Biking for Babies cyclists arrive in Ottawa, damp but undaunted

There was a group passing through Ottawa on Wednesday that will go to great lengths, great distances and great effort for a cause it truly believes in.

The 12 participants in Biking for Babies, an annual effort by pro-life activists to raise awareness and funds for birthing centers around the country, arrived in Ottawa mid-afternoon virtually halfway in their trek from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to St. Louis, Missouri.

They arrived by van, forced by the thunderstorms in the area to jump into their two support vehicles for the last 30 miles of this leg of the trip from Rockton to Ottawa.

Still, they received an enthusiastic welcome from St. Columba Church parishioners when they arrived at the rectory nearly on schedule at 3 p.m.

“We started at 5 a.m. and thought we could make it, but there was just too much lightning, too much torrential rain to get all our mileage in,” said route leader Eric Wallace, who is a general contractor in Merrill, Wisconsin, making his second trip with the effort.

The plan for the seven bikers and five support personnel was to stay overnight with six host families, attend a special mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, have a meal furnished by the parish and enjoy a good night’s rest before resuming their trip at 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

Their next stop will be in Peoria and then Springfield, where other groups from Ohio and Michigan will join them for the final leg into St. Louis.

In all, six of the eight cycling groups around the country will be converging on St. Louis to complete the event this weekend. The remaining two, from New York and Washington, D.C., will be capping their rides in Arlington, Virginia.

“There has been exponential growth in the mission, especially the last three years or so, since we added a staff to help organize and fundraising,” Wallace said. “We’re grateful that host families open their homes to us, help raise funds for us. None of this works without all those components working together.

“The numbers have jumped up … but it’s better when the weather cooperates.”

The riders passing through Ottawa began their journey on Sunday – Day 0, said Wallace – gathering to plan at the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Green Bay. They departed that city at 5 a.m. Monday and have been averaging about 100 miles per day since.

Wallace explained the first Biking for Babies event took place in 2009 when a pair of triathletes, Mike Schaefer and Jimmy Becker, on their spring break left from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and pedaled 600 miles across Illinois to raise funds and awareness for women and family-focused efforts taking place at pregnancy resource centers.

At the end of their ride, [Becker and Schaefer] got to hold a baby that a woman had decided to keep because of the support she received from the resource center. That solidified that this must continue and this year we had 80 people sign up for training and 70 of them are cycling today.

—  Eric Wallace, route leader for Biking for Babies

When their initial effort raised $14,000 for one local center, they decided to keep it going annually. Since then, 184 riders have completed their trips, traveling more than 31,000 miles and raising $1.26 million for the 102 national resource centers.

“At the end of their ride, [Becker and Schaefer] got to hold a baby that a woman had decided to keep because of the support she received from the resource center,” Wallace said. “That solidified that this must continue and this year we had 80 people sign up for training and 70 of them are cycling today.”

“You’d be surprised how many people who are not athletes but are still drawn to the cause and buy a bike. We try to maintain a 15 mile-per-hour pace, which can be tough, and hills are not everyone’s best friend, but honestly it’s meant to make you feel overwhelmed.

“Part of the mission is to assimilate with these women in crisis pregnancies who feel like they can’t continue, they can’t choose life. We offer our sufferings for them and try to understand what they’re going through, only in a small way on a bike.”