Last Saturday (10th of April) the "Blessing of Bikes" was celebrated in New York.
New York has a flourising cycling community, and a especial event is the blessing of those vehicles and their pilots!
You had to wear your usual cycle clothing and bikes (motorized or not) inside the Cathedral church of Saint John the Divine, in New York. If you usually wore cycling shoes with exposed cleats organizers would ask you to take them off so as not to damage the cathedral floor.
The contribution with money was absolutely free; if you wanted to give some money, you could do it. One hundred per cent of the collected money goes directly to the church and the rest of the money is destinated to help homeless people
The reverend (priest) called Thomas P. Miller said some kind words and then sprinkled the bikes with Holy water. In the celebration, there was a moment of silence to remember the cyclist lost the previous year in accidents and later all the bike bells rang at the same time.
The event is wonderful but brief, so people is on time or they may lose it!
If we have a look on the reaction of people we can find people who see this event as a joke, some take it serously, other people feel deeply ofended.
New York has a flourising cycling community, and a especial event is the blessing of those vehicles and their pilots!
You had to wear your usual cycle clothing and bikes (motorized or not) inside the Cathedral church of Saint John the Divine, in New York. If you usually wore cycling shoes with exposed cleats organizers would ask you to take them off so as not to damage the cathedral floor.
The contribution with money was absolutely free; if you wanted to give some money, you could do it. One hundred per cent of the collected money goes directly to the church and the rest of the money is destinated to help homeless people
The reverend (priest) called Thomas P. Miller said some kind words and then sprinkled the bikes with Holy water. In the celebration, there was a moment of silence to remember the cyclist lost the previous year in accidents and later all the bike bells rang at the same time.
The event is wonderful but brief, so people is on time or they may lose it!
If we have a look on the reaction of people we can find people who see this event as a joke, some take it serously, other people feel deeply ofended.
QUESTIONNAIRE:
a) What do you think about it?
b) Have you got a bike? Do you usually use it?
c) What do you prefer, cycling a bike of drive (be given a lift) a car? Why?
