Welcome Back to Trailhead Cycling and Fitness in 2011!

Welcome back to Trailhead Cycle of Champlin, MN as the official bike shop sponsor of Team RAAM 2011!! Be sure to friend them on Facebook and check out their website at http://www.trailheadcyclingandfitness.com/.

Thank you!!!

Team RAAM

Welcome to Hardworkin' Hunks for 2011!

Hardworkin' Hunks was started in 2010 by a couple of my co-workers at Boulder Fire Rescue. They are a general contracting company that will do odd-jobs, project work and really any sort of handy service that you need done at your home or office.

They donate 10% of their profits to charity and they're super cool, hardworking guys. If you live in the Front Range area of Colorado and need some help, check 'em out...www.hardworkinhunks.com.

Thanks!

Team RAAM

Welcome to Velo Bling Designs for 2011!

Welcome to Velo Bling Designs as a sponsor for Team RAAM 2011. Velo Bling hand makes jewelry, home accents, etc. using recycled bicycle materials. They are a Colorado-based company, and I'm proud that they're on board with us this year. Check 'em out at www.velobling.com and "Like" them on Facebook!

Welcome to Clean Bottle for 2011!

Welcome to Clean Bottle as a sponsor for Team RAAM in 2011! This is an excellent, homegrown company that is on the rise and deserves our business. They have an incredible product and a sweet spokesperson, Bottle Boy. Check 'em out!

www.cleanbottle.com.

Welcome to Amoeba Lights for 2011!

Welcome to Amoeba Lights as Team RAAM's official light sponsor for 2011. I've used these lights at the 24 Hours of Moab and they are hands down the best lights out there.

Check 'em out at www.amoebalight.blogspot.com.

Buy local, buy often~

Team RAAM Supports the Wounded Warrior Project

Team RAAM has partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project as its charity for 2011. Team RAAM has pledged to raise 10k for men and women of the United States Armed Forces who have been injured while serving our country.

The Wounded Warrior Project has three stated goals:

To raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members.

To help injured service members aid and assist each other.

To provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.

Team RAAM has many supporters and friends who have served or are currently serving in the military and we are grateful for their willingness to go into harms way in defense of our country.

The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization and is able to return 82% of all donations to the people it serves.

If you would like to contribute to our mission, please mail your donation to:

Wounded Warrior Project

c/o Tim Case

PO Box 270671

Louisville, CO 80027

Thank you!

Team RAAM

Team RAAM Logo!

Thanks to HPI Marketing for helping to create the logo for Team RAAM, racing the 2011 Race Across the West (and more events)!

See you in Oceanside!

TC

Team RAAM roster for 2011 Race Across the West

Four-Man Race Acoss the West, Standard Division:

Tim Case

Eric Begin

Andy Claflin

Jeff Magnuson

Details soon!

Race Around Ireland - 2011

Well, well, well. Just yesterday I confirmed my entry into the SOLO division of the Race Around Ireland for 2011.

Think of this race as the Irish answer to getting across or around an entire country by bicycle. How could I say no to that opportunity?

The race is 1350 miles long and I will have 132 hours to complete it. Do the math. It's not that fast, but what most of us (including myself every now and again) tend to forget is that the average speed of 10.23 mph to officially complete the race includes all the time from when the gun goes off in Navan, including potty breaks, sleep (yeah right), etc. So...it's best to just keep me out on the road as much and as long as possible and we'll get there in good time.

I'm psyched to be doing this race and am actively seeking crew (looking for about 4 total) and help with securing sponsorships, etc. Stay tuned for more details, but we will be throwing at least one fundraising party for the journey sometime in the late winter/early spring and I'll be posting frequent updates here and on the Team Switchback Facebook page.

Keep the rubber side down.

Tim

Reflections on Our Passion

With the very, very sad news of Jure Robic's passing today from a bike crash at hand, I wanted to write a quick note about our sport.

We are all champions, who get on our bikes when the weather sucks or our family life sucks, or something sucks. What the "common" rider or racer doesn't have that the professional cyclist has, is the "luxury" of being on the bike as a full-time career.

Most of us have jobs, families, responsibilities, etc., that vie for our time. We battle all day for a moment or two of peace that comes in the form a 90 rpm cadence at 22 miles an hour on a freshly paved road, or some such thing on a sweet piece of singletrack.

Gears, no gears, front suspension, full suspension, coast or fixie, it's all pretty awesome.

Jure Robic died a champion, not only because he was a Race Across America winner, but also because he was a gentleman and sportsman in the truest sense of the word.

When we get on our bikes, we are stepping into the stream of champions that have come before us and will come long after we are gone. Today, Jure's trip along the stream ended violently, but it ended doing what he and we are passionate about.

I believe in the idea that cycling can effect a positive and lasting change in our world and that we can be champions by honoring this possibility, honoring those who have fallen along the way and by encouraging others to seek and be a part of an incredibly healthy and vibrant sport.

We honor Jure by getting back on the bike.

Welcome Trail LED

Team Switchback would like to welcome Trail LED to the family of Team Switchback sponsors. Trail LED makes custom lights for the discerning rider and in our case we'll be using their lights at the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race in October.

Trail Led is American made and might be the perfect light.

Welcome to Trail LED and see ya on the trails!

Team Switchback

Team Switchback Has a Busy Fall!

RAW wasn't enough. We won, we set a new course record and now Team Switchback is on the prowl for more results in support of our charity, Southern Exposure Foundation.

In about a week, Tim Case, half of the victorious and record setting two-man Race Across the West team, will be headed out to the Midwest to set the record straight on how great altitude training and racing can be. He's participating in the Chequamegon 40 mountain bike race...biggest mountain bike race in the country, awesome time and a great showcase of the well maintained trails of Chequamegon National Forest of northern Wisconsin.

After that, Tim will have a few weeks to get ready for the Furnace Creek 508, an epic multi-day road race through the Mojave desert. Tim is part of "Team RAAM," a 4-man team comprised of RAAM Race Director George Thomas, his 2010 RAW teammate Mick Walsh, and Rick Boethling, President of RAAM. It's gonna be awesome.

A few short weeks later, Tim Case and Eric Begin will reunite as two of the 4-man "Team Boulder Firefighters presented by Team Switchback" 24 Hours of Moab relay team. Competing in the Expert Category, Tim, Eric and friends/co-workers Brent Wambach (king of Summit County secret trails) and Thomas Spannring (former pro-mountain biker) will bring the pain to the trails of Moab for 24 straight hours.

As if that wasn't enough, a week later Tim will be bringing Team Switchback to the world of running as he participates in the Denver Rock and Roll Marathon.

And then we rest...

Thanks for your support, encouragement and participation in this epic journey...stay tuned for race reports and race results!

Team Switchback

2010 RAW Report

I recently read an interview in Vanity Fair Magazine with Sean Penn, actor and humanitarian who is and has been camped out in Haiti, helping to rebuild and reorganize the world that was destroyed by a large earthquake earlier in the year.

It seems that our collective attention passes like a searchlight, highlighting problem areas of the world for only a moment and then moving on to the next tragedy of massive proportions.

Penn has become a beacon for Haiti, rather than a celebrity searchlight and so it is in this vein that he says about that country, “There is no exit for me until there is more life than death.”

In that same spirit of commitment and dedication, Eric Begin and I set out to participate in the 2010 Race Across the West bicycle race, on behalf of the Southern Exposure Foundation, which raises funding and resources to build homes for the impoverished and embattled citizens of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Juarez is in a state of emergency, and has been this way for some time, becoming a focus point for the so-called war on drugs, the NAFTA and the police state of Mexico’s government.

Southern Exposure buffers this misery by building homes for residents who need them the most, single mothers, families torn by terror and bloodshed.

The race, well, it went great for us. Did you hear that we won? We did win, but we did it with integrity and class…a tradition amongst the racers, crew and supporters of Team Switchback.

Eric was amazing on the bike. He is a gifted athlete, a highly capable professional firefighter and a father to a beautiful baby girl. It was a treat to watch him climb the highest reaches on the course, only to absolutely crush the descents. We simply couldn’t keep up with him on the decline.

I had moments of greatness and moments of, um, not greatness, but we got through it together. The course that the RAAM/RAW staff assembled this year was another epic route through some high peaks and some very low valleys (see also: below sea level).

The weather was tough in places and magical in others. Like much of the past four years of doing the Race Across America, there was a great tail/sometimes cross-wind through the Anza-Borrego desert and of course in Monument Valley, Utah, where we really couldn’t find a small enough cog to rip through the high desert overnight.

We saw some amazing things…drifting sand dunes, military helicopters, blacked out, flying terrain at 0300 in Utah, dogs chasing us along the road, RAAM/RAW staff cheering for us and wishing us well, etc.

It was epic.

The crew did a great job of getting us across the American West in one piece. Some were first time crew people, others were experienced, but all had a great time and seemed to get to the finish “none the worse for wear.” Special thanks to our Crew Chief, Jeff Magnuson, for keeping the details before, during and after the race in check and getting our accomodations set up in Oceanside and Durango.

Eric and I rolled in to Durango well ahead of schedule…almost 12 hours faster than we thought we would. Whodathunkit?

After a short welcoming ceremony at Ft. Lewis College, we grabbed some Burger King to go, caught a very welcome shower and took a nap that felt incredible.

We really appreciate your continued support for Team Switchback. Oddly enough, there are already plans in the works for 2011. Stay tuned for details. In the meantime, Team Switchback will be out doing other ultra races, the next one being the Breck 68 mountain bike race in July in Breckenridge, CO.

Encore anyone?

Tim and Eric

Team Switchback Wins the 2010 Race Across the West

Hi all,

Eric and I are out in Durango with most of our crew, recovering from the past couple of days of racing. Stay tuned for a litany of pictures and a full race report regarding our 2010 RAW championship.

The question is...what do we do for an encore???

TC

Enroute, Durango

Hi there,

We are locked and loaded and heading out to the start line for the 2010 Race Across the West. Eric, myself and all the crew want to tell you that we are extremely appreciative of your support this year.

The past couple of days in Oceanside have been pretty awesome and everything has come together with near perfection. The people, the bikes, the staff of RAAM and RAW...everything has been great.

Thank you being there when we've needed you most.

Stay tuned for race updates, check www.raceacrossthewest.org for official race stats and hang on to yer hat for an awesome journey!

Team Switchback

Following Team Switchback

Hi all,

Couple days before Team Switchback heads out to California for the 2010 Race Across the West.

6 crew, 2 racers, couple of tough days on the bike. Ain't no thang. :)

Well, since Eric and I are going to be racing in a very compressed format (think about 860 miles in 66 hours or less), the updates are probably going to be far and few between. We have a media guy on board (my brother, Kevin) who is going to take a bunch of pictures and video that we'll get loaded piecemeal.

Besides the pics and video, we'll get periodic updates to our Facebook page (search: Team Switchback) and I'll be writing up a race report at the end of the event.

We take off at noon West Coast time on Wednesday, June 9.

In the meantime, you can check out www.raceacrossthewest.org for race stats and updates from the official RAW website, and like I said, we'll get some intermediate updates on our blog and Facebook page.

We are locked and loaded and we feel very blessed to have an incredible charity to race for and an incredible show of support from our family and friends to make this whole crazy thing possible.

Thanks again!

Tim and Eric

P.S. - Following the craziness of RAW, Tim is going to be hanging out in Durango and jumping on board with the UK based Team Velocity Bikes two-man RAAM team as a crew member all the way to Annapolis, Maryland. No rest for the weary!

Friends

Hey all,

With the final few weeks of preparations coming to fruition, I just wanted to send a special shout out to all of our friends and family who have made this effort possible.

The past three or so years have really stirred my life in a new direction and I want to thank everyone from Team Strong Heart for bringing myself and Eric to this point.

Team Switchback was founded with the "simple" mission of engaging in humanitarian efforts while participating in ultra-distance athletic events. By land, air or sea, we are raising funding and awareness for all of the charities we are and will be supporting in the future.

The audacity of a group of cyclists coming together and making a mark on the world is amazing and wonderful and I am proud to be a part of Team Switchback and continue to support the mission and people who are actively making Team Strong Heart thrive and grow.

This year will bring some new faces to the race course and to the support staff of our teams, but the original mission stays strong and vibrant in those of use who were there from the beginning.

Good luck to all and we'll see you in Oceanside!

TC

The Heart of a Champion

Every year about this time I really begin to reflect (see also: stress) on my life as a bike racer and as an individual, and try to position these realities in the context of "what comes next." Of course, since 2007, what comes next is usually a ridiculously long bicycle race in June that I'll never shy away from, the Race Across America and the Race Across the West.

The audacity of an individual or a group of individuals racing their bikes across our great country comes to a head this time of year. Just getting to the starting line is a major act of faith, both on the part of those who race their bikes and those who support those brave women and men, echoing out from the follow vehicle in the middle of the night and out across the world, really.

World Champion Graeme Obree writes, "Despite the fact that I had been gifted with an almost arrogant belief that I could do anything I set out to do, I would feel like a cornered animal that had to fight tooth and claw to survive...I had stumbled upon the most powerful of training aids: the intertwined emotions of total belief and total fear."

Eric and I would add that because of your support, love, friendship and patience, we will be able to show you something wonderful in June and fulfill our promise that individuals can effect a real, positive and lasting change in our world.

It starts with us. We are Team Switchback.

All Hail Crew Chief Jeff Magnuson!

Eric and I want to introduce our 2010 Team Switchback Race Across the West Crew Chief (say that ten times), Jeff Magnuson.

Jeff was an integral part of Team Strongheart's championship RAAM effort in 2009 and we are psyched to have him on board this year.

Jeff has integrity, is extremely intelligent and has an intuitive sense of what the racers and crew need. He's a great guy and we couldn't think of someone better to be our Chief.

Hasta!

TC

Order your Team Kits and Tees!

We are placing a special order for extra Team Switchback kits and also tech t-shirts from Mt. Borah. The order will go in on or about May 15th and we need payment ahead of time to make this happen. Mt. Borah is giving us good pricing and we are using this as a means to fundraise for the Southern Exposure Foundation.

Team Switchback 2010 Pricing:

Full Zip Jersey Men/Women: $75.00

Classic Shorts: $70.00

Classic Bib Shorts: $75.00

Pro Bib Shorts (better chamois): $90.00

---------

Tech T-Shirt: $30.00

Send your order by May 15th to:

Tim Case

PO Box 270671

Louisville, CO 80027

Party tonight in Westminster...

10557 West 107th Avenue

Wesminster, CO 80021

NEW TEAM SWITCHBACK KITS!!!

Party on the 17th changed to 5pm!!!

C U There!

Team Switchback Party, April 17th

Team Switchback has an amazing group of supporters and so on Saturday, April 17th, we are getting together to fundraise and celebrate the incredible journey that we are embarking on in June.

Join Tim and Eric, our friends and family at noon on the 17th for BBQ, beer, family and awesomeness.

Here's the details:

10557 West 107th Avenue

Wesminster, CO 80021

Yo, Eric Begin and Tim Case are racing their bikes from Oceanside, CA to Durango, CO this June in support of the Southern Exposure Foundation, which builds homes for the impoverished citizens of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Juarez has been called the "murder capital of the world" by the BBC and has a higher per-capita murder rate than L.A. County. Juarez sits a few short miles across the border from El Paso, TX and they need our help.

$10 - $20 suggested donation gets you beer and BBQ food. Bring a side to pass and get your drink on, for a good cause, of course.

We're gonna raise some money for an incredible cause and have fun doing it.

See you there.

Tim and Eric

Welcome to Race Day Wheels!

Thanks to Marc from Race Day Wheels for sponsoring Team Switchback in June. Race Day Wheels provides rental and use of super high-zoot racing wheels for that special event your planning on racing...

Give 'em a look and a try...

Tim

Trans-Oceanic Partnership

So in a fairly unprecedented move, I've decided to race my heart out on our two-man Race Across the West squad, Team Switchback, and then link up in Durango, CO with an awesome group of Limey's who are doing the 2-man Race Across America and crew for them all the way to Annapolis, Maryland!

Team Velocity Bikes is supporting a wide range of charities, but the real kicker for me is that the two racers and many of the crew are all professional firefighters (current and retired) in the United Kingdom.

Firefighting is a true brother and sisterhood and I believe that this will be an excellent way to meet a bunch of new people, see the RAAM from the crew perspective and support my firefighting brethren, all after racing in the Race Across the West with Eric Begin.

The timing for this is perfect as I already have a bunch of time off in June. Why not support another team and have a fun, challenging time across the country...

Remember, we are still seeking tax deductible donations for Team Switchback and the Southern Exposure Foundation.

Please send us your supporting donation to:

Southern Exposure Foundation

c/o Tim Case

PO BOX 270671

Louisville, CO 80027

Thank you!

Tim

Team Switchback Logo!

Thanks to all from HPI Marketing for helping us design our logo!!! Team kits are in-process and will be available for purchase closer in to the Race Across the West.

Remember, we are still seeking donations for the Southern Exposure Foundation...

Southern Exposure Foundation

c/o Tim Case

PO Box 270671

Louisville, CO 80024

Thanks!

TC

Save the Date

Team Switchback is having a fundraising party and chili cook-off in Boulder on Saturday, April

10.

Details and invitation coming very soon...

Welcome to the Jungle

Team Switchback is officially on the board. Registration is complete for the 2010 Race Across the West.

We really need your support in the upcoming months and would appreciate any donation that you can provide for us and the Southern Exposure Foundation.

Remember, this is "just" a bike race, but we are racing for a charity that builds homes in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. 4k builds one single family home down there...how much can you afford to donate?

Every.single.dollar.counts!

Team Switchback c/o Tim Case

PO Box 270671

Louisville, CO 80027

Thanks again!

The racers and crew of Team Switchback

Words to Live and Race By: Team Switchback 2010

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

-President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

Training Update

I like having setbacks in training because, to me at least, that means that I'm generally making progress. Can't have one without the other.

This time of year training really becomes a chore...what with the erratic weather (especially out here in CO where Mother Nature seems to suffer from severe bi-polar), still too-short days (come on Spring-forward) and the tendency to not sleep enough, work too hard and get sick.

It's tough because right about now you really need the base miles, introduction of speed work and generally getting formed and fit on your bike, but so many things seem to conspire. Looking outside my window right now into the dreary pre-dawn, it looks like we've got another rough patch ahead.

Eric and I have been working hard and putting in some tough miles to get ready for the Race Across the West. Yesterday my hands froze so hard and fast on the descent that I couldn't get my fingers to change gears or grip the handlebar adequately. The freeze and thaw cycle is so common this time of year that you'd think we'd be used to it. Wrong.

Team Switchback is putting in the work now so that we can put on an awesome show for y'all in June. We promise a show of force that involves integrity, class and good spirit for our competitors, for our crew and for our fans and supporters.

It's because of YOUR support that we can get this crazy thing done! Of course we are still looking for donations for the Southern Exposure Foundation...every single dollar raised counts, big time!

Send your tax-deductible donation today to:

Southern Exposure Foundation

c/o Tim Case

PO Box 270671

Louisville, CO 80027

Welcome to HPI Marketing!

A warm welcome to HPI Marketing as they will be Team Swtichback's design and marketing partner for 2010. HPI has helped Team Strong Heart gain credibility and awareness over the past several years and we are hoping for the same for our team!

Welcome and thank you!

Welcome to Mt. Borah for 2010!

Team Swithback would like to welcome Mt. Borah Designs as an apparel sponsor for Team Switchback in 2010!

We are super excited to have them on-board with TS and are ready to put their cycling gear to the test as we march to Durango, CO during the Race Across the West!

Check out their website and give 'em a try!

Team Switchback Welcomes Vecchio's of Boulder!

Team Switchback is proud to announce a partnership with Vecchio's Bicicletteria of Boulder, Colorado as our preferred provider of bicycle parts and service for our entry into the Race Across the West.

Vecchio's has an incredible reputation as the place to go for expert bicycle service in the Rocky Mountain region and we are proud to welcome them onto our team!

Buongiorno!

Personal Appeal

Dear Team Switchback supporter,

Next June, Eric Begin and I will be racing our bicycles in the 2010 Race Across the West (www.raceacrossthewest.org), which travels from Oceanside, California to Durango, Colorado in a non-stop, around the clock race.

The Race Across the West (RAW) is held in conjunction with the Race Across America (RAAM) bicycle race, termed the "world's toughest sporting event" by Outside Magazine. Eric Begin is a one time RAAM-crewing veteran and was my crew chief during my successful 2008 solo RAAM effort. I have raced RAAM three times and the 4-man team I was on last year WON the race. The RAW is an international, highly esteemed competition and we are excited to be participating as a 2-man team.

For 2010, Eric and I have created "Team Switchback," founded on the principal that real, everyday people can effect positive, lasting change in world. We all have "switchbacks" in our life and sometimes it's hard to figure out when the road will straighten out and the top of the mountain will be reached. Eric and I are using our talents for endurance athletics to help straighten that road out for people and causes all over the globe.

Team Switchback is partnering with the Southern Exposure foundation (SEF), a group based in Arvada, CO that works with the impoverished citizens of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and builds homes for them in the city that the BBC recently called the "murder capital of the world." Juarez is located a short distance across the border from El Paso, Texas and has become a major battleground for drug smugglers and major drug cartels.

There is terrible violence and poverty in Juarez (over 2600 murders last year) and the Southern Exposure foundation is hoping to bring a semblance of "normalcy" back to its citizens by building homes and employing skilled labor in the area. The SEF has built over 230 homes so far, approximately 30% of which are inhabited by single mothers and their children.

Team Switchback is raising funds and awareness for this incredibly difficult humanitarian effort by participating in the Race Across the West. YOU can directly impact our endeavor by sending a tax-deductible donation to the address at the end of this letter. Every single dollar raised with DIRECTLY impact our and the SEF's mission. Eric and I are hoping to raise at least enough money to build one single family home in Juarez (approximately $4500 USD).

Won't YOU help Team Switchback and the citizens of Ciudad Juarez?

Checks can be made out to:

Southern Exposure
c/o Tim Case
PO Box 270671
Louisville, CO 80027


Sincerely,

Tim Case
Team Switchback
2010 Race Across the West
www.teamswitchback.blogspot.com
Join us on Facebook!

What is Your Balm?

Right after September 11, 2001 I went to a lecture in Minnesota given by Maya Angelou, famous author, poet and social commentator.

Maya is known for her wisdom and wit, and so it was very fitting that she packed a lecture hall at a local university, full of people desperate for answers and understanding after that terrible morning 9 years ago...

Maya implored the crowd to find what she called our own personal "balm." Think about it. We all have those things in our lives that find comfort in...some healthy, others not so much. As the level of stress increases for each one of us...bigger, better job, bills, kids, etc., we need to find those things that will bring us peace and security.

For Eric Begin and I, Team Switchback, we have found that our passion for endurance cycling can bring a measure of balm to the citizens of Juarez, Mexico. In a sense, we are using our balm to bring others into a more certain world, if only for the moment.

Cycling has changed our lives for the better and so we seek ways to pay that forward to another people and another place. We are hoping that you will find balm and peace in your life and help us bring that comfort to the impoverished world of Juarez, Mexico.

Next June, Eric and I will be racing our bicycles across the American West with the basic premise that individual people with a passion for humanitarian causes, such as ours, can effect positive, secure change as the world seems to be spinning out of control.

Maya Angelou spoke for a bit over an hour to a mass of people looking for something to grip onto, days after planes crashed, people jumped, rescuers ran in and our world was turned upside down and as she begged us to find our center, she sang out, "There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole..."

Help Team Switchback carry this message to the residents of Juarez...

Team Switchback c/o Tim Case
PO Box 270671
Louisville, CO 80027

Introduction to the Team

Team Switchback is composed of two racers, Eric Begin and Tim Case and is kicking off the team's creation by participating in the Race Across the West bicycle race in June.

Tim Case is employed as a professional firefighter at Boulder Fire Rescue and is a three time veteran of the Race Across America bicycle race, termed the "world's toughest sporting event" by Outside Magazine, twice on a relay team and once (2008) solo. Most recently, Tim has lended his talent for ultra-endurance athletics to Team Strong Heart and continues to be a member of that organization.

Eric Begin is a Fort Lewis (Durango, CO) alum and is also a professional firefighter with Boulder Fire Rescue in Boulder, CO. He has a wife, Andrea and a new baby girl. Eric was Tim's Crew Chief during his 2008 solo Race Across America effort.

-----------------

For 2010, Team Switchback is proud to be partnering with the Southern Exposure Foundation, which is a non-profit charity based in Arvada, CO (http://www.southernexposureinc.org/) that brings funding and human resources to building homes for the impoverished citizens of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Southern Exposure has built over 230 homes for the people of Juarez, 30% of which have been inhabited by single women with children.

Team Switchback has been created for the explicit purpose of racing funding and awareness for this incredible charity and hopes to raise enough funding in 2010 for the materials and resources needed to complete one single family home in Juarez, or about $4500.

Eric and I are proud to support this mission and are pleased that we can use our talents for gathering resources and people while racing our bikes across the western third of our Nation in support of Southern Exposure.

If you would like to help Team Switchback and the Southern Exposure Foundation, tax exempt donations can be sent to the following address:

Southern Exposure c/o Tim Case
PO Box 270671
Louisville, CO 80027

The dawn is approaching...