Archive for the ‘Mike’ Category

So, the other day while I was running, I feel like I had one of those things where you finally realize something that you’ve always known, but never really internalized.

I was just doing some meditations before my prayer while running, on the pro-life cause. Then, I thought about something an acquaintance once told me, about how “the pro-life/pro-choice debate is never going to be anything more than a talking point for politics and how nothing is going to change”. What I realized while running (internally, I’ve been aware of this fact for awhile) that there was a point in time when abortion was illegal. But, someone wanted abortion enough, that it was their “right” that they made it legal (although now she fights against abortion). Since then, there have been literally millions of people who dedicate their lives working against the pro-life cause.

Granted, biking for babies, has a very small place within the pro-life movement. I just hope that we can just do one small part to help out a couple of organizations who do the real dirty work and make the biggest difference fighting for our cause with some financial aid and bringing more attention to the work that they do.

All of what the pro-life movement does isn’t just about “proving” that the fetus within the mother is truly a human life, but that we all care enough about the babies and the mothers to give huge sacrifices because the cost is huge if what we seek to do continues to be lost on over a million children each year just in the U.S. Of course, everything would be worth it if just one life could be saved, but what could I really say to those children who don’t survive–that I didn’t care enough to fully respond to God’s call in protecting the dignity of their lives? I know that I won’t ever be able to respond as completely as I should. But, with events like this, it’s undoubtedly difficult to maintain focus on our mission. But, the answer isn’t to just ignore the physical aspect of the ride. What I hope people realize when they hear what me and my friends are giving up for spring break isn’t that we’re doing this for ourselves, but that there are a lof more people than just us who are willing to answer the call for life in the way we feel we were called. We’re all called to make the sacrifice in different ways.

So, that’s part of my resolution this Lent–to more actively defend life from the depths of my physical effort. Because, while more pain or more distance is not going to directly save any lives, I hope it does show someone that me and my friends are willing to show the pro-choice movement that “pro-life” is more than something we vote for to make us feel good, but something that we all live out as often as we can, in every way that we can, “to protect the dignity of life everywhere”.

Well,  reporting here from cold, snowy, and windy Champaign–brrr! Champaign is sitting under about 7” of snow I guess between yesterday and this past weekend’s snowfalls. It’s been making for some tricky running, but believe me when I say that the cause has definitely motivated me to get out the door and run when I otherwise wouldn’t have. Today I was able to get in 11 or 12 miles–about 3 or 4 of which being through some thick snow and yesterday a bit over 8 was through about 7” of snow through U of I’s Arboretum cross country course. This past weekend, Stacy and I tried spreading the word about the cause and the ride here at St. John’s. The weekend after this it’s back home to Freeburg for the masses at St. Joe’s. Can’t think of a whole lot else about updates regarding the ride. 40 days for life starts next wednesday, so b4b will certainly be trying to send up as many prayers as we can for that. Try to check out Living Alternatives’ website, www.hopeforafuture.com, to take a look at the awesome things that they do there. Signing off.

Hello all,

Me and Stacy finished another hard week of training amidst snow and coldish temperatures. T-shirts will be out soon–stay tuned on those. You’ll be able to order those off of the website for about $5 in a couple of weeks. Just finished the design tonight. Put in around 36 miles or so running on the roads this week plus lifting yesterday and today as well as biking today and tomorrow.

Kind of anxious about the time that I’ve put in on the bike so far (or lack thereof) due to the snowy conditions.  I was forced inside today for my two hour or so ride while watching “the dark knight”–nothing could have inspired me better…

Stacy and will be speaking at the masses at St. John’s here in Champaign this weekend to get the word out–pray that people’s hearts will be moved to help out our cause any way they can. I’ll be heading home in a couple of weeks for the same and Stacy will as well at some point in the coming weeks. Hard to believe that there’s just over 5 weeks left until the ride starts–I hope that Stacy and I are ready! It’s going to be difficult, but as likes to say Jimmy…”for the babies!”

If you want to help in the simplest way—join the facebook group and invite your friends! Spread the word about the cause!

Hello all! Hope that you all enjoy the new website layout for this year. Special thanks to John Paul and my friend Stephen for putting that together. It’s time to really batten down the hatches and get to work getting the word out again for B4B. Hard to believe that it’s only 7 weeks away (I think–or is it 6?). Anywho, really feeling the pressure now to wear out the kinks in the body at the ripe old age of 21. My training has consisted of running 7-10 miles 5 days a week, lifting one day a week, and riding for a 2 or 3 hours one day a week. Anxious about tackling nearly as far of a distance (almost 600 miles this year on my half) in only 5 days–but, we’ve got to offer up these little challenges, or “crosses” in our lives for what we believe in. Thanks again to all who gave their time, prayers, and financial assistance last year–we’re going to need more of that this year! We’ll be riding for Students for Life of Illinois again and Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center here in Champaign. So, once again, spread the word, pray for the unborn, good weather during the ride, and training free of physical injury and I think we’ll be in good shape come March 24 when team U of I starts in Cairo. Peace!

(Note: my first posting should obviously be “1/8/10″, not “1/8/09″. Man time flies way too fast!)

Happy new year everyone! Looks like we’re going to be getting ready for round two of biking for babies. Hard to believe that a year has almost passed since last ride. Not much to say on training–just been putting in some miles on the road (running). Nothing on the bike until I get back to the school and can ride indoors on the rollers like last year. Ride’s going to be set up a bit different. We’ll probably be riding 1200 miles in 10 days with me and other u of i folks riding the first 5 days and jimmy and his group riding the second 5. I think our website should be up and rolling again soon so you can check out some new pictures and things. We’ll also be riding for one more charity–a pregnancy resource center similar to Living Alternatives in champaign. Let’s all continue putting in our prayers for the unborn and the mothers that we’ll be riding for! Thanks again for all of the support last year and we pray for your continued support in the coming months! Peace.

Finally done! Me and Jimmy made it to Chicago this evening at around 6p.m. at the famous “bean”. The last 15 miles of the ride was about the most exhilarating of my life. I felt like a bike messenger navigating in and out of traffic–definitely saw my life flash before my eyes many times in such a short period. Avoiding potholes, construction, and cars took complete focus. It was very cold today–started out at 28 degrees with a northerly wind.

Stopped in Aurora to pray a bit at the Planned Parenthood. There were about 10 of us there. Hopefully, we made at least one person think about what they were doing–maybe the volunteer who seemed to be the parking valet at Planned Parenthood.

One guy flipped us off with a “Keep Christ in Christmas” bumper sticker–I can’t stand hypocrites. Okay, enough negatives…

I’m definitely very glad that Jimmy and I were blessed to do this. It was a great opportunity and I hope that it did more than raise money, but also inspire people to make a difference in the pro-life movement. Thanks again to everyone who made this ride possible!

–There’s still time to donate to our cause! Click on the donate button on the side bar and make a donation to help me reach my goal of $10,000!–

–We also still have Biking for Babies T-shirts in stock. Please get one and wear it around!–

Day 5 down, only one more day to go. So far we’ve put in 550 miles. Today a guy passed us outside of Peoria and gave us $20 when we told him about what we were doing. Other highlights included a new single day high of 127 miles, a generous tailwind, and some big hills that were pretty fun to ride up and down. Father Brownsey made us a  great breakfast at Bradley this morning to send us on our way. Lunch was in Ottawa where we had a radio interview with the local radio station. The people at the Newman center at NIU made us a great dinner of lasagna. Keep praying for us!

114 miles down today and I think that me and Jimmy were definitely extremely challenged today both physically and mentally. We were riding into a very strong headwind (about 18mph) from the straight west…and we were riding nearly straight west. What we usually covered in about 6 hours we took over 9 hours to cover today. I felt horrible about arriving very late to lunch @ the Newman center in ISU and late to dinner at the Newman Center at Bradley.  I think  all of us involved with b4b were extremely thankful for everyone who worked so hard to set these meals up to refuel us along the way. I think that the weather will be a bit more kind to us tomorrow. It’s supposed to be sunny with a high of 60 and mostly a light crosswind.–should be able to make good time.

Just finished up our third day of riding today from Teutopolis to Champaign being carried in on the tailwinds of the south. Legs starting to get a bit sore. We were graciously welcomed by the wonderful people at the Newman Center at EIU. We were also treated to dinner at the Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center here in Champaign–great food and great people. Frank Brummer, whose house we stayed at last night, was great in getting a lot of media coverage for us in Effingham yesterday with the local newspaper interiewing us upon our arrival, led in by Frank and our friends Anne Marie Brummer and Stacie Hague. There were also two radio interviews this morning as well as daily mass. Looking forward to the second half of the trip as well as some rest for these sore legs! I want to express thanks (again) to all who have continuously helped make this ride possible!

Okay, hello to everyone. Just finished up our second day of riding. Yesterday we rode on some pretty hilly terrain from Carbondale, IL to my hometown of Freeburg in the “deep south” of Illinois. Put in 94 miles overall. It was great seeing friends and family throughout the end of our ride as well as the beginning of it this morning. Today we put in 116 miles from Freeburg to Teutopolis. Not as hilly, but still probably one of the hillier sections. It was great meeting up with Anne Marie and Stacie, friends from U of I, and Anne Marie’s dad a little past the halfway point today. It was a big boost. Two guys can only entertain each other so much spending 12 hours on a bike together in two days. Got a shorter day tomorrow–just riding to Champaign with lunch at the Newman center in EIU and dinner with Living Alternatives–one of the charities we’re riding for–in Champaign. Keep praying for the safety of our ride and the babies we’re riding for!