LAMONT -- A week ago, they were 150 people from all parts of the country. They had never met, but describing them as strangers assumes too much.

Each shares a story.

"We all have a cancer connection. So we do know each other in a way," said Rob Gray of Chicago.

They are even more familiar now after 477 miles on bicycles. RAGBRAI XXXV unified Team LiveStrong through seven days of sore muscles, humidity, tents, pork chops, beer and an overnight thunderstorm.

"It's really been a family," said Cindy Trent of Rolling Meadows, Ill.

Title: RAGBRAI Friday Date: Jul. 27th, 2007 Courier Regional Editor Dennis Magee continued his coverage of RAGBRAI and Lance Armstrong's team as the annual ride across Iowa left Independence on their way to Dyersville. PLAY »

The individuals came together after accepting a challenge from Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor and a professional cycling legend. To be eligible as one of Armstrong's riders, each participant had to raise $1,000. Many apparently overachieved -- Team Armstrong actually generated more than $300,000, twice the expected amount.

Armstrong's goal is to make cancer research a national priority. The money will help fund that mission.

Gray, a native of Cedar Rapids, wants to take the battle against the disease farther.

"I want to see it end."

Cancer claimed his father when Gray was 3 years old.

"It's meaningful to me since a lot of my family members have had it, especially my father, who I didn't get to know," he said.

Mike Hauser of Kansas City joined the team, then learned he had more reason to ride than he originally imagined. After being accepted by Armstrong's organization, Hauser learned a cousin, Steven Kreitz of Cedar Falls, had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

"That makes it even more important," Hauser said. "So I'm riding for him."

The issue is personal for Jennie Brantman of Coralville: Not long ago she beat cancer.

"I'm just four years out."

Brantman is on her 16th RAGBRAI but rode her first with Team LiveStrong.

Jolene Galligan of Waverly always looked at RAGBRAI as a fun event she would like to try someday. She only decided to join RAGBRAI, however, after seeing an opportunity to combine the recreational challenge with what for her is an even greater purpose.

Galligan, 45, lost her identical twin sister, Jacque Cayton of Kalona, to leukemia in January. The sisters were diagnosed with different types of blood cancer at the age of 38.

Galligan, in remission for three years, is a team member.

" … If we can somehow make a small difference … ," she said.

Trent, the cyclist from Illinois, lost five family members to the disease.

"And I have a very good friend living with cancer right now."

Like the others, Trent decided her bicycle could be the vehicle to affect attitudes. So she raised money and joined Armstrong's riders.

Before arriving in Iowa, Trent bought dozens of buttons to distribute. Some of her favorites read "Hugs Heal" and "Cancer Sucks."

Trent shared another button with Lisa Thomas of Elk Horn, a Team LiveStrong rider. Thomas is undergoing chemotherapy, and her head is covered with nothing more than stubble.

The gift to Thomas reads "I pay my oncologist big bucks for this hairstyle."

A young cancer patient in Dunkerton also touched Trent's heart. His wish was to meet and ride with Team LiveStrong, so on Thursday the group converged on his house.

He had no helmet, so a team member loaned his to the boy. With that, Team LiveStrong was able to escort him around town.

"He was on his little Huffy bike," Trent said.

The group pedaled together for a few blocks.

"That was probably the high point of the trip," Trent said.

Brian Bigelow lives in New Hampshire but went to college in Davenport. As a former Iowan, he was aware of RAGBRAI.

"But I never really realized it had grown to this proportion," Bigelow said.

As a sendoff, one of Bigelow's friends, Heidi Fagerquist, gave him a faded gray T-shirt. The back shows a map of Iowa with lines running from Council Bluffs, through Waterloo and on to Dubuque. At the top, it reads SAGBRAI 74, a reference to the Second Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa that rolled out 33 years ago.

As a team member and seeing his former state with new eyes, Bigelow decided he must return the shirt.

"After having the experience and knowing what RAGBRAI is all about, I couldn't keep it. This is a whole culture," he said.

Gray, the cyclist from Chicago, thought everything came together.

"It's really exciting and it's a good cause and it's a great time. It's a double, a triple, whammy," he said.

Today, Team LiveStrong pedals into Bellevue, and members will go their separate ways. Gray on Friday predicted saying goodbye will be difficult.

"There's mixed feelings. It's sad I'll be leaving them … "

But he is also excited about the team's future.

"And I know we'll be back together, better and stronger."

Contact Dennis Magee at (319) 291-1451 or dennis.magee@wcfcourier.com.