Riding for Young Hearts: My Gravel Racing Journey to Support Children’s Hospital
On West 3, the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, the glass of every child’s room gets decorated with what they love, motivational sayings, drawings of heart valves, milestone celebrations, and, especially, celebrations of Happy Heart Day, when kids waiting for new hearts get the good news.
While the ICU unit can be a noisy place full of kid energy, machines beeping, and voices, it is, at its core, a kid and family-centered environment where everyone focuses on helping the child get healthy again.
I can’t imagine the dedication and perseverance of the staff in the face of the challenges these children face with serious heart issues.
I’ve had my own heart issues with two ablations in the last two years to repair ventricular tachycardia, which caused out-of-control beating of my ventricles.
That’s little, though, compared to what many of these kids face at Children’s and the Herma Heart Institute.
That’s why I’m dedicating this season of bike racing to raise funds for the Herma Heart Institute, which funds part of the community support on West 3.
I’m riding in gravel bike races throughout the Midwest in 2025 to show that it’s possible to overcome heart issues and still race bikes.
Community Funding Brings Innovations and Saves Lives
Community funding allows surgeons to test and innovate to improve the chances for kids with serious heart issues.
For example, children as recently as the 1990s were dying from hypoplastic left heart syndrome, but due to innovation at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, 97 to 98 percent of children are surviving.
One of the biggest recipients of community funding at Children’s is the wraparound care each child receives.
For example, a Child Life Specialist can talk to a kid in age-appropriate language about their condition.
Music, pet, play, and art therapy specialists can come in and help kids process everything that is going on in their lives.
Since some children can be on West 3 for months waiting for a heart transplant, the kids still need to play and be kids.
So kids waiting for a heart have a Berlin heart device that takes over the function of the child’s heart that they cart around in a red and yellow Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.
I’m Honored to Support the Children’s Hospital Foundation
I’m honored to help support Children’s Hospital’s work in a very small way with contributions I’ll collect throughout the year.
I’ve scheduled 10 races throughout the Midwest from March 1 until November, and I may add more, depending on my own health.
The tentative schedule is this:
March 1 Dirty South Roubaix, Alto Pass, IL 60 miles
March 22 Hell of the Wind, New Liberty, IL (Big River Gravel Series) 60 miles
April 5 Rough Road 100, Morris, IL 64 miles
April 12 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI 60 miles
May 3 1904, Illinois City, IL (Big River Gravel Series) 80 miles
May 10 Hungry Bear, Cable, WI 60 miles
June 7 KKD Gravel, Farmington, MN 80 miles
July 12 Burning Quad, Erie, IL (Big River Gravel Series) 80 miles
August 23 Coon Fork 40, Eau Claire, WI
September U.S. Gravel Nationals, LaCrescent, MN 88 miles
Let’s Have Some Fun With the Fundraising
To spice up the campaign:
- When we raise $750, I’ll ride in a costume for the next race.
- When we raise $1,000, I’ll get my face painted for the next race.
- When we raise $1,500, I’ll do a burpee for every hundred dollars right after the next race in my full kit!
- When we raise $2,000, I’ll eat a half-dozen hot wings that evening(not immediately after the race, though; that could get ugly!)
- When we raise more, let’s come up with other ridiculous challenges!
I’ll post all of these on my LinkedIn page, Instagram, and Facebook pages.
Here’s the link for the GoFundMe page for your tax-deductible contribution.
Three Things to Know About Dedicating My Season to Raising Funds for Pediatric Heart Care
- I’m dedicating my 2025 gravel racing season to raising funds for Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, which provides life-saving care and support for kids with serious heart conditions.
- Donations help fund crucial innovations in pediatric heart care and provide wraparound services like music, art, and pet therapy.
- To make the campaign engaging, I’m adding fun incentives: racing in costumes, getting my face painted, doing post-race burpees, and even taking on a hot wings challenge as we hit fundraising milestones.
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