It was a great day for a bike ride! The club assembled at the usual jumping off point. We went out 10 minutes later than normal so we would reach St. Bede's a few minutes before 9:30am. I think almost all the riders were from our club. I didn't notice many folks from other clubs there. BigFloppyLlama showed up.
Rev. Dr. Dennis S. Tierney presided over the ceremony. He asked for donations of any old bikes that we might have lying around collecting dust, so they could be sent over to Half Moon Bay to be provided to farm workers in the area for transportation. He also showed us the special stole that was made for him with a bicycle on it. There were four short prayers that were said and we joined in on the recitation of two of them. After the prayers were said, we got on our bikes and rode single file in front the the Reverend who sprinkled us with holy water and said a blessing as we passed by.
There was bottled water for anyone who wanted it but since it was only 6 miles into the group ride we didn't really need it. After the ceremony, we continued with the rest of our ride.