Two groups of cyclists are preparing to pedal from Columbus for St. Louis and Arlington, Virginia, next month as part of the annual Biking for Babies National Ride to raise funds and awareness for pro-life pregnancy centers.
Columbus has become an annual launch point for Biking for Babies, which is celebrating its 15th year in 2024. Since 2017, riders have set out from Columbus to cover 600 miles to St. Louis during six days in July while traveling across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
This year, five other routes (up from three in the past), starting in Rochester, Minnesota; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Huntsville, Alabama and Lincoln, Nebraska, will also be riding to St. Louis, where they will converge on July 13.
In 2022, Biking for Babies added three Eastern routes that meet in Arlington, Virginia, with Columbus as one of its starting points. This year, the other routes besides Columbus will originate from Belmont Abbey, North Carolina and Amsterdam, New York.
A total of 92 individual riders on all of the routes ask for donations, which can be made at www.bikingforbabies.com, that will go to 95 pregnancy centers and maternity home partners across the country. Each missionary is paired with a pregnancy center to promote its mission of providing free support and resources to those experiencing unexpected, difficult or at-risk pregnancies. Among the beneficiaries in the Diocese of Columbus are the Women’s Care Center and Pregnancy Decision Health Centers.
This year’s goal is $400,000 for Biking for Babies, whose mission is to proclaim the dignity of human life by uniting cycling with the formation of young adults into missionary disciples of Jesus Christ.
In Biking for Babies' 15-year history, executive director Nikki Biese said 216 young adult missionaries have cycled more than 31,000 miles and raised more than $1.61 million for 127 pregnancy centers while also growing in holiness from the experience.
“Women served by pregnancy centers are looking for hope in their crisis; they find hope as well as a voice saying they can do this, and we are here to help,” Biese said. “Women are welcomed and loved unconditionally, and these centers extend that love to their unborn children, born children, and families.
“Our team is driven to provide countless more women that hope and to bring about a world where advocating the thriving of all, from conception to natural death, is not only the best option, but the only conceivable option.”
Riding for the second year in a row from Columbus is Joseph Massaro, a 23-year-old from Seville, Ohio, who graduated in 2024 from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in theology and catechetics. He has been cycling for seven to nine years and seriously training the last three to four years.
He started training for this year’s event in March while in college, riding an average of 25-35 miles three to four times a week.
Last year, he participated in the route to St. Louis. This year, he’s riding to Arlington, Virginia. He described the experience as life changing.
“I distinctly remember being so anxious about the ride itself because I was worried that God was going to use this experience to call me to the priesthood,” Massaro said. “He did call and He led me to a deeper understanding of my own vocation, that of the domestic priesthood or fatherhood.
“In this call and through the National Ride, I saw the need for support that Biking for Babies and our Pregnancy Resource Center partners intend to give to families in crisis pregnancies.
"I may be a little biased when I say I believe Biking for Babies is one of the best organizations to help. To echo the words of St. John Paul the Great in Familaris Consortio, “Families become what they are.”
He said he chose to ride to use his gifts to help spread the Gospel of Life.
"Last year, I remember how joyous and happy I was even through everything was sore,” he said.
“I am excited to finally meet my team in person after months of Zoom meeting and emails. I am also a little excited to return to Steubenville, my alma mater, and ride those sweet hills in the Ohio Valley. I just hope and pray that we will have the weather that we had last year; it was beautiful and comparatively cool for early July.
More information on Biking for Babies is available at www.bikingforbabies.com. The progress of this year’s missionaries can be followed on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
