Health

Cyclists Bike 3k Miles For Childhood Heart Disease

(WCCO) After returning from almost two weeks of pedaling across the country, four Minnesotans are already back on their bikes for a short weekend jaunt.

"I didn't think it was as bad for me as it was for other people," said Melinda Silbernick.

For her, the hardest part was sleep. She only got two to three hours of rest per shift.

Silbernick was part of Team Strong Heart, a group of Minnesotans who took part on the Race Across America. They raised $30,000 for Camp Odayin, a charity organization to help kids with cardiovascular disease.

The team rode 3,014 miles from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland in seven days, one hour and 55 minutes, putting them in 2nd place for the four-person teams. The group divided into two pairs of two. The first group would ride for five to six hours, taking turns sprinting for 10-12 minutes each.

"Without the mission, I don't think myself would do something like that," said rider and triathlete Amy Xu. "It's one of the toughest races I have ever done."

Jay Thompson said the hardest part for him was the hills.

"The riding… I surprised myself with what your body can do," he said.

John Rotach had a tougher time leaving his family for two weeks. He also struggled a bit with the food.

"It was nothing but a really thick sports drink you mix, about the consistency of pancake batter. I basically lived on that for the first half of the race," he said.

Each rider said they thought about their mission to help kids with heart disease. They thought about their crew who had worked so hard to make the ride smooth. They thought about their riding teammates who counted on them to reach the East Coast.

"Once we got to the point where were 24 hours from the finish, we were reenergized," said Thompson. "It was something else."

Crew Chief Bill Beckman navigated the route. He was a good choice, given his job as a geography teacher at Maple Grove Junior High School. Beckman considered it a great opportunity to see the country from coast to coast in one week.

"I had stuck my foot in the Pacific Ocean on June 11 and about seven days later, I stuck it into the Chesapeake Bay," he said.

The team started in California, then traveled through the desert in Arizona and the Rockies in Utah and Colorado. They touched the northwest tip of Texas to get through Oklahoma before hitting the plains in Kansas and Missouri. They crossed the Mississippi and rode through the Ohio Valley, across Appalachia in West Virginia before making it to the Chesapeake Bay.

Beckman said the toughest part was navigating rush hour traffic in Hamilton, Ohio and following Silbernick through night-time hairpin turns in the Rockies.

Each of the riders were first-timers for Race Across America. Each said it would probably also be their last. It was hard, but they loved it and want to give other people a try.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Beckman.

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