Last year some generous and creative DP readers came up with a great idea: Why don’t we pool our resources to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation? The idea was formed when we realised many of us would like to support Lance's foundation and go to Austin for The Ride for the Roses Weekend, but could not afford to make the trip. If we pooled our resources we could send some readers as Daily Peloton representatives. If they were open to it, they could take pictures and write a bit of a story on how the weekend went so all of us could share in their experience.

Who would that someone be? That’s the beautiful part. We would draw names from among the Daily Peloton-Peloton Project donors and send the lucky winner as our representative. Beautiful plan, no?

So we activated our 2003 Peloton Project fundraising account. The only problem was that we started too late. Still, in only three weeks of fundraising we raised $5000! That wasn’t enough for the private ride with Lance, but it did qualify us as a Peloton Project Green Jersey team member, which included entry to a private reception and some other nice perks.

We drew our winner, and Dave Shields found himself in Austin representing the DP. You can read his account of the weekend here. Now for the great news. Dave returned home with such a smile on his face that we decided we must return in 2004. He also happens to be the author of a newly released, highly acclaimed novel about the Tour de France called The Race, which is reviewed here. Dave wants to help with our Ride for the Roses game, but more about that in a minute.

So here's the plan:

Our fundraising goal for this year is $200,000, which will be enough to send 20 DP readers to The Ride for the Roses Weekend this October! That is 20 Polka Dot Jersey donation levels of $10,000 each.

Achieving the Polka Dot Jersey level entitles one to various benefits...

• Winners are flown from anywhere in the continental U.S. round trip to Austin. It’s a city you don’t want to miss!

• In Austin, they will spend four nights in a downtown hotel.

• They will receive a commemorative polka-dot jersey, a Lance Armstrong Foundation jacket, an original event poster signed by Lance, and lots of other schwag.

• Their weekend will include a private ride with Lance, a ticket to an evening reception and dinner with Lance (companion tickets available), and of course, entry into The Ride for Roses group ride.

• The Ride ranges in distance up to 100 miles, so there's a distance for everyone, not to mention fabulous support along the entire route. (All the details on the benefits of this donation level are here.)

Can we meet our goal? Of course we can. Just click on this link to donate directly into our Lance Armstrong Foundation Peloton Project fund, which the Daily Peloton has activated with an initial $50 donation.

Plus, here's something more to get us off to a flying start:

Remember the mention of Dave Shields' new novel? Well, he has agreed to offer that book, The Race – A Novel of Grit, Tactics, and The Tour de France, through the Daily Peloton prior to its publication date of May 15, 2004. You can read the prologue and first chapter here, and as we mentioned, here is a review of the book. It's not yet available anywhere else, so you can be among the first to have a copy, plus Dave will donate $5 for every book purchased to the Daily Peloton Lance Armstrong Foundation fund.

The LAF is a great cause, even if your participation doesn’t include the possibility of a trip to Austin to ride with The Man. 

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) exists to enhance the quality of life for those living with, through, and beyond cancer. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF seeks to promote the optimal physical, psychological, social recovery and care of cancer survivors and their loved ones. The LAF works to define, refine and improve services for cancer survivors and to facilitate the delivery of those services—with a large dose of hope—to patients, their families, and other loved ones touched by the disease.

We can't think of a better reason to be involved, however, just for good measure, we will sweeten the pot further. We will be drawing a name for the Austin trip from among our 2004 LAF donors each time we reach the $10,000 Polka Dot Jersey level. If you purchase a book and make a donation, your name will be entered twice (with the exception of book purchase(s), multiple donations will only gain you one Ride for the Rose drawing entry).

Plus, we’ll periodically draw names for winners of other gear, such as the 2003 Ride for the Roses poster featuring all of the five time Tour de France finishers signed by Lance (donated by Dave Shields).

So make a donation here or order Dave's book here and get involved. We hope to see you in Austin!