Day 1 - Cumberland, MD

Day 1 of our trip has been wonderful! After sleeping in and having breakfast at the hotel, we spent some time strolling on the downtown Cumberland Pedestrian Mall and enjoying the lovely old architecture. At 3:00 p.m., we met the Team Sarcoma group at our hotel and went across the street to get fitted for our rental bikes and collect our numerous bracelets (which each represent something, like our participation in the event, our level of biking, etc.). The bikes seem really comfortable and they ride smooth, so we are looking forward to starting the tour tomorrow! After the bike fittings, the group went on a little walking tour of the area, and this evening, we assembled for dinner on the patio at Ristorante Ottaviani’s for some good Italian food and good conversation. :)

I can’t express what a cool event this is already or how lucky we feel to be part of it. Since July 18-24 is International Sarcoma Awareness Week, there are sarcoma activities going on this week all over the world, but this is the big “core team” event and it’s a very special atmosphere. Our group is made up of about 45 people, representing 10 countries (so far we’ve met people from Mexico, Lithuania, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Canada, Poland, & Denmark) and 10 U.S. states, and we have really enjoyed meeting them and hearing about where they are from and the journeys that have led them here. Getting to know people who have first-hand experience with what we’ve been going through the past five years is … well, it’s hard to put into words, actually … but it’s incredible and it creates an instant closeness despite the fact that most of us are total strangers. It’s also been especially fun for me to finally meet people I’ve grown very close to online through the ACOR osteosarcoma support group (Mary, Shelly & Bruce) and their families. Plus, the 45 people from this event have already raised an estimated $70,000 for sarcoma research - how great is that?!?!

Well, the bike tour officially begins tomorrow morning, so I better head up to the hotel room and get some rest. I’ll update again tomorrow night to let you know how Day 2 went! Thanks for visiting!

Love,

Karen