Today is St. Gregory’s Day, that impressive governor of Rome who became a monk who became a pope. “I tried to escape the world as a monastic,” he tells us, “but God sent me back to the gritty reality of Rome, to make my way as best I could with the other pilgrims.”
Every day I make a little pilgrimage, and I’m glad I do. Usually it’s on two wheels—my very fast road bike—and often it’s across an orange bridge that spans a Golden Gate. Sometimes it’s foggy and cold, and sometimes it’s warm and sunny, as it was this morning. Working up the first steep hill to the bridge, I passed an older man toiling with his own pedals. Within a minute he was back up to me, calling out “good morning!”
“You caught me,” I laughed. And we began chatting about how the mind automatically sends endorphins to the legs when someone passes him on a bike.
“Where are you headed?” he asked me. “Oh, just to Hawk Hill and back. How about yourself?” I’m headed for Paradise,” he said matter-of-factly. “Paradise” for Bay Area cyclists is a 35-mile route on Paradise Road through Sausalito and Tiburon and back. It turns out he was a competitive cyclist in former times, and also a merchant marine captain on the big ships. “On one ship I had seven labor unions to work with,” he sighed. “But in one port of call I met a French priest, a marine chaplain, who convinced me to do the Camino with him in Spain.” My new friend has since walked the Camino five more times, working out his sins, regaining peace of mind, slowing down, and making new friends. “I’m hoping St. James will get me into heaven,” he said.
We rode together up to and over the Bridge. Then he turned south for Paradise and I headed north to Hawk Hill. “Goodbye, pilgrim,” he waved. “I hope we will meet again.” I hope we will all meet again, all of us on this beautiful planet, someday in Paradise.
The above comes from a September 3 posting on the blog of Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco.
I’ve never understood why bicyclists feel the need to dress like a Court Jester when they ride a bike.
I think the clothing is designed to help the biker get off and on easier and go faster. Court Jesters wore longer clothing and of one piece, I think.
Bright colors make it easier for car drivers to see them.
Father Illo’s blog has a link to the USCCB Fortnight to Freedom which has this link which will be of interest to your readers:
https://www.usccb.org/news/2022/bishop-chairmen-condemn-harmful-regulations-forcing-gender-ideology-and-potentially
I hate bicyclists on the road. They think cars should go around them and they bike on roads that can’t accommodate cars and bikes both. Bike on sidewalks, bike lanes or bike paths. Stay out of car lanes and off roads that don’t have a bike lane. You’re not cars.
Driving is very stressful now with so many different types of vehicles on the road. Bikes on sidewalks are illegal in some cities as it can be very dangerous, especially around business areas. It is easy to run into a biker while exiting a fast- food driveway. A driver is so busy looking for pedestrians and cars when he exits, that often he is not expecting a bicycle to come whizzing down the sidewalk, and the view is not always clear. Whizzing past freeway exits without stopping is dangerous, also, as it is often hard to see bicycles coming, and there are usually no stop lights.
Bicycles are vehicles and have the same rights as a car. It is usually illegal to bike on a sidewalk.
If a road is not wide enough for a bike and a car, the bike is allowed to take the lane. If you are in a car, you are supposed to stay at least 3 feet back.
Local laws differ but they are allowed to be on any road unless it is posted “no bikes allowed.”
You should know your laws.
I give bicycles the right of way. Today when I was coming home from my daughter’s house, there was a bicyclist in the bike lane on my right, I did what I usually do — slow down and move over closer to the center line. As I did that a car coming toward me at a distance, realizing what I was doing, moved over closer to the other side of the road. We all got along just fine.
How many bicyclists have you seen come to a complete stop at stop signs? They don’t. They blow through them like the laws don’t apply to them. Don’t give me any of this that bicycles are vehicles. They want to be treated as vehicles when it suits them but want to disregard traffic laws when it suits them. Bikes don’t belong in the same lanes as cars. If there’s no bike lane or sidewalk, take a different route on your bike.
Most bicyclists in my county stop for the stop lights and signs. The ones with whom I have had trouble in my city are some who do not speak English and do not know the traffic laws. I had to report one to the police department because I tried to explain to him that he was going to get killed, but he did not understand and did it another time. A police officer who spoke his language must have warned him because I did not see him do it again.