Every year, for nearly three decades, they ride through the Coulee Region to help a child facing medical challenges that no one should have to endure.
It’s called Big Bikes for Little Tikes — the La Crosse version of Make-A-Wish.
And this year’s wish might not sit quite right with a Wisconsin crowd. But for a 15-year-old Hillsboro kid, named Dallas … well that’s all you might need to know to to make this wish make sense.
Dallas has an array of medical conditions, including brittle bone disease, which has forced him to use a wheelchair. Still, he loves what all kids love — and tolerates what all kids tolerate.
“He sounds like a typical 15-year-old boy,” Big Bikes’ Jean Taylor told WIZM’s La Crosse Talk. “He likes to go fishing. He likes school, but lunch is his favorite.”
La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk wherever you get your podcasts.
Taylor said Dallas’ wish is to go to Dallas — to see the Cowboys. His dad’s a big Cowboys fan and you might see now why he’s both named Dallas and wants to go with dad to Dallas.
So, Big Bikes rides Saturday to make that dream come true for him and his family, with the goal of attending the Packers-Cowboys game.
This is the 29th year of Big Bikes, where hundreds of motorcyclists and supporters have ridden for La Crosse area kids in need of a reprieve.
“This cannot happen without community support,” Taylor said. “It just can’t.”
BIG BIKE DETAILS
- Same-day registration 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Great River Harley in Onalaska
- Ride begins at 11 a.m.
- After party at Time Out Tavern in La Crescent
- Cost: $30-32 includes t-shirt, food, raffle entry
- Register or contribute here
The event starts at 9:30 a.m. at Great River Harley-Davidson in Onalaska, with the ride kicking off at 11 a.m. through the Coulee Region, before the party at Time Out Tavern in La Crescent.
It’s a remarkable sight — hundreds of motorcycles roaring to life, hundreds of people showing up and riding for these kids. It can catch some families a little off guard.
“I want to point out that that’s such a cool part of this over the years,” Taylor said. “You talk to the families, get to know the kids, and often they haven’t seen or weren’t even aware of this event.
“But when they see the bikes and the people that come out to support them — people they don’t know at all — and the kids see all these motorcycles rev up and pull out of Great River Harley-Davidson, they are almost always just incredibly moved by the generosity and support they receive from a community they’ve never met.”
While the families are touched by the overwhelming support from a community they may not expect to be this caring — a tough, rugged group in leather on loud motorcycles — the other half of the story is easy to understand.
This Big Bikes for Little Tikes community rides for kids who have endured far more in a short time — and some who may not make it — than many people face in a lifetime.
They ride to make a child’s wish come true and to give families a chance for an escape.
“A lot of them spend so much time in and out of doctor’s appointments, treatments, and hospitals that they truly need some family time,” Taylor said. “With all the expenses associated with these conditions, they often don’t have the extra income to make memories with a vacation or a trip.”