I am setting off from Daytona Beach, Florida and will travel approximately 3000 miles across the Southern Tier of America to Santa Barbara, California.

I aim to complete this journey in just 10 weeks. I will leave Daytona Beach on June 1st and cycle the entire distance to Santa Barbara by August 10th. I aim to raise as much money for Cancer Research as possible on this journey so any and all donations will be much appreciated

Let me give you a little insight and back story to my journey so far; In September 2013 I had been working in a bar in Brighton since 2009. I had started from the bottom and then eventually became the manager. I lived a hedonistic life style and gave nothing back then I had a turning point. 
 
My best friend and house mate at the time lost his Mother when he was young. His passion for cycling was infectious and we went riding nearly everyday. He is my inspiration. One night in June 2013 me and my long distance girlfriend had a massive fight over the phone. So in some sort of crazy romantic gesture, I cycled from Brighton to Oxford (120 miles) setting off at 4am with no map and very little long distance cycling experience. It saved our relationship and I am still with her to this day. During the ride it came to me that I needed to do something with my life. This is the reason I decided to do something big! I want to help people who have to deal with losing someone through cancer. It just went from there and I decided to cycle from one end of America to the other to support the cause. Before my Oxford ride the most I had cycled was about 20 miles and I was in no way fit or healthy.
 
So I quit my job as a manager, left my friends and the city I love and moved 300 miles to my small hometown of Southport. I moved back in with parents and got the first job I could find. I have been working as a labourer, in construction, for the past 6 months to pay for equipment, flights and living costs for the journey. I have personally paid for my Dawes Ultra Galaxy bike, Vango Banshee tent and Virgin flights, with the money I have earned from working. 

I have personally not lost anyone close to me from cancer, although all my adult life I have had close friends who have lost parents, brothers, sisters and people close to them. So growing up seeing people around me being so affected by cancer it was an easy choice to decide what cause to support.

Any support in this journey would be really welcome. I just know that if I work hard and commit to the journey then I will succeed.

 
Hope you can help.

Thank you for your support.

Robert James Beattie