By Greg Bates
Correspondent
Like many parents around the state, Chris Roth has felt the impact of Children’s Wisconsin.
When one of his daughter’s, Ellie, now 21, was diagnosed with a tumor in her femur at age 6, it was feared she had leukemia.
The Roths made the trip south to Children’s Wisconsin in Wauwatosa for a biopsy and surgery.
Luckily for the Roth family, Ellie tested negative for cancer.
However, the impact Children’s had on them has stuck with them.
Even prior to his daughter’s health scare, Roth, the WBAY sports director and anchor, said he has always been an active proponent of the organization and thought about holding a fundraiser for it.
“I feel it’s such an incredible resource for us in the state,” he said. “It’s funny, I used to go to these events as an emcee or whatever, and you’re trying to get people to support the organization, and one of the things I would always say is, ‘Think of it as an insurance policy. You don’t know if you’re ever going to need it or when you’re going to need it, but you want it there. It might be your kid, it might be your neighbor’s kid, it might be a niece, a nephew, whatever. It’s going to happen. This was long before I even had kids, I would say this. It turned out to be rather prophetic.”
Taking an idea from the Santa Cycle Rampage pub crawl in Milwaukee, where participants dress up in Santa outfits and ride from bar to bar, Roth had the thought to do a similar event, but as a fundraiser – have bikers gather around the holidays, get decked out in Santa attire and raise money for Children’s Wisconsin.
Roth said he took the idea to his friends and avid bikers Shawn Hauser and Noah Kellermann, and as they say, the rest was history.
In 2017, the trio founded Santa Cycle in Green Bay.
“Noah and I, we’re both pretty heavy into the bike scene, and we knew right away that it would be embraced pretty quick and pretty well, and we’d have some pretty good turnouts,” Hauser said. “This is definitely a fat bike area, so to speak.”
By the event’s third year in 2019, Roth said bikers embraced the concept of dressing up in different costumes.
“If you’re going to come, you don’t necessarily need to wear a Santa suit — we’ve had elves, we’ve had Grinches, we’ve had Buddy the Elf, we’ve had Olaf and Sven,” he said. “People get into it. It’s fun. The best thing about it, not just that people care about this great resource, but it’s also when you’re riding through downtown (Green Bay), and you stop traffic and they just look at you, and to me that’s what spreads the word and the awareness.”
Nick AbuJamra has ridden in every Santa Cycle.
He typically participates in the ride with two of his three kids.
“It’s a hard cause to turn down,” AbuJamra said. “For us, it’s been very meaningful. We’ve had these Children’s hospital services for some consulting years ago for one of our kids, so it meant a lot to us, too.”
Pandemic
Last year’s ride didn’t happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that didn’t deter the three organizers from making the most of it.
Every year, the main attraction outside of the bike ride is a drawing to win either one or two fat bikes.
Though the ride wasn’t able to take place in 2020, the drawing was held virtually, and it was a hit.
More than $7,000 in tickets were sold, and one lucky winner walked away with a brand-new fat bike.
“Last year when we didn’t have the ride, we heard from so many people that were disappointed it wasn’t going on,” Hauser said. “So, that kind of showed you how people really embraced it.”
A hit each year
Since its creation, he event has raised $57,000 for Children’s Wisconsin.
“It’s gratifying to know that people share the same commitment and level of gratitude for this level of resource,” Roth said.
There were about 35 participants the first year.
The next year, it doubled, and in the third year, it doubled again to around 140 registered riders.
Roth said he is anticipating the biggest turnout yet for this year’s event with 150-200 participants.
“I think at that time of the year you’re kind of in that not a lot going on phase, so as a cyclist, it’s kind of cool to have something organized where you can get together and see not only your friends, but also other cyclists that you maybe hadn’t seen for a while,” Hauser said. “And a lot of us are just kind of bike crazy, so whenever there’s some type of event like this and you throw in the support, we jump all over it.”
Event registration
The fifth annual event will take place Dec. 11 at Badger State Brewing Company, where the ride starts and ends.
Doors open at 9 a.m. and the ride begins at 10 a.m.
Registration is $35 for adults and $15 for anyone under 21. Participants may register on Facebook @SantaCycleGreenBay.
Each participant receives a custom Santa hat and a free beer or soft drink from Badger State.
The 7 1/2-mile, hour-long ride takes participants over the Fox River and onto Green Bay’s City Deck before looping back to the brewery.
Because the event is held during the winter, the riders are at the mercy of Mother Nature, so organizers suggest planning accordingly.
Organizers encourage anyone who would like to ride or simply support Children’s Wisconsin to sign up for the event.
“It’s just a cool event,” Hauser said. “How can you not love to see a hundred Santas going down the street on bikes?”