Day 5 - Not Quite What We Were Expecting!

Day 5 started with a 14-mile bike ride from Shepherdstown, WV to Harper's Ferry, WV. All three of us completed the ride, and we were blessed yet again with beautiful weather (not too hot, no rain!) In Harper's Ferry, we enjoyed a guided tour of the town, which included lots of Civil War History and lots of stair climbing (whew--that's one hilly town!) The hiking was challenging for everyone, but it was hard to complain while watching German (that's his first name) from Mexico climbing the stairs two at a time with a prosthetic leg! He is amazing! In any event, we really enjoyed seeing the landmarks and taking in the beautiful scenery.

Following the tour, we had the option of continuing on with the bike trek for 14 more miles (which Scott chose) or enjoying a "relaxing" tubing trip down the Potomac River. Todd was a bit spent from the morning's bike ride, so we opted for the latter option. After a mix-up with communication about which van to take, we were relieved to catch up with the 11 members of our tubing group. Unfortunately, that's where things took a turn for the worst.

The river was low, and there was little to no current to carry us on our tubes. That meant that after spending all morning on the bike, we found ourselves paddling and kicking with our hands and feet non-stop in the river to achieve the slightest movement. It was exhausting -- no one told us this would be a triatholon! Eventually, we would hit some currents, but this just meant we were jossled into the numerous rocks on the river (which could really hurt if you weren't careful!) At one point, I got sucked down off my tub into a particularly fast and rocky whitewater area, where I was hit underwater by the rocks on both elbows, both knees, my chin, my hip, and my back and then got stuck in the rocks under water with the current rushing over my head. NOW THAT WAS SCARY! Luckily, I was able to free myself and get my head back above water, but there was still another hour of so of tubing (ahem, paddling) ahead, and now we were facing a strong head wind, so it seemed we were going backwards if anything (plus, I had a hard time paddling with my sore arms and legs!). It was pretty miserable to say the least, especially for the sarcoma survivers in our group who were facing a variety of physical challenges. Our whole group finally made it out of the water at 6:15 p.m. (which so happened to be the time our dinner started) and we were eventually bused back to the hotel to quickly shower and run off to the restaurant. The good news is that our anger at the situation ultimately turned into a great bonding experience for the 13 of us, and it probably made for one of the most memorable parts of the trip!

We did make it to dinner eventually, and just in time to hear Dr. David Loeb, an oncologist from Johns Hopkins, speak about the research he is doing thanks, in part, to funding by the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative (see everyone - your donations to Team Sarcoma/Liddy Shriver are really making a difference!!!) And we were thrilled to learn that just yesterday, a new clinical trial was approved for sarcoma patients with metastatic disease. Obviously I asked lots of questions and spoke to Dr. Loeb afterwards, and I'm going to investigate whether it is possible for Todd to get into this trial. So stay tuned! It sure was a wonderful way to cap off the evening and to put into perspective the real reason we are here.

Thanks again for continuing to follow our journey!

Love,
Karen

Day 4 - Big Bike Day

Day 4 was our biggest bike day on the tour so far. After spending one night at the Country Inn & Spa in Berkeley Springs, WV, we started the day early with breakfast at 7:00 a.m., packed our luggage, and hit the C&O Canal Towpath again. We got a late start due to an issue with Todd's bike, but our guides (Joe, Don & John - who are awesome by the way!) quickly fixed it and we were content to ride behind the majority of the pack at our own pace. The terraine continues to be a challenge, but the trip went well nonetheless!

This morning, Todd, Scott & I all biked the first 12 miles together until we reached our first tourist destination - Fort Frederick, Maryland, where we toured the fort and museum and enjoyed learning more about its history.

From Fort Frederick, we biked an additional 13 miles until we reached a pavillion where we ate lunch. Todd decided after 25 miles for the day (wow!!) that he'd better quit while he was ahead, so he opted to go to the next hotel (the Bavarian Inn in Sheperdstown, WV) in the shuttle van to shower and rest up.

Todd keeps saying how disappointed he is in himself that he didn't finish the 36-mile goal he set for himself, but he's obviously the only one that sees his performance as anything short of amazing. Jeez, he was on chemo up until a couple days ago and his lung function is compromised! Plus, Todd and Marius (from Lithuania) are the only two people on this tour that have lung metastases and are currently on chemo, so the fact that they are participating at all is nothing short of incredible. Anyway, I wanted to join Todd for some R&R back at the hotel too (it's been a hectic week so far and we haven't had a lot of down time), but there wasn't room in the van and I still had energy, so I opted to bike the next leg of the trip. All in all, I completed 36 miles today - which is definitely more than I've done in training! And Scott, rock star that he is, completed the full 52 mile trip with his new buddy John from Denmark. :)

We capped the night off with a nice dinner in the ballroom of the Bavarian Inn and listened to a reading from a woman who wrote a book called "The Letters" about losing her husband to sarcoma many years ago, only to be diagnosed with the same type of sarcoma herself several years ago. The reading was beautiful and stirred a lot of emotion in the room. Unfortunately for me, the talk of losing a spouse to cancer stirred up a little too much emotion (I try to keep buried down my fears of losing Todd and it was hard to stop crying once I started!). But after a hot shower, I felt much better and we were able to drift off in a nice, happy sleep.

We can't wait to continue the trek tomorrow!

- Karen

Day 3 - Biking (Scott) & Sightseeing (Todd & Karen)

On Day 3, Scott continued with the bike ride while Todd and Karen rested up and joined a fun sightseeing tour with part of the group. Scott pedaled with the strong cyclists from Paw Paw, WV to Hancock, MD (about 32 miles).

Meanwhile, Todd and Karen started the day with a pontoon boat ride on Lake Habeeb, followed by a visit to an Aviary, where we saw some beautiful owls and hawks. We then visited Sideling Hill and its tourist center, where we got to see one of the largest “cuts” into a mountain (for a highway to pas through) in the country. The cut exposes approximately 850 feet of syncline formed nearly 350 million years ago, so it was pretty cool. :) After lunch, both the bikers and the sightseers were shuttled to Berkley Springs, WV, where we are staying in a quaint little hotel tonight before biking out tomorrow. We also had a lovely dinner tonight with the Team Sarcoma crew at a local restaurant with fabulous food, so it’s been a great day!

Tomorrow is probably going to be the most challenging part of the tour in terms of mileage (I believe it’s about 52 miles or so). And unfortunately, due to logistics of the C&O Trail, we have not had a SAG wagon following us on the path. In fact, there are large portions of the trail that are not even accessible by car and where there is no cell phone service. Obviously, that’s been a surprise to all of us (the coordinators of the trip included) so we’re trying to decide what to do about biking tomorrow. Todd, of course, feels rested from today and wants to get back out there, but we will have to make sure that’s feasible giving the logistics of the trail. So, stay tuned – I will post again tomorrow to let you know how the day went!

Thanks again to all of you for following this blog! This is been a great trip so far and we are enjoying sharing it with all of you. Thanks, too, to everyone who got the word out on Facebook this week about sarcoma – we appreciate you helping to raise awareness along with us!

- Karen

Day 2 - C&O Canal Towpath

On Day 2, we officially commenced the bike tour! We set off from Cumberland, MD on the C&O Canal Towpath and biked about 15 miles to the Michael Cresap House in Oldtown, MD (Cresap is the inspiration for the main character in the movie The Patriot). The scenery along the path is gorgeous, with lots of trees/shade, the canal and locks, and even the occasional deer :) Plus the weather has been gorgeous (not nearly as hot/humid as we feared it would be)! However, the path itself is a little different than we expected. Unlike the smooth, paved surfaces we trained on in Minneapolis, the towpath is made of packed dirt and rocks, which makes the biking harder (and muddier!) than we're used to. But that's okay - we are still thoroughly enjoying ourselves, and the miles went by quickly while we were getting to know other members of our team.

After a brief stop at the Cresap House, we had a nice picnic lunch to refuel before continuing the journey. Unfortunately, Todd was “tricked” (so he says – we think he was trying to show off) into thinking he could take a shortcut to the lunch break spot and took a nice spill down a short hill. He ended up coming to a stop face-down with the bike on top of him, but just like with cancer, he bounced right back up and except for some dirt skid marks on his shorts and shirt, he showed no ill effects and kept going.

After lunch, we set off for another 15 miles of biking until we reached Paw Paw, WV. There we saw the Paw Paw Tunnel – a .5+ mile canal tunnel through a mountain that was built using only pick axes, shovels and black powder. While it was quite impressive, we also learned that by the time it was completed in 1850, the railroad had already been up and running for 8 years, making it a bit of wasted time and money. (I guess some things just don’t change.)

From the tunnel we all shuttled back to the hotel to shower and change and meet up for dinner. After dinner, each of the dozen or so sarcoma survivors in our group said a little something about a moment during their battle (just one, although we all know there are many) that really impacted them. The stories were incredible, inspiring, and emotional. And the whole thing really drove home how amazing the people on this tour really are – just a terrific group of people who really want to make things better for others facing this disease. Another interesting thing about this year’s tour is that our team is primarly made up of “young adult” survivors (in their 20s and 30s), rather than pediatric patients are their parents and older adult patients like in years past. So needless to say, it has been great to connect with people our age who really know what we’ve been going through these past few years.

Tomorrow, we are taking a break from biking (it’s another 30 mile ride -- but all before lunch this time) to do the walking tour instead. Aside from letting our butts and legs rest, we’re excited to spend some time with some of the non-bikers and get to know them as well.

By the way, the Cumberland Times did a little story on Team Sarcoma yesterday – you can check the story and group photo out here if you’re interested:

http://www.times-news.com/archivesearch/local_story_200000356.html

Also, Mary from our group has started uploading photos from this event to the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/m94doh

Love,
Karen & Todd

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

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

We made it to Cumberland, Maryland (finally!) Yes, the 2009 Team Sarcoma "Core Team" Bike Tour is officially under way! :)

It’s been a long day, filled with numerous forms of transportation. Our trip started at 5:00 a.m. (thanks to Emily Wozniak for the early ride the airport!). We boarded a 6:40 a.m. flight from Minneapolis to Milwaukee and, after a short layover, continued on to Washington D.C., where we arrived at 12:00 p.m. Following a cab ride to Union Station, we had a leisurely lunch and then boarded an Amtrak train at 4:00 p.m. The train was actually pretty fun - much more spacious and comfortable that the cramped airline seats! In any event, we finally arrived in Cumberland, MD at 8:00 p.m. Whew! We are a bit weary (especially Todd after just finishing a week of chemo), but honestly, the trip went faster than I expected and it’s been pretty fun already. We capped off the night with a delicious dinner and cold beers at a local pub down the street from the hotel, and we will be hitting the sack shortly.

Tomorrow, we will meet with the Team Sarcoma leaders at 2:45 p.m. to get fitted for our rental bikes and get more information about the tour, which starts on Sunday. We will also get the opportunity to meet some more participants and have a nice dinner out with the group. Should be fun - we can't wait!

There is not much to report yet, but I thought I’d post some pictures from our trip so far. Is it just me, or are Todd and his Dad looking even more alike now that the chemo lightened up Todd’s hair?! :)

Once again, thank you to all of the generous people who made donations to our bike team. I don’t have an exact total for what we’ve raised (as some Internet donations have not yet been tallied) but I believe we are in the neighborhood of $2,900! That is so awesome and we REALLY appreciate it!

If I have access to the hotel computer, I'll update the blog daily with a recap and photos of our journey. Thanks for visiting!

“Team Andrews”
- Karen, Todd & Scott

The "Team Sarcoma" T-shirts we wore today remind us exactly why we're here!

We leave for D.C. in 8 days!

The Team Sarcoma Bike Tour is just over a week away! Todd is still struggling a bit with the training due to his chemo side effects, but we got out on the bikes tonight and he did great! :) Having this tour to look forward to has really helped keep our minds off the uncertainty that lies ahead, and we know this tour is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We are really looking forward to it!

Thanks so much to all of you who are following our blog and who have donated to the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative. Due to your generocity, our team alone has raised $2,325 for sarcoma research so far - isn't that wonderful?!?! We sure have some amazing people in our lives. Thank you all!

So here's our plan: Scott (Todd's dad) will be meeting us in Minnepolis and the 3 of us will fly to Washington D.C. on Friday, July 17 at 6:30 a.m. We have a quick layover in Milwaukee and will arrive in D.C. at noon. From there, we will have to occupy ourselves until 4:00 p.m., and then we'll take a 3-hour train ride to Cumberland, Maryland. Fortunately, we can check into the hotel and relax for the evening before joining the group on Saturday to get fitted for our bikes, tour the C&O Canal Museum, and have dinner at Ristorante Ottaviani’s on the downtown Cumberland Pedestrian mall. We are really looking forward to meeting the other participants in this event - especially those we've gotten to know through our online support group! We start the bike ride on Sunday, July 19 -- the first leg of the tour is about 30 miles with a break mid-way through the trip so we can tour to the Lockhouses. If we have Internet access, I'll try to post daily updates and pictures so we can share the experience with you. :)

Love,

Karen