In 2008, our friends at Evolution Cycling began a partnership with Raisin Hope through the vaunted Reston Town Center Grand Prix. The program raised over $2K for Saul's foundation, through a raffle and direct donations. The partnership continues in 2009. This year, through Raisin Hope, Evo will specifically be benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project and those service men and women who have suffered brain and spinal cord injuries.
How can you get involved?
- Make a donation when you register for the Reston Town Center online.
- Enter the raffle at the event, with a chance to win one of many prizes (including the new GamJams socks)
- Donate some merchandise or services to the growing list of raffle prizes. Mitch Ferro is your man.
In the meantime, take a few minutes to learn more about Saul Raisin and Raisin Hope through the following 10 Questions.
-- 10 Questions With... Saul Raisin, on Raisin Hope at Reston Town Center Grand Prix
(GamJams) 1. What was the biggest difference in your training from when you raced as an amateur to your career as a pro with Credit Agricole?
(Saul Raisin) Your first year as a pro you do Zero Training during the season. All you do is race and rest. My first year pro I did over 80 days of professional racing. I only had maybe two weeks all year I could use for actual training. When you have a ten day stage fallowed by a Classic five days later, three days is not enough to train because one day is traveling to the race. Only the team leaders have time to train because they pick out their schedule. I had some say in my racing program but not a lot. The biggest adjustment for American cyclists moving to Europe is learning to adapt to their culture and way of life.
(GJ) 2. Who do you think has a tougher time of it - American cyclists racing in Europe, or the European Formula 1 drivers having a go at NASCAR?
(SR): That’s easy, - American cyclists racing in Europe because we all know Formula 1 is a heck of a lot harder than driving a NASCAR oval. I have been to Formula 1 races like the GP of Monaco. They push the cars at 200+mph down city streets. It is intense.
(GJ) 3. After a big crash, how do you get over the fear of crashing again? What advice would you give to amateur racers who lose their nerve after hitting the pavement?
(SR): There is a famous saying: “SH*T happens”. And it does… Everyone is going to crash something or fall one time in their life. If they are scared about crashing a bike they should be more scared to crash their car. The number one cause for Traumatic Brain Injuries are falls. Not falling off your bike but falling off your feet. When you crash you learn more about yourself and your limits as a person. Make the most of it. Sometimes it’s good to just take a good look in the mirror and say “I am really messed up”.
(GJ) 4. Which has been more difficult for you - being a pro cyclist, or being an ex-pro cyclist?
(SR): Being a brain injury survivor. When you have a brain injury you are held under a microscope and everything you do is watched over to help discover the person you were before. I lost all my social etiquette, could not read facial expressions. You have to relearn it all if you’re not blessed to get it back.
(GJ) 5. Why start a Foundation, and devote as much time to touring the country for charity rides and speeches as you previously did to race your bike? Why live every day with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), instead of putting it behind you and moving forward with your life?
(SR): I told my friends and family when I was in the hospital that if I ever lived a normal life again, I would devote my life to helping others get through what I did. Thus began the Raisin Hope Foundation. Doctors tell me that out of everyone who gets brain injury similar to mine that not even 1% of people get back to where I am mentally. No one ever fully overcomes a brain injury - it is something you carry with you your whole life. Also, statistically I should be dead. My life goal is one day when people look back at my life they say, "That kid had one of the most severe brain injuries someone can have. He overcame it - so can I." Once doctor always a doctor. Once a pro athlete always a pro athlete. Once you have a brain injury you always have a brain injury. Why not take a brain injury and become an even better person? No need to put it behind me because I am using it to push myself to be a better person.
(GJ) 6. Is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) more common among cyclists than the general population, or compared to other sports?
(SR): No not at all.. Motorcycles, car racing, boxing, football, ultimate fighting, horseback riding, the list goes on.
(GJ) 7. Raisin Hope now has its own social network connecting members. At GamJams, we know bike racers like to read blogs and status updates and tweets, and also look at pictures of themselves. How instrumental has the internet been in getting out the Raisin Hope message?
(SR): It is finally catching on. There is so only so much known about the brain but even more unknown. Because of this you can not give answers but you can be that shoulder for them to cry on. The Raisin Hope Foundation is that friendly shoulder for people to cry on. (ed: and you can "friend" Thor Hushovd)
(GJ) 8. How many people are affected by TBI? We hear of some of the cycling-related incidents, but what are some of the statistics?
(SR): About two million head injuries of all types (including skull and facial fractures) occur each year in the U. S. (175 to 200 per 100,000 population).
Over 1.5 million Americans suffer nonfatal traumatic brain injuries each year which do not require hospitalization. About the same number are reported to sustain a brain injury resulting in a loss of consciousness but not severe enough to result in long-term institutionalization (an annual rate of 618 per 100,000 person-years).
Another 300,000 individuals suffer brain injuries severe enough to require hospitalization, with 99,000 resulting in a lasting disability. A total of 56,000 people die each year as a result of traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic brain injuries account for an estimated 34% of all injury deaths in the United States.
An estimated 62.3 per 100,000 adults age 15 and over are living in the community with enduring functional impairments due to TBI (excludes most survivors of mild TBI).
(GJ) 9. TBI turns the lives of victims upside-down. But TBI affects the families of victims perhaps just as much, though in very different ways. Can you explain what Raisin Hope does to help families and other caretakers?
(SR): Considering how severe a Brain Injury is and how devastating it is for
not only you and you family, it is horrific to know that there are not
many resources for people. There is so only so much known about the brain but even more unknown. Because of this you cannot give answers but you can be that shoulder for them to cry on. The Raisin Hope Foundation is that friendly shoulder for people to cry on.
(GJ) 10. In addition to making donations directly, what are the other ways people can support the Raisin Hope foundation?
(SR): Come ride with me in Dalton, GA September 5th at the Third Annual Raisin Hope Ride. Sign up on www.raisinhope.org. Or simply call or go see a friend or loved one in their time of need. People do not know how far the support and a smile goes in someone’s time of need.
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