I wanted to give interested riders and support crew members a peek at the nitty gritty of Biking for Babies. What does pro-life really feel like?
5:00 – 5:30 a.m. Wake up call! Riders and crew members set their own alarms, assess their body’s soreness and fatigue, and eventually roll out of bed. They slide into their (clean!) Biking for Babies jerseys and shorts (washed by the support crew the night before!)
5:35 – 5:45 a.m. All participants set their bags by the van. Support crew packs the van while the riders fuel up on carbohydrates of all shapes, sizes, and flavors.
5:45 a.m. Pics and thank you’s with the host family, team prayer, snapping on our helmets, wiping on the various compositions of “-eens” (sunscreen, Vaseline, etc.)
6:00 a.m. Riders clip into their pedals and roll out the driveway!
6:00 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. The riders talk amongst themselves of what dreams they had the night before and how sore we were when we woke up.
6:00 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. The support crew talk amongst themselves of what dreams they had night before and how sore we were when we woke up.
9:00 a.m. The support crew identifies a nice, safe looking gas station, sets out granola bars, other snacks, and the Gatorade. One or two support crew members walk out to the road to wave the riders in. (They are usually grateful. Or they insist that we keep going and we follow their request.) The riders consume and repack their jersey pouches for this first 10 or 15 minute stop after having logged 50 to 60 miles.
9:00 to 11:00 a.m. The support crew and riders sight see the wild hills and animals of the state through which they are passing. We see deer, an alligator (really, once!), turkeys, domesticated canines, cats, turtles, etc.
11:00 a.m. Time for lunch! The support van sets out an even more comprehensive spread of meats and breads, takes video of the team for their family and friends at home, and takes note of how many miles we’ve covered (hopefully 70 at least) and how many we have left (the closer to zero, the better).
12:00 p.m. We are back on the road. The support crew cleans up and finishes any pro-life conversations with the locals while the riders get a head start!
1:30 p.m. Usually the riders are begging for a break again if it’s a hot one. Opportunities for cooling down include car washes (seriously!), ice towels prepared by the support crew (you’re 
welcome), shade trees along the road, gas stations (they’re everywhere!), and dips in creeks off of rope swings (yee haw!)
3:30 p.m. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! The support crew now strategically plants itself ahead of the bikers to have granola bars ready for a hand off and to catch flying water bottles (Hey, we all have places to go, no time for stopping!)
4:30 p.m. We have now (hopefully) arrived at our destination and gratefully drop our bikes and ourselves on the lawn for a bit of repose.
5:00 – 8:00 p.m. Brief daily mass followed by a potluck where two or three riders and crew members share why they decided to do the ride, what is happening at their pregnancy resource center, and a couple of anecdotes of what happened on that day’s travels
9:00 – 9:30 p.m. Team meeting including such questions as “How could the support crew have met the needs of the riders better? How could the riders have helped each other better? Any really great moments of the day? Any really low moments? Support crew goes through the route with the team.”
10:00 p.m. Lights out! Big day tomorrow!
