April 27th Fundraiser in Boulder, CO!

Howdy from snowy Colorado,

Join myself, Race Across America SOLOIST and a hundred of your closest friends at the Redfish Brewhouse, Boulder, CO, on Sunday, April 27th at 6:30pm, for the first annual Team Strong Heart Got Solo? Gala.

We are going to have a raffle with a ton of excellent donations from Mix1Life, Boulder Beer, Boulder Creek Winery and Fox Theatre (just to name a few), a silent auction, light appetizers and a live performance from Denver's own, Runnin' Wild Band (they start at 8:00pm). These guys cover their favorite artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix while adding in their own tunes to boot!

Fifteen dollars at the door, kids get in free and donations will be going to Team Strong Heart and Camp Odayin.

See you there!

Tim
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Aside from working on the party, we've been hot on the trail for donations to Team Strong Heart...thanks to everyone whose donated and will donate to the cause! Every single dollar counts and will help us reach our long term donation goals for Camp Odayin.
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Training for the race has been going well, despite the erratic Colorado spring weather. There's an expression used amongst the powder-heads up in the mountains..."Never Summer." Yep, it's snowing like crazy up here at 10k feet with no sign of spring, other than the melt and runoff that turns a clean truck brown.

Down in Boulder the racers are chomping at the bit to get a turn at the front of the peloton. Had my first race two Sundays ago...it went pretty well despite the general nervousness of the field. Those first few races are always an exercise in attrition. My goal was to sit in, move around in the field a bit and stay upright. Mission accomplished despite almost getting crashed out three laps in (locked up the rear wheel to avoid the collision), slamming into at least one errant water bottle and generally holding on for dear life. The finish came in with a field sprint and no, that wasn't Tom Boonen off the front, just another Horizon Organic rider going on a flyer.

Man, I love racing!

Last Sunday we had the infamous Koppenburg circuit race scheduled, but woke up to rain/snow and a crazy chill in the air. Half the race is on dirt roads, including the notorious 17% Koppenburg climb, a la spring classic in Belgium. Long story short, the organizers had to cancel the race, it was just too dangerous, even for the "hardened strong men of the peloton."

Next up for me is the Deer Trail Road race 3/4ths through April...then...time to bear down and get some heavy, heavy miles in, in preparation for June.
See you out there...

TC

April 27th Team Strong Heart Fundraiser!

Hey all,

Lots to report from over here in the eventually-warming-up Boulder, Colorado.

The training is starting to heat up for June and I actually have my first race out here this upcoming Sunday, starting it all off with a criterium on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus...

I'm coming off a "forced" 7 day active recovery period and feel very strong, especially for this time of year. This recovery was without a doubt a complete revelation for my training. Thanks to my coach Eric Kenney, Horizon Organic teammates and good friends from Minnesota that I've spent years riding with for suggesting this rest and recovery. I came home from training camp in California and pretty much trained myself into a world of hurt. It's tough to slow down and settle in to recover and I ignored the classic symptoms of overtraining. I finally had a blowout ride where I struggled to get home after 85 miles and was broken.

Rest and recovery are keys to success, along with diet, sleep and plain old having fun on the bike. Believe it! I do...

On another, but closely related note, we've been hot on the trail of donations for Team Strong Heart and have scored a major victory by signing an amazing venue and band for the first annual Team Strong Heart Got Solo? Fundraising Throwdown (that's the unofficial title of the party).

We've contacted over a hundred companies and have received a lion's share of support from local businesses to raffle off products, services and even a "date with a firefighter model" at the party to be held at the Redfish Brewhouse in Boulder, CO on Sunday, April 27th.

Headlining the party is the Runnin' Wild Band. These guys rock and are amazing musicians to boot. Many thanks to Dean Pacello from Boulder Fire, whose kid Tony is in the band, for getting them to play for Team Strong Heart and our friends and family. Be sure to check out their website and scan YouTube for some amazing performances...

Save the date! April 27th is going to be a night to remember!

There's been a ton of work done already, with much more to go. About 80 days before the RAAM kicks off and we are definitely locked and loaded.

Keep the rubber side down...

Tim

Team Strong Heart Coverage at www.cyclingnews.com!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/mar08/mar12news

Here's the story:

Team Strong Heart to Race Across America for charity

Local cyclists riding for Team Strong Heart, from Colorado and Minnesota in the United States of America, will again compete in the 2008 Race Across America on behalf of their chosen charity Camp Odayin. Team Strong Heart was organised in 2006 for the purpose of completing the 2007 Race Across America bicycle race.

For 2008, Team Strong Heart has organised a four-person Mixed relay team, headed by Team Captain Amy Xu. In addition, returning Team Strong Heart racer Timothy Case will be competing in the Race Across America in the Solo category, a first for the Team Strong Heart Organization.

The team is hoping to raise $100,000 USD for Camp Odayin during its RAA campaign. Camp Odayin provides residential, day and family camp experiences for children with heart disease.
The Race Across America is a bicycle race that covers approximately 3100 miles, 110,000 feet of climbing and 15 states.

Dateline: Your Hub.Com

Ripped from the headlines...

http://denver.yourhub.com/Boulder/Stories/Fundraising/Story~440115.aspx?IsDraft=False

Timothy Case, professional firefighter for the City of Boulder, will be competing in the 2008 Race Across America in the solo division as a member of the Team Strong Heart organization.

http://www.teamstrongheart.blogspot.com/

Team Strong Heart, which is a collection of bicycle racers and supporters whose goal is to raise $100,000 in tax deductible donations for Camp Odayin, located in northern Minnesota. Camp Odayin provides residential, day and family camp experiences for children with heart disease. The camp offers the opportunity to strengthen self-confidence, gain independence, develop life skills, and meet other young people with similar health, emotional and social concerns. More information about Camp Odayin and to make a donation, please visit http://www.teamstrongheart.blogspot.com/ and http://www.campodayin.org/.

Team Strong Heart was organized in 2006 for the purpose of completing the 2007 Race Across America bicycle race, http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/. The Race Across America has been termed the "world's toughest sporting event," by Outside Magazine. It is a bicycle race that covers approximately 3100 miles, 110,000 feet of climbing and 15 states.

We encourage you to visit the Team Strong Heart website and make a donation that goes directly to Camp Odayin. Join Team Strong Heart and Camp Odayin across the country. Every single dollar counts!

http://www.teamstrongheart.blogspot.com/

Dateline: Rocky Mountain Sports Magazine

This was posted online today in the Rocky Mountain Sports magazine, regarding Team Strong Heart:





Local Firefighter Competes in Race Across America
Written by: Rebecca Heaton

Timothy Case, professional firefighter for the City of Boulder, will be competing in the 2008 Race Across America in the solo division as a member of the Team Strong Heart organization.

Team Strong Heart, which is a collection of bicycle racers and supporters whose goal is to raise $100,000 in tax deductible donations for Camp Odayin, located in northern Minnesota. Camp Odayin provides residential, day and family camp experiences for children with heart disease. The camp offers the opportunity to strengthen self-confidence, gain independence, develop life skills, and meet other young people with similar health, emotional and social concerns. More information about Camp Odayin and to make a donation, please visit www.teamstrongheart.blogspot.com and www.campodayin.org.

Team Strong Heart was organized in 2006 for the purpose of completing the 2007 Race Across America bicycle race, www.raceacrossamerica.org. The Race Across America has been termed the "world's toughest sporting event," by Outside magazine. It is a bicycle race that covers approximately 3,100 miles, 110,000 feet of climbing and 15 states.

Alan Shimel Supports Team Strongheart

Sometimes the best exposure can come from interesting places. Alan Shimel, world network security expert and host of a very well-surfed blog, StillSecure, After All These Years, has posted a story and link to the Team Strongheart cause...

Please check his website out and support Alan Shimel supporting Team Strongheart!

Keep the rubber side down!

Tim

How Peace Coffee (TSH Sponsor) Runs Things

Dateline: Clear Creek County, CO

A strong heart: firefighter plans solo effort in cross-country race
By Vicky Gits, Clear Creek Courant

Tim Case has a firefighter job in Boulder and owns a house in Idaho Springs, but what the 31-year-old spends most of his time thinking about is getting from Lake Henshaw, Calif., to Annapolis, Md., on a bicycle in about 10 days.

Ten days traveling solo across the country translates into 20 hours a day on the bike with two to four hours of sleep a night.

“Usually about half the people that attempt it solo don’t finish, but I don’t intend to be one of those people,” said Case, one of only two dozen people who are registered to compete as solo racers in the 2008 Race Across America.

Beginning June 8, Case will be bicycling cross-country in the “world’s toughest sporting event,” according to Outside magazine. It consists of 3,100 miles, 110,000 feet of climbing and 15 states. Categories include eight- and four-person male and female relay teams, mixed relay and solo.

Case’s goal is to help a group called Team Strong Heart raise $100,000 for Camp Odayin, a residential camp for kids with heart defects and their families.
Sponsored by Medtronic, Team Strong Heart is a collection of bicycle racers who came in third in the relay portion of the 27th annual Race Across America last year.

This will be the first year Case has attempted to complete the route as a solo racer, and he is definitely obsessed — in a good way.
“Every single day that I wake up, I’m thinking about this race. It seeps into everything,” Case said. “When I go to work in the morning, I’m thinking about the race. Every single day you just try do things that let you get a little closer to your goal. It’s like climbing Everest.”

“The great thing is I’m just an average, run-of-the-mill person who knows how to set goals,” Case said. “The most important thing is to have the mind-set (that) I’m going to be on a bike for 20 hours a day.”

Case suffered from severe asthma when he was growing up. “So when I think about Camp Odayin, I see a bit of myself.” Every kid and counselor at the camp has been diagnosed with a heart defect, and campers come from all over the country.
“Activities are adapted to their needs. I know what it’s like to be the kid in class that can’t finish the run,” Case said. “It gives them a three-week experience as a normal kid.”

What’s his training regime? Case spends a lot of time riding the bicycle outside, getting a lot of sleep and staying active. He races 15 to 20 times a year with a bike team in Boulder. Last week he took vacation time to go and train in California where the weather’s better.

To get through the race, Case will have a van and a crew of six people. The hardest part is after dark. “Overall it was extremely tough, mentally and physically, to get through the late and long nights. It’s very lonely and isolated out on the road in the middle of the night,” Case said.

He doesn’t necessarily live only on power bars and sport drinks.
“Food is a process of trial and error. There’s nothing like a cupcake at 3 o’clock in the morning.” He said his first real meal after the race last year was a double bacon cheeseburger with large fries.

For information on the race, visit www.raceacrossamerica.org