www.firstgiving.com/hughallen
I biked across the USA (over 4,200 miles) from the east coast to the west coast (May - August, 2010) to kick off a fund raising initiative for the Melanoma Research Foundation in honor of our son-in-law who, in August 2006, at the age of 33 years old, was diagnosed with Stage III malignant metastatic melanoma. The initial tumor was removed but the disease quickly spread to his liver, which is classified as Stage IV disease. With a five-year survival rate of less than 2%, things looked pretty bleak.
In February 2007, our son-in-law, daughter (the second oldest of our three children) and their young sons relocated to Washington, DC to have access to the latest experimental treatments for melanoma. He has had 2 ½ years of clinical trials employing various immune therapies and endured eight related surgeries.
One of the most effective immune therapies uses white blood cells (T cells) isolated from surgically-removed melanoma tumors; their presence there indicates these cells have some ability to fight the cancer. Those cells are then reproduced in the lab in batches numbering into the hundreds of billions. With chemotherapy used to suppress the immune system, much like a bone-marrow transplant, the T cells are introduced and the body then “adopts” them. These cells then attack the tumors and hopefully continue to suppress tumor growth over time.
With this therapy, the support of family, friends, and neighbors, and an indefatigable will to live, our son-in-law has been tumor-free for about 22 months. Although he continues to have full body and organ scans every 3 months to check his health status, we all have high hopes going forward! He is back to work full-time and he and my daughter welcomed their 4th child (they now have 4 boys) to the the family in October, 2010......unbelievable!
These cutting-edge experimental treatments are a direct result of scientific research. I hope that you will support, with your donation, further research towards an ultimate cure.
I am leaving this donation page open for another month, so that any of you that would like to consider a donation will have an opportutnty contribute so much a mile for the for the 4,200 mile distance I biked. My ride across the country is to make more people aware of melanoma cancer and the need to support advances in experimental treatments of this pernious cancer. You can help by making a donation and encouraging family, friends, and colleagues to support melanoma research! If you have a Face Book page, please consider placing this web page link (www.firstgiving.com/hughallen) on your Face Book page.
You may make a tax deductible donation to the Melanoma Research Foundation by 1) credit card through this on line link managed by First Giving for the Foundation or by 2) check made payable to the Melanoma Research Foundation. Please note on your check that your donation is for “Hugh Allen’s USA Bike Ride” and mail it to:
Melanoma Research Foundation
1411 K Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
My Bike Ride
The route that I biked is the Trans America route that began for me and 12 other riders in Yorktown, VA on May 22, 2010. Our daily biking (60 - 75 miles a day) ended on the west coast at the Pacific Ocean in Florence, Oregon on August 10. We pedaled the backroads of small town America....no interstate highways. I am the only bicyclist raising money for the Melanoma Research Foundation.
You will note that the photo shows me following the advice of my dermatologist to use sun screen and be fully covered each day while riding. I am the only rider that wore each day ultraviolet protective factor (UPF) 50 long pants and shirts, a helmet with a 30 UPF hood covering my neck and ears (on the seat of my bike near my right hand in the photo), overly large sun glasses that wrapped around my eyes, gloves that fully cover each hand, and a newly grown beard that provided partial facial hair protection from the sun! Because of my helmet with hood, my fellow riders nicknamed me "Lawrence of Arabia!"
I biked a little more than 4,200 miles (4,250.3 miles to be exact), camping and group cooking for breakfast and supper along the way with my fellow bicyclists. We started on the east coast in Yorktown VA, and continued across the country through the states of Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and finally Oregon. The route was more mountainous than anticipated: the Appalachians in VA and KY, the steep Ozarks in MO, the Rockies through CO, WY, and parts of MT, and the Cascades through northeastern OR. The most challenging state was KS with its strong head winds, 106 degree heat index, and the "wheat harvesting season" with dense wheat dust/chaffe blowing across the road and tractors, and 18 wheeler trucks carrying 80,000 lbs of grain loaded from the wheat fields speeding down the flat roads. The most scenic state was the northern part of Idaho along Route 12 West, paralleling parts of the Lewis and Clark trail, and seeing mountains covered with fir, cedar, and pine trees, following the clear flowing Locksa River etching its path along side the road, and above vivid blue sky with glowing sun.....awe inspiring!
The Adventure Cycling, non-profit organization in Missoula, MT assisted us along the trip with a van that carried our tents and food. We were also supplied with great, detailed maps of the route , and 2 leaders with long distance trip experience. If you want to read notes and comments about our bicycling and camping along the back roads and by ways through small town America and about my 11/12 other biking colleagues, which included 4 riders from 3 foreign countries, visit these blogs: 1)
www.crazyguyonabike.com/wilsonhardy - no frills blog;
2)
ww.cycleamericacoast2coast.blogspot.com - international perspective from Wales couple; 3)
www.man,ismyasssore.blogspot.com - humorous blog with brief description of each bicyclist.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR DONATION.