Spring break for many of us evokes sublime visions of palm trees or the family couch. But for three students here at UIUC, spring break will involve something entirely different. Like many of us, Mike Schaefer, Stacy Hague, and Jimmy Becker will be traveling hundreds of miles. Unlike us, they’ll be biking.
The name of their trip says it all: Biking for Babies. Each of the three will bike 600 miles, in five days. While we may start preparing for break soon – buying a plane ticket or clearing out the fridge – these students have already started their preparations, with intense physical conditioning.
Writing on the team’s blog at www.bikingforbabies.com, Mike recently described what’s motivating him to do this: “My mom, especially, always instilled in me the value of respecting life at every stage and growing in my faith… 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.” In another post, Stacy wrote: “Each mile we ride and each calorie we burn is really our burning desire for the freedom and right of every individual to LIVE, no matter how small. This ride is making the invisible, visible.”
Stacy, a junior majoring in nutrition and psychology, Mike, a junior majoring in crop science and minoring in Spanish, and Jimmy, majoring in materials science and engineering, are all raising funds for local crisis pregnancy centers and pro-life initiatives. Their goal is to raise a total of $25,000. All funds will benefit the babies and families who are impacted through the Champaign Pregnancy Resource Center and Students for Life of Illinois.
Last year Mike and Jimmy teamed up to travel 600 miles, and this year they’re back at it, though the enterprise has expanded. Now, instead of just one trip, the two will be leading two different teams. Both teams will be biking 600 miles, so between March 24th to April 2nd, they will cover a total of 1200 miles of long, cold asphalt. First, Team Illinois (Mike and Stacy) will bike north from Cairo to Peoria. Then Team Wisconsin (Jimmy and a trio of University of Wisconsin students) will bike south in an S-shaped curve starting in Aurora and ending in Champaign.
You can follow Team Illinois and Team Wisconsin as they train and bike! See their website at www.bikingforbabies.com to read team members’ blogs, buy a $5 t-shirt, spread the word, or support their team! Because it’s all about saving babies.