CHAMPAIGN — Fireworks and applause from a cheering crowd greeted five cyclists at the finish line of an 860-mile, seven-day bicycle trek from New Orleans to Champaign to raise pro-life funds and awareness.

“It was great for everyone to be there,” said Mike Schaefer of the welcome the “Biking for Babies” cyclists received late afternoon Monday as they pedaled down Armory Street to the steps of St. John’s Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois. “It was more than we were expecting.”

Swelling the crowd were hundreds of missionaries from the Fellowship of Catholic University Students from throughout the United States who have spent the last several weeks in training at the Newman Center. Also on hand were several seminarians of the Diocese of Peoria and Father Brian Brownsey, diocesan director of priestly vocations.

The riders — also including Jimmy Becker, Eric Johanningmeier, Kevin Biese, and Stacy Hague — deflected the spotlight from their personal athletic accomplishments to the cause that motivated them.

Through donations garnered before the ride as well as during it via the website Biking for Babies, the quintet surpassed their $15,000 goal to support pro-life charities, including Students for Life of Illinois and a maternity home being built by the Champaign Pregnancy Resource Center. The website features video taken throughout the ride and daily updates from the cyclists.

Schaefer, who graduated from the University of Illinois last month and will now serve as campus minister at the St. Joseph Newman Center at Bradley University in Peoria, noted that one day the bikers pushed themselves to travel 230 miles. They did so, in part, to challenge all in the pro-life movement to go the extra mile in their efforts on behalf of the unborn.

Schaefer said “Biking for Babies” — now in its third year — is here to stay.

“Hopefully in the future we’ll have six or seven routes, all finishing in Chicago” he told The Catholic Post. Schaefer expressed gratitude for the hospitality the bikers received along the way, including at Catholic parishes, and said they were willing to strike up conversations in support of life with many they encountered.

“We biked a long way and it was the best week of my life, giving myself physically and spiritually for a cause that I’m passionate about,” said Hague at the ride’s conclusion.