Day 11 1/2: Motivating Tim in Our Underwear

Editor’s Note: Tim Case is in Maryland at last, less than a day away from finishing the Race Across America. This is a solo bike race that will have him cross the United States pedaling nearly non stop. He left Oceanside, Calif., June 8 and was just outside of Time Station No. 50, Rouzerville, Pa., at 6 p.m. Thursday. That time station is just 130 miles from the finish. His team checks in with us daily. Tim is riding for Team Strong Heart to raise money and awareness for Camp Odayin, which is dedicated to serving children with severe heart problems.

Tim is just doing so well, I had to check in one more time today. I’m just excited; Tim is typically, by this point in the day, he is soooo tired.

But you can just see his motivation right now. This guy is riding like a monster. I’ve never seen him ride so good.

You would think he would have his normal double vision right now, but he is so alert it is simply amazing. He pulled up to the car a few minutes ago (we are in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania) and says, “Hey isn’t this so beautiful around here?”

Just now, we were going up a really tough climb. He is just standing up in the saddle on this, gliding on his pedals. It looks as if he were just leaving Boulder, heading up to Estes Park.

We’ve been leap frogging Tim all day in the support vehicles to give him an extra push. We hadn’t seen Eric, the crew chief, and Kevin, Tim’s brother, in the other car for a little while, and thought they may just be taking a nap.

They weren’t.

The two of them come running out of the woods with just their underwear on, just screaming. Tim was hysterical laughing; it really pushed him.

We’ve been writing chalk signs of motivation every 20 miles. We are screaming all the time for him.

I asked Tim if he liked it and he said he loves it. We are sticking this out all night. We are all so excited. We are gaining time on our competition. We are racing now.

I cannot believe that Tim is pushing so hard. We can taste the finish line so we are just so excited.

This guy amazes us every minute of the day

To everybody that believed in Tim along the way, we appreciate it.

—Michelle Pearl, Tim’s girlfriend and crew member. Dictated to Jacob Harkins.

Other Posts:
Some thoughts from Tim
The Finish
Day 11 1/2
Day 11
Day 9
Day 8
Day 7
Day 6
Day 5
Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1

See our story on Tim’s quest.