Each spring as we launch the next missionary formation season and welcome a new year, we also want to honor our alumni, and invite them to participate in the mission in a meaningful way.
Once a missionary, always a part of the Biking for Babies family and mission to live the Gospel of life.
This year, we’re excited to share that Biking for Babies co-founder Mike Schaefer is working with our team to host an in-person Alumni Ride and Retreat opportunity, the “BARRR.”
Seriously, this is going to be an awesome event, and we invite you to take part in something really special. Please keep reading to see his message to you!
“Biking for Babies Alumni… hey, it’s been a while : )
This winter, some opportune conversations and memories struck me and several close friends as a kind of call to revive the missionary spirit of Biking for Babies alumni in a new way.
Gosh, you know what I’m talking about, right? Slipping those tight-fitting, synthetic fibers on over tortured legs while you’re still a few hundred miles away from home… or darting the support van desperately around southeastern Missouri to find your riders and getting a speeding ticket (wait, is that just me?).
The point is, the National Ride has a funny way of becoming the connective tissue for new friendships, a marker for bold physical and mental breakthroughs, and a reorientation toward the Lord that is relentlessly life-giving.
Aubrie and the rest of the Biking for Babies staff and I want to visit that space with you again—in what we’re calling the first Biking for Babies Alumni Retreat & Reunion Ride (BARRR, alright!).
On Thursday, July 18, meet up in Dyersburg, Tennessee at Father Patrick Hirtz’s place, Holy Angels. Fly into Saint Louis or Memphis, and arrangements can be made to get you the rest of the way there. Then, in the late afternoon, we’ll talk about “the good ol’ days”, eat barbecue, and have drinks with old and new pals. The two-day, 240-mile retreat will be composed of three talks alongside prayer, reflection, and discussion.
Alumni will speak on fidelity to vocation and retaining the “missionary spirit” long after you left Saint Louis, Chicago, or Alexandria.
On Friday, we’ll bicycle 120 miles to Cape Girardeau, and on Saturday—120 miles to the Celebration of Life in Saint Louis. We’ll conclude the retreat with one last talk and prayer sesh before assisting in the Celebration of Life prep. Then, it’s time to warmly welcome the 2025 missionary class to the Biking for Babies family—or welcome them back : )
Wait, did you skip ahead to the end of this email because you were so excited to sign up! Glad to find you here. Do that here: register for the BARRR.
Come join us and keep that missionary heart of yours pumping. Sign up by June 1, because you know—planning. There is also a one-day retreat-ride option from Cape Girardeau.
Note, the blue jersey shop closes May 19, so if you want a fresh new jersey for the Alumni Ride, you’ll need to order before then!
Sincerely,
Mike Schaefer
2025 Alumni Ride Coordinator
mike.schaefer@bikingforbabies.com
Other Opportunities of Note
Missionaries give generously physically and spiritually for months leading up to the National Ride and while on the bike or crewing. But, the cost of a bike, helmet, shoes, jersey, gloves, cycling shorts, bike lights, sports nutrition, and getting to and from theNational Ride itself can stop them before they even start.
Alumni’s fundraising efforts will go toward shrinking those costs for missionaries through contributions to the Mike & Jimmy Scholarship Fund. Will you help us form the next generation of Biking for Babies missionaries?
Contact Mike if you have any questions about the BARRR, and check out these other ways you can support the mission:
- Sponsor the Celebration of Life in St. Louis (4 levels of sponsorship)
- Purchase a special edition blue jersey; pop-up shop only open until May 19 (jerseys mailed by July 4)
- Register for a local ride in Philadelphia or Central Iowa
- Purchase a 2025 t-shirt; now available to ship on-demand to your home (youth sizes available too!)
- Donate to the mission
Reconnect with the Mission
- Aaron R. rode with the inaugural AL Team in 2024 and is back on the WI Team in 2025. Read his story and how Biking for Babies has helped to shape him.
- Olivia W. rode for the first time in 2024 but is back as support crew this year. Her heart is beautifully conformed to the sacred heart of Jesus, and you’ll want to read her story.
- Biking for Babies has grown into a beautiful 6-month formation experience for young adults. If you never experienced that robust formation, check out where we are today.
- Our 2025 pregnancy resource center partners have been announced! We’re proud to be partnering with 89 organizations committed to serving women and families in unplanned pregnancies. See if there’s one near you!
