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.