‘Biking for Babies’ cyclists pedal to build a culture of life

A group of cyclists taking part in the annual “Biking for Babies” event poses on Sept. 7 in the parking lot of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Indianapolis. (Photo by Mike Krokos)

By Mike Krokos

Conner James and Winifred White may worship in different dioceses, but they have one thing in common: they unabashedly support the unborn.

The pair were among the 27 riders who took part in the 11th annual Indiana “Biking for Babies” event, which drew its largest participation since its inception in 2014.

The three-day, 175-mile ride started on Sept. 6 at the Illinois-Indiana state line west of Terre Haute and ended on Sept. 8 at the Indiana-Ohio state line east of Richmond. Bikers were able to choose whether they wanted to ride a portion or the entire distance.

“I like wearing the [Biking for Babies] jersey and riding across the state of Indiana. It’s what we’re here for,” said James, who also rode last year.

A member of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Indianapolis, the 27-year-old was one of the youngest riders this year.

“I wish there were more of us [from my generation taking part],” he added.

White, a member of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, has been involved in her parish’s pro-life apostolate for years. It was her second time riding as well.

“Larry [Kunkel, the state life director for the Indiana Knights of Columbus] has been asking me for several years in a row to do it. I hadn’t ridden a bike for years. But last year a week before [that year’s event], I got on a bike and decided to do it,” she said after taking part in a decade of the rosary during the event’s midpoint rally on the campus of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Indianapolis on Sept. 7. “It went really well.”

Funds raised through the ride are used to purchase life-saving ultrasound machines for Indiana Women’s Care Centers. The goal for this year is $35,000, and donations are still being accepted.

“Imagine the effects if just one baby is saved,” said White. “If only one baby is saved by a [sonogram seen on an ultrasound] machine—and we know they’re going to save a lot more—it’s worth it. You can’t put a price on life.”

Knights of Columbus councils throughout the U.S. have donated nearly 1,800 ultrasound machines to pregnancy care centers, including 66 donated by councils in Indiana since 2011. Several more care centers in the state have asked for machines as well. Each machine costs approximately $35,000, and the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council matches every local dollar raised.

Kunkel, who has been involved in the pro-life movement for years, said being asked four years ago by the Knights to become their state life director took his commitment “to another level.”

“That’s when I became involved in Biking for Babies and much more involved with some of the other pro-life events,” said Kunkel, a member of St. Louis de Montfort Parish in Fishers, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese. “Personally, I believe in protecting life from conception to natural death, but my special passion is the babies, the most vulnerable.”

The outreach offered at crisis pregnancy care centers, he added, is of utmost importance, because “what they’re doing for women in crisis pregnancies, … that is what this is really all about.”
 

(To donate online to Indiana’s “Biking for Babies” ride, go to cutt.ly/Biking. Checks can be written to: Indiana State Council K of C Charity Fund Inc., with “Biking for Babies” on the Memo line. Mail to: Attention: Paul Zielinski, 4974 Roxbury Ct., Pittsboro, IN 46167) †