Biking the Danish Islands for Awareness and a Cure

On July 1 2006, the cyclists on Team Sarcoma 2006 will begin a bike tour in Denmark that will take them from the Danish peninsula to the Danish islands of Fyn, Tåsinge, and Møn and have them end in Copenhagen on July 7th. Along the way they will visit Legoland, bike through quaint Danish villages, take an evening sail on an old wooden Danish sailing ship, enjoy a guided tour of Faaborg, tour Valdemar’s Castle, climb the white cliffs of Møn, and enjoy Tivoli Gardens.

Why go on a bike tour to raise awareness of a dangerous cancer? It’s because of Liddy Shriver, a young woman who had a type of sarcoma known as Ewing’s Sarcoma. Liddy was an avid cyclist. Biking was an integral part of the way in which she approached her cancer. As her disease became increasingly serious, she decided to do some of the things that she had always wanted to do. Among the list of things was going on some multi-day bike tours. Liddy died after a 21-month courageous and inspirational battle with the disease. Her parents, Bruce and Beverly Shriver of Ossining, NY, formed the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative to help improve the quality of life for people dealing with sarcoma. So, they use bike tours to raise public awareness of sarcoma and funds for sarcoma research.

Shriver said, “One of the nice things about this bike tour is that families can join in. Each day there are 2 routes, one for cyclists who like longer distances and some hills each day and one for cyclists and families who prefer a more leisurely pace with less distance and fewer hills. The tour is very flexible; bike 10-30 miles/day or bike less or more. Sag wagons will be by in case you have a bike problem or get tired.”

The 100 cyclists in Denmark will be joined by hundreds of people around the world who will form local “Team Sarcomas”. They will “Bike, Run, Walk, or Swim for Sarcoma” on one or more of the days that Team Sarcoma 2006 is actually biking in Denmark. The local Team Sarcomas are part of the unified, coordinated statement of worldwide concern about sarcoma. The Team Sarcoma 2006 Bike Tour is targeted at drawing 100 cyclists to Denmark from countries all over the world. Some of them will be sarcoma patients, caregivers, friends, physicians, and those concerned about sarcoma. If you’d like to join them or form a local Team Sarcoma where you live visit the Team Sarcoma website, http://tinyurl.com/clnuj, or contact the Shrivers at 914 762 3251.