2007 Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour: Redwing, MN Start Line / DSC01900

Photos by Chris Kostman / AdventureCORPS, May 19, 2007, Show 1 of 3

Before heading south on our voyage, we all assembled for a “church service” hosted by “the Irreverend Matthew Cole,” a Lake Pepin regular who had just been ordained over the Internet, “for no charge at all,” he noted. Cole, also known as “the Quicker Vicar,” handed out an eight-page pamphlet which included “responsive reading” sections for all of us. In honor of St. Dunstan’s Day, Cole had prepared a special “Blessing of the Bicycles” program that included a Blessing (“Remember Lord, that many of our bicycles have risen from the dead, much like yourself”), a Reading of the Commandment (“Thou shalt not covet they neighbour’s house… nor his Higgins, nor his Dunelt, nor his Raleigh…”), Psalm 23 (“Thou preparest a table before me in the Eagle’s Nest Coffeeshop: thou anointest my chain with oil.”), an extensive reading adapted from Shakespeare’s Henry V (“Cyclists everywhere now-a-bed shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here.”), and a “Lenton Observance” during which Raleigh Lenton bicycles were sprinkled with water while a hymn was sung (“Amazing Gears, how sweet the sound.”) This concluded with the Dismissal “In the name of the Trinity, High Gear, Direct Drive and Low, go forth and ride.”