maximize this training opportunity. We switched riders every 15 to 30 minutes and exchanged with the RV riders and crew every 1.5 to 2 hours. Initially, this pushed up the stress level while the crew learned to navigate and exchange. The riders learned proper exchanges and night rules. It didn't take long before things were running smoothly in light of a challenging course and a frantic pace of rider exchanges.

The best part of the rehearsal was seeing the humor and compassion that the team demonstrated for one another. Mind blowing to consider that at the beginning of the day on Saturday, that was the first time most have met each other in person!

We'll be adding more photos and video of the rehersal over the next several days. Check out Team Strong Heart Photos and Videos.

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!

Early season testing...Round 2

Dr. Halvorsen put Greg and Tim through their paces today. Bill was there to capture all the action.

See the Crew Chief's Corner for the story.

Stay tuned for results next week!

Neil and Owen Bike and Slide!

Neil posted this picture and story to his training journal but it was so fun, I just had to pull it out here!

Work and training for RAAM is a pretty overwhelming endeavor. We all strive to stay focused on keeping family priority one and finding creative ways to do it is a fun challenge. What a great way to strike that crucial work, training and life balance! Neil, you are B.B.A.!

Prarie Roubaix, A Minnesota Classic is Born!

posted by Neil Eerdmans

Wild ride yesterday and fulfillment of a dream of mine that I have had for some time. I am a pro cycling fan and love to watch old films of races over and over again. In fact, my wife will say, "oh, It is Phil again." Referring to Phil Ligget's voice that is on everyone of my tapes and DVDs. After watching these races enough I wanted to experience the mud and grit of the Paris-Roubaix for myself. I did yesterday on my three speed mountain bike.

The electronic age has its good and bad points like everything else but one of the greatest points is having mailing lists where you can reach 100 people in one shot. I have finally found a group of people crazy enough to try just about anything on a bike. It also has provided a way for me to meet some of the neatest people that I would have never met or kept in contact without e mail. The race that I cherished so much yesterday would have never happened! The potential of the electronic age is limitless on so many levels! To check out coverage of this crazy event go to... http://thbackdoor.blogspot.com/

The route started and finished in Fletcher, MN and consisted of 4 laps on a 10 mile, 50/50 mix of dirt and paved roads. The dirt was mainly ice, snow and mud. 6 brave souls showed up (Neil, Bernie, Skibby, Dan, Tom and Mike) with Dan earning a solo victory after he attacked on a particularly treacherous part of the course. He graciously donated the $10 prize money to Team Strongheart. All proceeds for Team Strongheart benefit Camp Odayin, a camp for kids with heart disease.

Passion!

Passion. It's what drives us to do great and wonderful things. It's the founding principle of what drives Team Strong Heart.

If you hadn't already guessed, we're all pretty passionate about cycling and last night's manifestation definately raised a few eyebrows.

It had snowed about 1 to 2 inches of wet, heavy snow here and the bike trail was still open around Elm Creek Park Preserve. I could hardly wait to get out and ride it. Threw my studded winter tires onto my 'cross bike and headed out. The temperature was a very comfortable 31 degrees and the snow on the trail was completely untracked. I could only ride about half as fast as usual, and there was no wind noise, so you could really appreciate the complete silence, the soft humming of the tires and the muffled popping of the gently falling ice pellets against my clothes and helmet. Turning on my bike light after it got dark, transformed the park into a shimmering wonderland. Ahhh...now that's passion!

Funny thing about passion...it's not always easy to understand. As I rolled out of my neighborhood I was greeted to a few disbelieving and nervous smiles/chuckles that essentially begged the question, "are you crazy or just plain stupid?" One of our good friends that lives across the street even called my wife and asked "Does Bernie even want to make it to the Race Across America?!! I said to myself, 'Is that Bernie? There's ice under that snow! I'm telling on him!'" My wife told her that "yes, indeed, he is nuts, and thank you very much for watching out for him." Later that night when they met up at a neighborhood women's party, the neighbor commented again about my "dangerous enthusiasm", and my wife explained, "Studded snow tires..." Our neighbor's expression, along with the rest of the women at the table, dawned understanding as they all chorused, "Ohhhh..."

Unusual...yes. Crazy...a bit. Passionate...absolutely!

River Bottom Moxie

I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy...Kostik, you are my hero!

Greg Kostik showed serious Moxie on our 3 hour MTB training ride at the river bottoms today!

This picture is of the raft crossing at 9 mile creek...only during the winter, the raft is taken out and the creek is usually frozen by now. Recent warm weather reopened the water and left the only available "crossing" over a tree that had fallen across the creek. I'd like to point out that this is not the kind of tree anyone would typically look at and say, "Oh yeah, no problem." This tree started out only about 18 inches wide and ended around 8 inches wide crossing a 25 foot span.

Greg kept his title as Ride 2 Eat's crash test dummy on 9 mile creek not by riding down the bank and crossing on the ice before checking it as usual, but by crossing this spindly little tree while carrying his bike across with the grace and precision of a Flying Wallenda! Unreal.

My brain automatically went into self preservation mode and the argument against it was futile. Even the two MORC riders who were kind enough to stick around and watch this potentially amusing adventure come to the punch line were in disbelief. There was no way they were going to try crossing.

Before I knew it, Greg "shimmies" back across the tree, grabs my bike, crosses back over and tells me to "come on...just shimmy across". 6'3" don't shimmy. That and my shoes were slippery. So the great advice from the other side was to take my shoes off. Ok, fine. Shoes off and threw them over to the other side...brilliant. Gloves were slippery too, Ok, fine. Gloves off and threw them over to the other side...Einsteinian. At this rate, I'm either going to make it across or be stark naked with all my clothes on the other bank. Gotta go now. Only there's only one way my brain will let me. Namely the "scoot across on my butt while straddling the log" method. I'll let your imagination paint the picture. No pride here. The going was pretty smooth until I had to "scoot over" the stump of a branch kindly sticking straight up in the middle of the span. I finally made it across without getting wet. Back to riding and trying to shove the thought of the return trip into the back of my mind.

The return was a bit more ominous since we had to start out at the skinny end of the tree. Again, Greg trotted across with his bike in hand, came back over, grabbed my bike and back across. Eeesh, I ain't got it. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to take my shoes off again...not like I was actually going to try the same tight rope act that Greg can pull off. Only one snag for my crossing method...that pointy stub of a branch was not only sticking up, but was now pointing TOWARDS me.

Fortunately, I again avoided getting wet but Lo, my darling wife, THAT's how I ripped my pants.

Winter Training at the Foleydrome!

So what do you guys do to train in the winter? I've heard this question a lot over the past few weeks since the weather got a little chilly.

Dr. Dan has us all on base building and strength training for the next few months so getting the miles in can get pretty creative.

Neil and I were riding the beloved "Foleydrome" which is a Park and Ride garage close to home that is lit, covered and empty in the evenings. Each lap is about 0.5 km. Add a couple of friends (Jay and Dave) and a couple hours goes past in no time!

In true crazy Minnesotan winter style, I went out for a 2 1/2 hour training ride with my trusty Niterider light in the near freezing drizzle before riding the Foleydrome. It was simply beautiful and coming home to a hot shower was the icing on the cake!

Thanks Neil!

After a 10 year break from skate skiing (pun intended since I stopped when I broke a ski) and me just never getting around to taking it up again, Neil made me an offer I couldn't refuse. "Hey man, I've got an extra pair of skis so why don't you come out and try it." Why are simple words always the most powerful? Thanks Neil!

I met Neil, Jay and Zabby out at Elm Creek at 6:30am. Still dark but the lights were on and the snow was perfect! It was such a rush to get out on the skis again and put in a couple of hours while watching the sun rise!

The day got better when Neil, Rotach and I met Evan and Noah in Stillwater for a long training ride in the glorious sunshine. Man, this day was a 10+!