Hello family, friends and all faithful supporters,

As Mike stated, It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a year, but great to know that B4B 2010 is rapidly approaching.  Both Mike and I are equally enthused and preparing our respective teams for the endeavor. 

As I was sitting in Mass yesterday, I was struck by the first reading from Jeremiah…

Jer 1:4-5, 17-19
“The word of the LORD came to me, saying:  Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you…But do you gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you.  Be not crushed on their account, as though I would leave you crushed before them; for it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land:  against Judah’s kings and princes, against its priests and people.  They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.”

Amen!  Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the battle is on!  Gird your loins, stand up and protect the dignity of Life.  As faithful Christians, we are called to Holiness.  We called to strengthen one anothers sword and be faithful stewards to His will.  As Jeremiah exclaims:  “They will fight against you but not prevail over you.”  Rest assured that God is with us, now and always.  You’ve heard it said, time and time again…We are many parts, but we’re all one body.  Let’s come together, as a unified front, and work to protect the dignity of the human person.  The time is Now!  I look forward to the months ahead, as we prepare to trek out this Spring.  Know that you are all in my prayers and thank you for all that you do.  Let’s continue to pray for a greater respect to life and a transformation of our culture.  Mary-Queen of Victory (pray for us!)

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.

“It is finished!”

Daily mileage = 85 avg; Total mileage = 636!

Thank you, Thank you.  We appreciate all the prayers and support along the way.  It’s been real.

During the Ride:  This morning we started out in the tundra of Dekalb.  One word: “FREEZING!”  This morning temperature was 28 degrees.  Constant reminder:  “FOR THE BABIES!”  More specifically; “FOR THE KINGDOM!”  Constant prayers were offered up for a greater respect to life, an appreciation for all family/friends, and shaefer (he was only wearing shorts!)

I’d like to thank Eric and Giorgio for helping us trek onward to Chicago.  I’d also like to encourage all those in Aurora (and across the nation) to keep fighting the good fight (PRAY FOR AN END TO THE CULTURE OF DEATH!).

Life lesson learned today:  Don’t ask Chicago-ians for directions, they’ll get you lost.  All jokes aside, life lesson:  When mapping out a week long bike trek, don’t rely on google maps (or add 36ish miles, if it’s a 600 mile trek).

In all seriousness, this spring break most certainly been a tremendous blessing.  Bravo to Mike and John Paul for all their work and efforts.  I also owe a special thanks to all the family/friends that put up w/ us along the journey and to our car co-pilot, Stacy Hague.   Special thanks to my family for all their love and support!

Mike and I will provide you all w/ final video footage, as well as a final count of the earnings (…soon and very soon).  God is good; all the time!

God Bless -J

St. Michael -pray for us, St. Christopher -pray for us, St. Sebastian -pray for us, Mary, Queen of Victory -pray for us

–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!–

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!

Day 5 = success!!  Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  Big day tomorrow!

First and foremost, I wanted to correct our daily mileage from yesterday.  I started our odomoter after we got out of the C-U area.  With that, our daily mileage came out to 122 miles (Urbana – Peoria).  My apologies for the error.

Now, I’d like to fill you all in on today’s endeavor.  Today was a good reliever.  The ride was long, but smooth.  Daily mileage = 127 miles & Total mileage = 550.  It was quite humorous.  We hit the 500 mile mark before lunch.

During the Ride: We hit a bit of a tailwind/crosswind, which helped out.  To end out, we averaged out approx. 17/18 miles per hour.

After the Ride:  We were greeted by some stellar students and admin at NIU newman center.  Mike and I also had the privilege of meeting up with my older sister, Katie.  In addition, we had a surprise visit from members my extended family.  It was quite the blessing to see the Balzer’s.  It has been far far too long!  I’d like to give a shout out to thank the Balzer’s (from Rockford) for coming out and meeting us at the Newman center.

Now, it’s time to gear up and prepare for tomorrow’s grand finale.  We’ll be meeting in Aurora at the abortion clinic.  For now, we are planning to pray a rosary.  We’d love for anyone and everyone to join us.  If that does not work, we’ll be finishing up in Chicago (Grant Millenium Park).  The final time is TBD.  Call Stacy Hague, Katie Becker or John Paul Deddens for updates.  Our hope is that someone will have internet access to check the website for any inquiries.

Keep Rockin’!  Fight the good fight and we’ll continue to Ride to win.

God bless -J

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.

Hello everyone!  Another successful and blessed day.  Thank you for all of your continued prayers and support.  Mike and I really appreciate it.  It is truly amazing to see God’s work being done w/ the accomplishments thus far. 

Today’s ride was rough!  We faced a pretty brutal headwind for a large portion of our trek. 

THE RIDE:  After a delayed departure, we rolled into ISU around 2 pm.  There we were greeted by some solid FOCUS missionaries, as well some stellar students from ISU.  We also had the privilege of seeing the Brock Perkes. (making a surprise visit from Decatur)  After a wonderful lunch, we continued on the difficult journey and finally rolled into Bradley at 6:15ish pm. 

AFTER THE RIDE:  At Bradley we were greeted by family (Uncle John and my cousin Megan), as well as Jared from the Catholic Post, Fr. Brownsey, some more stellar FOCUS missionaries, and some solid Bradley students.  After a delicious meal, I had the opportunity to visit with my Godmother.  It was great blessing to see her!  Please pray for her (specifically for strength and healing).  We finished out the day celebrating the Feast of the Annunciation w/ Fr. Brownsey presiding.  All and all, in was an action-packed and fun-filled day.

Total miles for the day = 114 miles.  Total mileage = 424 miles.  We will be venturing on to Dekalb tomorrow.  Mike (navigator and weatherman) informed me that we’ll be looking at a little tailwind for a portion of our ride.  (Very exciting!)  Please continue to pray for the success of our efforts, as well as pray for a greater respect for LIFE!

St. Sebastian -pray for us, St. Christopher -pray for us, St. Michael -pray for us, Mary, Queen of Victory -pray for us

God bless! -J

Praise and Thanks be to God.  Another successful day!  

Today was a great day for riding.  We had our ups and downs.  We started off our morning w/ a flat (not to point fingers, but it wasn’t me…)  Fortunately, Mr. Brummer came to the rescue.  After our bumpy start, we trekked into Effingham for two interviews and had the privilege of celebrating mass w/ the Brummer’s.  After our goodbyes, it was off to the races.  

Mike and I booked it to Charleston in no time at all (48 miles) and had lunch at EIU Newman Center w/ Fr. Titus, as well as staff and students.  We were much appreciative for their warm welcome!  After our wonderful meal (lunch break…Mike fell asleep!) we ventured home to Champaign-Urbana.  In total, we biked 97 miles (today) and 307 miles (3 days).  

DURING THE RIDE:  On the way to Charleston, Mike and I fought some headwind for about 25 miles.  This provide Mike and I a great opportunity to offer up our Rosary.  Thereafter, during the trek from Charleston to Champaign, the “Big Guy” was looking out for us and gave a little tailwind.  Mike and I were sure to take full advantage of this blessing.  For a good hour we averaged out approximately 25 miles.  It was quite exhilarating!

AFTER THE RIDE:  Living Alternatives invited us for dinner.  It was a feast!  It was awesome to hear all the stories and accounts of lives saved!  We also had the opportunity to meet with some of the adopted children/families and we’re given a tour of the building by the director, Greta Henry.  Their work and efforts is truly amazing.  Greta shared that our contributions will be going to help build a maternity home alongside the building.

As always, we appreciate your prayers and support.  We continue to ask that you pray for a strengthening to the commitment of family, the end to the culture of death, and a greater respect for life from conception to natural death.  

Tomorrow is our off day.  We’re looking to go to noon mass and pray outside planned parenthood.  Looking forward to our rest day!

God bless! -J

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!