It started with one pastor and one layperson in 1994, when they  rode bicycles across Nebraska to spread a message.

Last month, 11 people made a similar trek. The group slept in churches and trudged up steep hills and even took detours through South Dakota and Iowa.

The riders crossed 317 miles of highways as part of the Lutherans for Life bike ride July 14-17 to raise awareness about abortion, stem-cell research and end-of-life issues.

“There’s a lot of cycling enthusiasts among pastors,” said the Rev. Jeff Bloom of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lincoln. “And it’s a great cause. Guys give up vacations for it.”

Each year a group of local Lutheran pastors organizes a bike ride to give voice to their message. Anyone can join, whether they’re a pastor or layperson, Lutheran or non-Lutheran.

There’s only one condition — the pledges they earn must go to Lutherans for Life, and the president of the local chapter then decides how to use the money. This year the organization purchased “God’s Word of Life” Bibles to be distributed at crisis pregnancy centers around Nebraska.

But the pledges came with a cost. The bike riders traveled about 75 miles at a time before finishing with a 91-mile ride.

“The smart ones train,” Bloom said. “The dumb ones, like me, don’t.”

The pastor logged just 30 miles before the most recent trip.  Then again, he has been a biking enthusiast for years — he’s been participating in the Lutheran ride since 1998 — so he can get away with being rusty.

The Rev. Mathew Tooman, however, could not. The pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church moved to Lincoln in 2005, and fellow pastors have been nagging him to join the ride ever since.

Tooman gave in this year. He started going on 10-mile bike rides in April before building up to 25-mile rides by June. Slowly he worked his way to 30-, 40- and finally 61-mile trips.

“He’s a big guy,” Bloom said of Tooman. “And we rode up some monster hills; he never complained. And he doesn’t even have a racing bike like me. He’s riding a little commuter bike with a light on the front and a light on the back.”

Tooman didn’t mind. Riding with a group of friends made it easier, he said, and the support vehicle full of Gatorades helped, too.

But the cause he rode for made the trip worthwhile. 

“We’re encouraging people that God gives life, and he makes life,” Tooman said. “And we want to cherish that life.”

After completing their rides each day, the bicyclists stopped at Lutheran churches and unloaded their gear.

They usually held prayer services with local congregations, and they showed a video featuring Albert Pujols, a standout baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals who recently dedicated his 300th homerun to a girl with Down syndrome.

In between their rides and their work, the riders received meals from a number of volunteers. Then they bedded down inside churches until 6 the next morning.

“The riders are ones that everybody sees and newspapers write about,” Bloom said. “But the people that make it work are the congregations and volunteers that nobody hears of.”

The group usually rode all day,  arriving at their destinations around 4 p.m. each afternoon. This year they made stops outside Nebraska for the first time, with brief visits to South Dakota and Iowa. 

The journey ended in Wayne on July 17, and plans for next year began almost immediately.

Bloom has already called several Lutheran churches and begun plans for a new route.  He’s thinking about shortening the daily rides to attract new participants in the coming years.

More people would be willing to bike 20 miles at a time than 75, he said.

But one thing is certain: The bike ride will continue in the future, just as it has for more than a decade.

“I’m kind of keeping it year to year,” Tooman said. “But I had a great time. I want to do it again next year.”

Reach Michael McHale at 473-7254 or mmchale@journalstar.com