My name is Stephen Prince and I'm currently a junior at UNC Chapel Hill. This summer my friend Wyatt Akin and I will be biking diagonally across the country (3466 miles) in honor of my brother Andrew Prince. He passed away on June 22, 2006, at the age of 23. He was born with a disorder called neurofibromatosis (NF).

Andrew was my best friend and my hero, so I wanted to do something that would raise awareness about NF and help the Children’s Tumor Foundation raise money for research to fund treatments and hopefully someday a cure for NF.

NF is a set of distinct genetic disorders that cause tumors to grow along various types of nerves. NF can affect the development of non-nervous tissues such as bones and skin and causes tumors to grow anywhere on or in the body. The CTF is a research and support organization for individuals with NF. NF is more prevalent than Cystic Fibrosis, hereditary Muscular Dystrophy, Huntington’s Disease, and Tay Sach’s combined. It occurs in 1:3,000 births and about 100,000 Americans have NF. You can learn more about neurofibromatosis and CTF by watching the movie at the bottom of the page or by going to the Children's Tumor Foundation web site CLICK HERE.

And to learn more about the NF Endurance Team and where we are funding research, visit our endurance team page and click on the menu item on the left hand side "Team Fundraising Dollars at Work." CLICK HERE.

The Bike Trip

Starting on June 10th, Wyatt and I will leave from the northeastern tip of Maine, and bike diagonally across the country to the southwestern tip of California. We’ll be biking from Lubec, Maine to Imperial Beach, California, which is about 15 miles south of San Diego. The trip should take about 48 bike days along with 7 rest days (55 days total) at a rate of about 70 miles a day. We'll be staying in cheap motels, camping out, implementing couchsurfing.com, and in anyone's house that is close to the route we'll be taking. It will be the trip of a lifetime.