Hey all,

As the heading states, my name is Mike and I’m a junior at the University of Illinois studying Crop Science and minoring in Spanish. This is my second year helping to support this awesome cause with the B4B ride and I am very excited to be doing it again! I hail from Freeburg, a small town in southern Illinois which will be B4B’s layover after day 1 of the ride. You can largely thank my family for the inspiration to attempt such a ride. From a pretty young age, I first admired my older sister and brother’s passion and intensity on the cross country course and track and my dad’s in road races. I knew that I wanted to tackle seemingly daunting physical challenges like them someday too! My mom, especially, always instilled in me the value of respecting life at every stage and growing in my faith, which unfortunately I did not completely appreciate until I started college! I’m pumped to be having all of the new riders joining the B4B ride with such determination and commitment to fight for this most serious of causes that we face today. Thank you to all who are working to make this year’s ride happen–from our bike riders to family, friends, and contributors of finanicial and spiritual support! Thank you and God bless!