After 5: Retirees bike for Children's Miracle Network

At daybreak, they’ll roll some 70 miles to Stanley, N.D., the next stop on the Bagleys’ 4,000-mile, three-month trek across the northern United States.

Though the Bagleys are 1,100 miles from home, the retirees have a strong cheering section in Springfield: the executives and volunteers of Children’s Miracle Network of CoxHealth and the youth served by the medical nonprofit.

With 25 years of bicycling experience, the Bagleys are pedaling to raise money – so far, more than $12,000 – for children in need of health care in southwest Missouri.

“I’ve seen some extraordinarily remarkable things happen through CMN,” says Norb Bagley, who last year retired as CoxHealth’s chief operating officer after 23 years. “We decided it’d be a good idea if we could use this bike ride as a catalyst to raise money for CMN.”

Bagley says CoxHealth pays for the nonprofit agency’s overhead, and 100 percent of donations go directly to the kids. A recent example is the support CMN provided to 6-year-old cancer patient Megan White, of Springfield, as she and her family traveled to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., for chemotherapy treatments. White now calls herself a cancer survivor.

“I like what they do,” Bagley adds. “I like that they help children whose parents aren’t in a position to help with the medical expenses.”

Bagley says he was challenged to do something greater in retirement after reading “Three Cups of Tea,” Greg Mortenson’s adventures in Pakistan, where he was rescued after a failed attempt to climb K2 and promised to build a school in the village. He’s since built 55 schools there.

The Bagleys have been active among area nonprofit boards – Ann, who’s a retired Missouri probation and parole supervisor, with The Victim Center and Norb with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks. But they’ve longed for more.

“I wanted to become more personally involved rather than sitting in a board room with other people who are dressed like you,” he says.

During this journey that kicked off May 5 in Anacortes, Wash., they’ve averaged 60 miles per day along Highway 2 – “the highline” as the locals call it. Their daily travel topped out May 31 with 105 miles.

The Bagleys send e-mails and photos from their iPhone to CMN Executive Director Heather Fesperman. She posts journal entries and photos to www.coxhealth.com/cmn, sends flyers throughout the hospital and updates a map in the cafeteria that tracks their progress.

“This is the first time that anybody has ridden their bike across the country for us,” Fesperman says. “This is by far the most successful, too. Everybody is really rooting for them.”

One of the larger donations is $1,700 from 170 people in CoxHealth’s corporate wellness program who have pledged to walk 4,000 miles – as the Bagleys bike it. The largest single donation was for $2,000, Fesperman says.

To spread the word, the Bagleys sent out approximately 700 letters. “If I ever saw you, you got a letter,” Norb Bagley jokes. “And I made some calls.”

The efforts were worth it, Fesperman says. “Everywhere I go someone will ask me how Norb and Ann are doing.”

The Bagleys will be able to respond firsthand when they return home in early August, though that’s just a projected date.

“We’re retired. We don’t have to back until Christmas,” Norb Bagley says with a laugh. “We’re going to ride every mile.”

Final destination: coastal Maine, only 2,700 miles to go.

CMN Telethon

The annual telethon for Children’s Miracle Network of CoxHealth raised $1.41 million May 31–June 1. KY3 televised the 23rd annual event. Last year, a record $1.61 million was raised.

The nonprofit organization provides assistance for sick and injured children. All money raised stays in the Ozarks, according to a CoxHealth news release, providing funds for medical equipment, financial assistance, education and the CMN programs.

High Points

Follow the Bagleys’ journey at www.coxhealth.com/cmn, where pledges also can be made.

Top sight: While heading down Sherman Pass in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, the Bagleys saw huge black bear. “It was right alongside the road, probably 15 feet from where we were,” Norb Bagley recalls. “I’ve never been this close to a bear other than the zoo. It made eye contact with us and just turned and lumbered off into the woods, which was good.”

Most memorable: Traveling the legendary road called “Going to the Sun” about 30 miles to the top of Logan Pass in Montana’s Glacier National Park. With heavy snow all around, they passed Lake McDonald. “It was the most beautiful bike ride I’ve ever taken,” Bagley says. “It was just so close to the mountains, yet you could still see their peaks.”

Most challenging: Leaving Glacier National Park, where they hit rain, sleet and flood waters. Crossing the Continental Divide provided breathtaking view, “but it was 35 degrees and raining,” Bagley notes.

Big moment: The Bagleys celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on May 21 in Whitefish, Mont.

Most anticipating: Through northern Wisconsin traveling around the Great Lakes.[[In-content Ad]]