Hi All, Thanks for looking.

My name is Duane Braswell, I was diagnosed with two types of skin cancer this past fall. One Cell is no big deal, just get it cut out as soon as possible and minimize the scars. The other was the dreaded Melanoma. if it spreads it hits the lymph nodes and gets really ugly. It does not respond well to Chemo or most regular cancer treatments. It responds GREAT to surgery. 99% survival IF it is gotten before it spreads. If not, the survival rate drops ALOT!

Any way, I was told mine was at the spreading stage. (early stage 4 were the exact words.) I was petrified. I am fine with the whole dying thing, just being told that it might be soon was a shock. Telling my kids (have 5, am only 47 years old) was very hard. The current results are ALL GOOD. I have five new scars, but no cancer!

So... Two things hit me real quick after the surgery.
One: that my plans to bicycle across the country might want to move forward. So my son, a friend, our youth pastor, and a soldier and I are all headed across the country, from Phoenix AZ to Washington DC!
Two: My oldest daughter had some moles looked at and excised (cut off). She said, "that would be a stupid reason to die Dad." She was right. if I had just gotten the moles looked at when I noticed them 3 to 5 years ago, no problem, no surgery, no big scars.

So... We are Going to DC and stopping along the way talking to churches, radio stations, TV stations and people, trying to educate them about skin cancer. We are establishing a fund through the Melanoma Research Foundation to raise money for research.

So.... Why am I here telling you this? We could use help! The five of us are trying to raise about $3000.00 to pay for food, camping, bicycle repairs and more food as we go across the country. We want the money that is collected on the way to go to MRF, and therefore need to raise the trip money elsewhere. If you can help, please do but those funds will NOT be tax deductible.

We still need two more bicycles, we all ride, but mostly mountain bikes, NOT ideal for cross country. If you want to sell us a good used bicycle, we are in Phx AZ.

We need more contacts for TV and Radio along the way. We are heading from Phx north to Durango CO, then across to Pueblo and across KS. St Louis then northeast above the Ohio river to Pittsburgh PA. From there along the Allegheny trail/C & O Canal to Washington DC.

We also could use Churches and or places to stay, remember I said I am 47, sleeping on the ground for five weeks AND bicycling as well does not sound entertaining.

We would also like people to ride stretches with us, give us contacts and we will give you 2 or 3 days notice as to when we are in your area.

Lastly, I think, Make a donation to the MRF, we have lots of people doing the .10 cents a mile goal, which is about 250 dollars. OOOOH ONE MORE. Check your moles birthmarks and freckles.

If you think I missed something you could help us with, or need more information, let me know!