The Biking for Babies riding team departed from the much appreciated hospitality of the family of Tom and Lisa Reiley at about 5:45a.m. committed to continuing our journey northward. We were met on the route with favorable tail winds and no hills unlike the day before so travel was generally quick and efficient with average speeds for the 103 mile day just under 20mph.

An early arrival was welcomed by Father Greg and the parishioners of Immaculate Heart and St. Francis of Assisi parish of Greenwood–barbecue and mass were both highlights of the visit!

Other highlights of the day included two flats by Jimmy (a foolish accident if I must say so myself of his much-too-fast approach of railroad tracks), 290 total miles covered for the trip, and, hmm… I think that’s about it. Please continue praying for the continued work of everyone involved in the pro-life cause!

Stay tuned for tonight’s post by Jimmy covering the details of Day 3′s journey!

Oh, and did I mention hills? Yeah, they were everywhere. Stacy seemed to be the most successful at our informal games of “King of the Mountain”. She’d just pop up those hills like it was fashionable or something (Yeah, I know, a terrible metaphor, but it’s the best I could do…)

Stacy also was able to maintain her average of one flat per day–congratulations Stacy. Thanks to “Aunt Teddy” at Holy Trinity parish in Columbia where we visited last night, we were able to find more than suitable hospitality at the home of “Aunt Teddy’s” niece and “nephew-in-law”, Tom and Lisa.

Special thanks today once again to the Great Stephen Barany who was ever faithful at the wheel, Tom, Lisa, and Elizabeth, for so graciously inviting us to their home (especially on such short notice!) and serving up such a fantastic supper, and Father Scott Thomas at St. Francis of Assisi for celebrating mass for us.

Tomorrow holds much promise… 130 miles of it, maybe a bit less… some soreness will probably start building up on top of the heat as well… Word on the street around here is that things will get very humid tomorrow as we ride towards the Mississippi Delta near Greenwood, Mississippi where (a different) St. Francis of Assisi will be hosting us.

Stay tuned for video from today’s ride tomorrow afternoon and check out the great video of today too! Click here.

So our first day started off pretty well. A special thanks to Gary and Tammy O’Brien. who gave us a great night sleep and a tasty breakfast. We left around 5:40, literally dipped our bikes into Lake Ponchatrain (after a quick 12 mile “out-and-back” to get there from Covington, LA,  and headed off. We discovered how strong Eric and Kevin are on the bike, not that much of a surprise. We averaged about 18-20 mph, we were expecting to finish up the ride pretty quickly but then a small staple was placed in the nicely paved rode and pierced my tire (Stacy). It was our first flat, and let me just say that I did not get one flat the whole 500 miles last year, so it’s not because I’m a girl. So that was exciting, good thing Jimmy and Mike had the supplies and skills to fix it in a jiffy. So about 30 minutes later, Eric was wondering if I could tell if he had a flat. I looked over telling him that he would be able to tell and as I looked Kevin who was in front of me decided to check out Eric’s tire. Bad IDEA! only because he was drafting Jimmy pretty closely at the time. Jimmy made a little movement or slowed down and Kevin hit his back tire and fell to the side. He managed to fall pretty well (I got to see it). He crunched up and managed to scrape just the side of his ankle and  knee…and face. :D he still looks pretty and there wasn’t blood all over the place despite Kevin’s initial thought. But Kevin was all good and was able to keep riding. Unfortunately Jimmy’s back wheel was messed up due to the direct contact it had with Kevin’s front wheel so that took a while to fix. Hopefully Jimmy’s wheel doesn’t come off tomorrow. What else…. it was HOT, but it is so amazing how we sweat so much! so we stay cool. OOOOKAY, here is ERIC!!! (I created the title by the way) :D

Eric here.  First  off the parishes of Holy Trinity and St. Paul’s of Columbia, Mississippi are awesome–Father Martin Gillespie was so friendly, funny, and filled with the Holy Spirit! They treated us with so much love, care, and hospitality.  The food was absolutely amazing!  One thing that stuck out in Father’s homily was how he asked if Jesus were to need our help right now wouldn’t you want to be one of the first to get in line?  In today’s Gospel Jesus said “whatever you do to the least of my people you do to me”.  We need to protect the lives of the most defenseless, the unborn.  I thought that was a pretty cool way of thinking about it.  Also one of the sweetest moments of the day was being in the back of the bike riding line and seeing four other teammates wearing the same “jerseys” fighting for the same cause.  After today I am confident our team has the stuff it’s going to take to make it through the trip.  Look for some videos on the website soon!

Day 1 summary: 85 miles, 1 flat, 1 crash, high of 90 degrees, 5mph headwind

Signing off,

Eric and Stacy

We made it from Freeburg, IL to Covington, LA. The drive was long but fun. The van was not as cramped as my dad thought it would be and we had fun playing games and listening to my Ipod.

We are resting at a very nice house tonight in Covington and the family is awesome! Their hospitality is amazing we greatly appreciate them letting us stay at there house.

There is no more training, it starts tomorrow… And I am excited as is the rest of the team. We are so anxious that we are starting at 5:30 in the morning! The weather shouldn’t be that big of a problem tomorrow except for of course the heat. Lots of water and motivation from Mike will keep us going tomorrow.

We will keep you posted this week and keep on praying and supporting us!

We are less than 4 days from the start of the third annual Biking for Babies 800+ mile pro-life ride from Louisiana to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Before we set off, we want to make you aware/remind you of a few things…

1.) The set up of the ride is changing in order to accommodate the extremely high temperatures… first, the ride will begin in Covington, Louisiana in lieu of New Orleans. Covington sits on the north side of Lake Ponchatrain instead of the south side like New Orleans–making the first day’s ride about 25 miles shorter.

2.) The leg of the route from Memphis to Effingham/Teutopolis, IL will be covered over the course of 3 days instead of the original 2 increasing the overall length of the trip from 7 to now 8 days. (Once again, a change made because of the heat)

3.) Check out the videos which will be posted on the website throughout the ride in addition to daily blogs from the riders which will begin June 13.

4.) Buy a B4B t-shirt or donate if you haven’t done so and are able.

5.) Keep spreading the word to your friends and family about the ride and working to promote a Culture of Life through prayer, the Biking for Babies facebook page, and other means–remember, our goal isn’t just to raise money for Students for Life of Illinois, Living Alternatives, and A Women’s Care Center, but to increase awareness of the importance of the pro-life mission!

Several days ago I completed my own single day-double century ride (200 miles in one day) in order to make sure that I’m on my way to being fully prepared. Fellow B4B rider, Eric Johannigmeier, met me along the route and joined me for his own 100 mile ride that day. A modest tailwind, 11 snicker bars, and 64 ounces of Powerade ensured the success of my trip over the 11 hours it took me to complete the distance from Freeburg, located in southwestern Illinois, to my friend’s house in Peoria 200 miles north.

Please continue praying for the cause for which we will be riding beginning only three weeks from tomorrow beginning in New Orleans! Keep checking into our website where you can order t-shirts, donate, view videos, and read blogs from the riders.  Daily posts detailing the adventures of each day’s journey, beginning June 13, will be provided, so stay tuned for that!

We have raised almost $4,000–that’s still a long ways from the goal of $15,000 that we hope to reach for the folks at Living Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center, A Women’s Care Center, and Students for Life of Illinois… so, spread the word and encourage friends and family to donate!

Also… a big welcome to Kevin Biese, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison who will be joining us!

“Nothing we do to defend the human person, no matter how small, is ever unfruitful or forgotten. Our actions touch other lives and move other hearts in ways we can never fully understand in this world. Don’t ever underestimate the beauty and power of the witness you give in your pro-life work.”

–Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput

I hope that you’re all having a holy Holy Week! We’re now less than two months from the ride…so exciting! I’ve been definitely more vigilant in my time spent on the roads–mostly running, but trying to get in a token bike ride or two each week. Planning on my training on the bike peaking for two big training rides…a single day double century (200 miles in one day) and a two day trip from my home in Freeburg to my friend’s place just across the street from Wrigley Field in Chicago. I think the distance is about 300 miles. Once I get those rides in I think I’ll feel confident and ready to ride!

T-shirts have been put on order. Believe me, I think they are super cool this year! So, add yourself to our email list on the right so you can be the first to know when they’re out.

Keep checking out our website for updates and videos as the ride looms nearer and keep the mothers and babies we’re riding for in your prayers!

Mike

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T-shirts will be available soon for ordering!

Unfortunately, we will be unable to formally announce the dates of this summer’s ride until April 15. Until then, keep following our posts and stay tuned for more information!

Thanks,
Mike