Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 3, 2004

Cleveland!
After all the mishaps and accidents of the previous day, we slept in some (7:30). Everyone agreed that the rest was needed all around. We also ate breakfast before packing the vans, another welcome change from the morning routine, but not one likely to endure. It took us a little while longer to pack up and get ready to go, as everyone had started working on their bikes in the parking lot of Coitsville Presbyterian Church.

After getting underway, the morning ride was remarkably flat, which was welcome. Then we began hitting some very steep, but short hills. Lunch was on a lawn of Hiram University, in Hiram, OH. It was a nice place to rest and eat before getting back on the road.

Because of the long way to go (about 81 miles) and the late start we got, we rolled into Cleveland escorted by our vans at about 7 pm. We spend a little while looking for the dorms we were going to be staying in, then checked in, and wandered a bit looking for the Hope Lodge where we were eating dinner. Hope Lodge was great, they were welcoming and kind after a long day on the road, and it was great to hear the stories of ongoing and successful cancer treatment. One man shared that his wife would soon be receiving a stem cell replacement treatment for her cancer, which the doctors expected would be successful and give her a full life expectancy.

We got back to the dorms late, at around 10:30 and relaxed, showered, and went to sleep. Everyone was very happy to be sleeping in the first beds we have had since we left home. The showers were also very welcome after not having gotten showers last night.

Patrick Kerns




Best ride yet. Today we put yesterday’s nightmare behind us and headed into Cleveland on nice country roads with little traffic. Other than a few short climbs, it was a very relaxing ride with beautiful scenery and perfect weather. We had plenty of leftovers from the pot-luck dinner at the church the night before and made those our lunch, with the addition of a couple of gallons of ice-cream. Most of the climbs were after lunch, but they couldn’t stand between us and the beds with pillows (not our usual sleeping arrangements) waiting for us in Cleveland.

Just outside of town, my group was stopped at a confusing intersection trying to find our turn when we ran into Lisa’s mom, who had driven the hour from home to see her daughter. She escorted us through a picturesque neighborhood on the most relaxing two miles of the trip to where the group was meeting up for the final few minutes of riding into the city.

We all met up for our dinner at the Hope Lodge in town, which we were told was modeled specifically after the Hope Lodge in Baltimore. The dinner was great as always. After the food I spent the rest of our time there visiting with Marvin and Nancy. Marvin is staying at the lodge with Nancy, his wife, as she works towards her stem-cell replacement procedure which promises to leave here completely rid of cancer. Her final procedure is scheduled for august 1st, so we look forward to getting in touch with them as we’re all at the end of our eventful summers. To close up the evening, a few of us set down with Marvin and Nancy and swapped pictures of our ride and their daughters wedding. Tomorrow we have a short ride to the Relay for Life in Lake Avon, so most of us headed for bed as soon as we left the lodge.

Travis Cogdill