Team Doc2Doc Race Across America 2010

Race Across America 2010

 Race Across America is one of the most respected and longest running annual endurance events holding legendary stature the world over. It is one of the pinnacles of sporting accomplishment, globally seen as the highest rung of the ultra-endurance sports ladder. Since 1982, RAAM has a rich and storied history standing as a monument to human endeavors.

The Race Across America is an event so staggering that merely to finish is, for most, the accomplishment of a lifetime. RAAM inspires everyone that it touches. A monumental race contested with the utmost of sportsmanship and zeal. Truly, RAAM is larger than life. A breeding ground for champions, a testing ground for elite riders and a shining example of the strength of human spirit.

2010 General Race Information 

• Start: Oceanside, CA - The Oceanside Pier.  Teams start June 12th 2pm
• Finish: Annapolis, MD - The City Dock. June 17- June 19th.
• Route: More than 3,000 miles across the United States.
• Divisions: Solo and Two-Person, Four-Person, and Eight-Person Teams.

The route is over 3000 miles, touching 14 states and climbing over 100,000 feet. Teams typically cross the country in 6 to 9 days, averaging 350 to over 500 miles per day. Solo racers finish in 9 to 12 days, averaging 250 to 350 miles per day. Teams have a relay format and race 24 hours a day. Solo racers have the challenge of balancing a few hours of sleep each night against race deadlines.

Why RAAM?

Because it's there was George Mallory's answer, as to why climb Mt. Everest.

RAAM has a similar draw. At the very ast, it's the honor of adding their name to the prestigious roll call of RAAM Finishers and Team RAAM Finishers.

RAAM is more than a bike race. It is about ordinary people being great. It's about realizing dreams, a journey of the heart and soul. It's about being the toughest of the tough. It's about camaraderie, teamwork, and the incredible RAAM family. It's about taking the stage for a charity or cause that matters, to raise awareness and funds. It's about the vastness, richness, beauty, and generosity of the United States of America and the people who live here. It's a lifetime experience never to be repeated.

For Team doc2doc, it's also about raising awareness and funds for the Wellness House and the Helping Hands Foundation.    We ask you to review these great resources and consider donating.

 

New Bike for RAAM

Courtesy of Capital Bicycle      

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Logo

    

Race Across America party

What:   Cocktails and apps

Time: 7pm

Address:  30 shadow point court

edgewater, md, 21037

www.even-keel.net

Helping Hands Foundation working to assist in Haiti

       Helping Hands Foundation was founded in 2005 by Tom Harries and Jeff Gelfand to help Stefan Chidesa, a newborn from Romania with a complex congenital hand deformity.  Stefan was brought to Annapolis, where he and his mother were hosted by Dick and Mary Skinner for six weeks during which time he underwent surgical correction of his hand deformity.  Since inception, seven people have been brought to Annapolis for reconstructive surgical procedures.  Helping Hands has sponsored surgical training trips to Europe, Asia, and soon to South America to help teach local surgeons in these communities the modern techniques necessary to care for these conditions.  Surgical procedures for all visiting patients have been performed at the Anne Arundel Medical Center through the generous support of Anne Arundel Medical Center and the AAMC Foundation. 

     You can donate to the Helping Hands Foundation tax free by clicking on the Donate button to the right.

Helping Hands Foundation update

Toe to Hand

Transplant Restores Hand... and Self Confidence

 

On the morning of July 20, Rocio Duran Poma was wheeled into an AAMC operating room with nine fingers and 10 toes. More than 10 hours later, the young woman from Bolivia awoke to find her hands complete.

Ms. Duran Poma was the beneficiary of a toe-to-hand transfer for thumb reconstruction, a complex combination of orthopedic and microvascular surgery conducted by orthopedic surgeons Jeffrey Gelfand, M.D., and visiting orthopedic surgeon John A. McFadden, M.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina.

Ms. Duran Poma was injured while doing work on her mother’s house in La Paz, Bolivia, nearly two years ago. A boulder fell on her, injuring her ankle, clavicle and shoulder, and damaging her right hand to the point that the thumb had to be amputated. “The accident that took my thumb changed everything in my life,” said Ms. Duran Poma through a translator. “I was in school, and suddenly I couldn’t write. I was immediately self conscious, isolating myself from people and friends.”

By surgically attaching her right big toe to the position her thumb occupied on her right hand, Drs. Gelfand and McFadden began the process that will allow Ms. Duran Poma to once again regain nearly full function of her right hand.

“Without an opposable thumb, a patient loses all the unique functions of a human hand,” said Dr. Gelfand. “The loss of a thumb can devastate a person’s ability to grasp and manipulate objects. A toe-to-hand transfer can restore stability, strength and mobility to the human hand by recreating the opposable thumb.”

Ms. Duran Poma was brought from Bolivia to AAMC by the Helping Hands Foundation, a group of surgeons on the AAMC medical staff who perform reconstructive surgery on individuals who typically would not have treatment because of cost or lack of access.

According to Dr. Gelfand, she was an ideal surgical candidate for the procedure. Her amputation had left the muscles, arteries, and nerves that moved and provided sensation for the thumb intact—only the thumb was missing. Through microsurgery, surgeons transferred her toe to her hand and attached those viable structures of her hand to the nerves, tendons, bones, and blood vessels of her toe.

The surgery was the first of its kind at AAMC. She returned home in mid- August, where she undergoes rehabilitation and continues her recovery. She no longer wears a glove to hide her injury and enjoys restored confidence.

“I want to thank the doctors who repaired my hand, for giving my life back to me,” she said. “The nurses who cared for me after my operation were very kind, and I am grateful to return home to be with my family, friends, and return to my studies.”

– Justin Paquette

Specialized s-works transition

    It's obviously easy to review something you like.   I happen to love bikes, but I at least have owned and ridden several great bikes to formulate a strong opinion on what I am riding.   

While trying to train for solo RAAM, I came across the Specialized Roubaix SL2, which is obviously at the top of  solo rider bikes because comfort equals speed after multiple centuries of riding.    Last year's women solo winner came across the line on the Roubaix. I was lucky in that the Roubaix fits me like a glove.

   I will be bringing along the Roubaix SL2 for Team RAAM,  but I plan on primarily riding the S-works transition.   As a comparison, I have owned and ridden several time trial/triathlon bikes including the titanium Litespeed Blade, carbon kestrel k40, and high modulus carbon Jamis T2.   These bikes are among the most coveted bikes for triathlon, at least in their era. Each one of them had one or two notable issues.  Things like poor cable routing and ride harshness for the Blade, mushy frame for the Kestrel because of it's geometry and early generation carbon fiber, and inadequate stiffness in the bottom bracket and front/rear brake idiosyncrasies for the Jamis. They all were  great bikes and all are very aero.   However, the transition was the first tri bike that fit me well out of the box.   My first 20k TT on the bike,   I shed one min from my time,  even though I was comparatively unfit on my watt meter.  For short course racing and Ironman, that speed is crucial.    I couldn't tell ya if it was the bike being aero  or just that the bike fit me well.   I went thru the fit process with Parker at Capital Bicycle.    What I really like about the bike is the comfort paired with amazing stiffness when climbing out of the saddle or mashing on the pedals.  Part of that is likely the high modulus carbon used, the geometry, and also the layup in the bottom bracket area.  I wish I had this bike for previous 24hr road races I had competed in and a hilly Ironman this summer.   I tend to be someone who likes being out of the saddle even when doing triathlon, so this bike suits me very well, especially when I'm doing longer and hillier rides.  The transition obviously doesn't have the comfort as the Roubaix SL2, especially since it's a more aggressive geometry,   but I haven't found a road bike that comes close in comfort to the Roubaix, except maybe my mountain bike.    I have always had issues with comfort on most triathlon geometry frames, but for some reason,  I'm very at home on the transition.     

Helping Hands Foundation

Second child to receive care through charitable efforts by surgeons and AAMC Foundation

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- A 10-year-old boy from La Paz, Bolivia, will have surgery at Anne Arundel Medical Center next week to remove large, likely cancerous tumors that are destroying his hands and threatening his life.

Luis Miguel Yana Mamani arrived at Baltimore Washington International Airport on Aug. 19 and will have surgery at Anne Arundel Medical Center on Aug. 31. He and his family are staying in the Arnold home of Denise O?Neill, a breast cancer survivor and founder of a cancer support group at AAMC. The child?s lifesaving journey was made possible through the collaboration of the Helping Hands Foundation, the First Hand Foundation, and the AAMC Foundation.

AAMC orthopedists Jeff Gelfand, M.D., Tom Dennis, M.D., Garth Smith, M.D., Ed Holt, M.D., anesthesiologist Dave Corddry, M.D., will perform the surgery with assistance from Anne Arundel Pathology Services. Thomas Harries, M.D., and Jeffery Gelfand, M.D. established the Helping Hands Foundation to provide lifesaving hand surgery to children from countries where this type of specialized care is not available. The First Hand Foundation, a philanthropic foundation set up by associates of the Cerner Corporation, will provide travel, food, and lodging for the child and his family and half of the prosthesis costs for the reconstruction of the child?s hand.

Luis Miguel Yana Mamani is the second child to receive care through a collaborative between the Helping Hands Foundation and the AAMC Foundation. The first child, Stefan Chidesa, was an infant from Romania born with severe malformation of his left hand. With help from the Helping Hands and the AAMC Foundation, the child -- now a toddler -- has a healthy future. 

Bike Racing

  Bike racing comes in many forms.    There is offroad racing, namely mountain biking and the increasingly popular cyclocross.    There is also road racing which includes time trials, criteriums which are shorter loop courses, and long road racing.    Then there is Ultracycling, with RAAM being the largest and longest of the Ultra event in the US.    RAAM is a comparatively different type of race raced by comparatively, umm...   different people.  We hope to experience 110 deg heat to 32 deg sleet, sand storms, thunderstorms, and very long nights.   We hope to experience views of America that will last a lifetime, while raising awareness for cancer resources and the Helping Hand Foundation.

Annapolis Wellness House

     Mission Statement

The mission of Annapolis Wellness Corporation is to provide a club house where cancer patients and their families can meet to gather information and complete the healing process. Specifically, the home would be open during business hours to cancer patients who are undergoing treatment in Anne Arundel County and to their immediate family members whose lives are being affected by the cancer illness. The home would have: a library with books, videos, computer and internet resources on cancer; meeting rooms for both formal and informal seminars; a living area where visitors may relax or visit with others; a kitchen stocked with healthy snacks; a children’s play area with babysitter’s available to watch children during a parents’ cancer treatment; and a garden for rest and relaxation. The home would also provide modest overnight facilities, at no charge, for family members of patients who, because of their cancer illness, are undergoing treatment in Anne Arundel County.