Hello and welcome to LAFRider.com.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this site and learn more about me and my fundraising efforts. To introduce myself, my name is Grae Desmond and I currently live in Raleigh North Carolina of the United States.

By this point in time im sure everyone knows or has heard the story of Lance Armstrong and his foundation. It is an organization that helps people who are living with cancer, are cancer survivors, and is funding research to cure the disease. You can learn more about the foundation here at www.livestrong.org.

In 2004 a friend rode in the 100 mile Ride For The Roses and carried my Grandfathers name for the duration of that ride. I was one of many sponsors of that ride with a donation in my Grandfather’s memory. There was a pride in a friend for having participated in that ride and to carry upon his shoulders the names of friends, relatives, and loved ones whom cancer has touched. There was a small part of that satisfaction for me when i received my card from the Foundation with my Grandfathers name.

In 2005 I decided to take a more active part in the Lance Armstrong Foundation by riding in the Ride For The Roses myself. I rode in memory of my Grandfather, two others in my family whom have had a form of cancer and survived, and friends loved ones. The 2005 Ride For The Roses was the hardest and most rewarding effort i have undertaken. I completed the full 100 mile course in six hours and 11 minutes. While I attempted to train for this race, I had not ridden more than 40 miles in a single training ride before the RFTR. In addition i was woefully negligent in understanding pacing and nutrition while riding and made the race much harder than it could have been. However, to ride and complete this race is a minuscule undertaking in light of the strength of will that those living with cancer show daily.

Each year I will be chronicling my training and fundraising efforts for the Lance Armstrong Foundation here at LAFRider.com. The LAF has evolved the Ride for the Roses into Livestrong Challenges in several cities as fundraising events and changed the original Ride For The Roses into an award ride based on the fundraising levels achieved by each of its riders. Each year I will be preparing for a 100 Mile Livestrong Challenge and hopefully raise enough funds to participate in the Ride For The Roses again at some point. This website is the first in a multi-facet approach to raising funds for the LAF. Also it is intended to be a resource for myself and others to meet with individuals whom can share the knowledge they have gained over the years cycling and fundraising.

I have gained much more through my involvement and participation in the Ride For The Roses and LAF than I feel I have given. This website, and other endeavors, are an effort to give back to the community that i have now become part of.

Thank you for visiting this page and taking the time to read and support my endeavor to support this valuable foundation.