The day before Father’s Day, a pair of Barrington dads and avid bicyclists will be half of the four-person “Dads Honor Ride” relay team that is competing in the annual Race Across America ultra-cycling competition, taking off from California and bicycling across the country in an effort to raise money for a cause important to them.
A total of 10 teams is set to participate.
“I’m not an ultra-cyclist by any means,” Scot Marcotte, one of the participating Barrington fathers, admitted. “I enjoy cycling and participate in the Barrington Bike Club. So this is a challenge and it’s a challenge I’m eager to take.”
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The event begins June 17 in Oceanside, California and ends 3,100 miles later in Annapolis, Maryland. The Dads Honor Ride team hopes to finish on June 24, according to a news release announcing the race.
The team that includes the Barrington fathers is looking to raise money for what they consider the “crucial” and “burgeoning” problem of father absence in children’s lives, a leading socio-economic issue in the U.S., according to the release.
“We’re riding to raise awareness and critical funding needed to help fathers and father-figures be more engaged, present and effective in their children’s lives, knowing in turn, it will help them raise children who are also more engaged, present and effective in their own lives and in society. A child’s life is infinitely more enriched, safe and empowered with a father or father-figure actively participating in his or her life,” David Hirsch, the other participating Barrington father, said in the release.
Hirsch and Marcotte spoke to Pioneer Press in the days before the race starts.
They will be raising funds for two father-centered organizations for which the men say they are deeply involved: Hirsch is founder of the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative, which addresses the crisis of father absence, and the 21st Century Dads Foundation, which offers support to fathers raising children with special needs. Marcotte has been president of the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative for five years.
Hirsch founded the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative in 1997.
“When I became a father for the fifth time back in 1996, I stumbled across some statistics,” he said.
One startling fact he discovered was that 4 out of every 10 children in this country are growing up without a father in their daily lives.
In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are approximately 19.7 million children in the U.S. growing up without a father in the home and approximately three million children under the age of 18 living with special needs, according to the news release announcing the cycling competition.
“When kids are growing up in fatherless homes, they’re more likely to be involved with crime and incarceration, drug and alcohol use,” Hirsch said.
The bike trek is expected to be challenging, but one the dads told Pioneer Press they are totally up for.
“We plan on switching off every 30 minutes on average, so each of us will ride approximately 775 miles over the seven days, or about 110 miles each per day,” said Hirsch.
Marcotte noted the very tough course.
“It is certainly not easy in this part of the world to train for a cross-country bike ride that takes you up to some of the highest mountain passes in the U.S., that stretches on the plains where it’s flat roads for miles and miles,” he said.
Honor Ride” cycling team taking part in the Race Across America ultra-cycling event. The competition starts June 17, 2023 in Oceanside, California and is expected to end June 24, 2023 in Annapolis, Maryland.
Part of Marcotte’s training has been using technology that simulates the conditions that the riders expect to face. He also flew to Colorado and to California to get some actual experience riding on mountains, he said.
Hirsch began his training by participating in Dads Honor Rides in 2015 and 2016. The athletic Hirsch has done two Iron Man triathlons, as well as other challenging athletic events.
The other two members of their team are Ryan Aydelott, of Kildeer, and Mikolaj Topicha-Dolny, of Warsaw, Poland. They will be accompanied by a crew of 12, including Hirsch’s son, Charlie, Marcotte’s daughter, Stephanie, and Topicha-Dolny’s son, Michal.
Marcotte said he is thrilled to have the opportunity to spend time with his 16-year-old daughter during the race. He is also pleased that she will be able to pursue one of her interests.
“She’s interested in sports nutrition,” he said. “She’ll help make sure we have the right nutrition for the ride.”
Marcotte’s other daughter, Rachel, 18, put together playlists to help inspire him as he rides.
“Rachel and I have had a real strong music connection through the years,” he explained. “We go to concerts together.”
For Hirsch, the fatherhood stats he stumbled upon were sobering. They became strong motivation for him to start the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative, with the goal of providing resources and programming to help fathers take an active role in the education of their children, he said.
One of the organization’s programs is an annual essay contest in which students are asked to write about “What My Father or an Important Father-Figure Means to Me.” Each year, nearly 3,000 essays are received from across the state. A dozen essay finalists and their fathers or father-figures are celebrated at an annual dinner. The event serves as a fundraiser for the organization.
“We also have been recognizing prominent dads for decades,” Hirsch said. “A lot of the ’85 Chicago Bears, governors, mayors, industry leaders.”
The Illinois Fatherhood Initiative also hosts an annual luncheon in memory of Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong who was shot to death in 1999 by a white supremacist while he was jogging in Skokie with two of his children. At the luncheon, fathers are honored for their impact on the community.
Hirsch explained that one of the reasons that he is so involved with this organization is because, “I was one of those kids that grew up in a fatherless home. My mom was a single mom. She raised me and my younger brother from my age 6 and his age 5 as a Chicago Public Schools teacher.”
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Hirsch said he was grateful to have a wonderful father figure in his life, his maternal grandfather.
Marcotte initially connected with the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative when he volunteered to read some of the essays that were entered in the annual contest.
“I thought ‘what a great opportunity,'” he recalled. “I was the father of two young daughters myself. It turned out to be a really positive experience reading these essays. That inspired me to be a better dad to my children and to become involved in this charity.”
That’s why Marcotte accepted being president of the organization five years ago.
Hirsch also founded the 21st Century Dads Foundation in 2015 to offer services and support to fathers raising children with special needs. The organization offers mentoring initiatives, conferences, research and information, and a special Fathers Network, which produces dad-to-dad podcasts.
Hirsch, who is a financial advisor, said that he devotes so much time to the two fathers organizations because, “It’s a calling.”
Marcotte, who is a technology officer for an insurance company, the goals for the Dads Honor Ride are “to raise funds for these charities but also awareness. We want to reinforce the importance of dads in their children’s lives, no matter the situation.”
The men’s feat is expected to culminate June 24 with a celebration that includes a barbecue at a local restaurant in Annapolis attended by local supporters and families with children who have special needs.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelancer.