We rode from Manchester to Canaan. Stopped at Foodshare and gifts of Love and the bike shop. we then continued on Rt. 44 to Canaan.
As we were riding up one of the many long hills, I realized I was riding in the hot sun and I looked over to the other side of the road and realized it was shady. I began to think about the poor and their struggles and how life could be better if they could only ride on the "shady side of the road". Those thoughts helped propel me up that hill.
Mike
Saturday, June 27, 2009
BTC 2009 - Day 1 - Manchester to Canaan
We began to arrive at St. Bridget little by little. Our designated departure time was 8:00. We were all to arrive between 7:00 and 7:30 to pack support vehicles and get our bikes all set. Some of us rode our bikes to St. Bridget, some drove their cars with their bikes on their racks. As it got closer to 8:00 we realized we were not going to leave at that time as Jeanette forgot her helmet and bike shoes. Her sister was rushing them over. While we waited, we gathered around for our usual send-off prayer. Lou had one ready but Mike had read a prayer that morning and thought it was so appropriate he asked if we could use that prayer and asked his Dad, Jim, to read it. Th prayer was perfect for what we were about to begin again this year. So good that rob suggested we put it on the website.
We left St. Bridget around 8:15. Jeanette's sister made good time getting to St B's. Everyone was excited and eager to get going. We were on our way. As we ventured to Foodshare in Bloomfield we had a coupe of spills, John Ryan and Mark, a couple of flat tires, but in all it was a pleasant ride. We actually arrived at Foodshare earlier than expected. after fixing Mark's flat tire, we got an overview by Sarah Santora about the 21% increase in what foodshare has had to put out since last year. They now deliver 15 tons of food a day as compared to only 12 tons last year. One of the most remarkable statistics we heard was that West Hartford, Avon, and Simsbury has a 75% increase in services over last year. It was evident what the economy has done to these services.
Foodshare provided the BTC team with granola bars, water, gatorade and most importunately, restrooms. By the way, they have entirely "green" bathrooms. Our discussion, while brief was to the point and we all learned a bit more.
We left by 11:30 and headed to Avon. We had planned to again stop at Gifts of Love. Gifts of Love is a Food Pantry of sorts. They cater to people who are working but are going through a bad time.
They are working but incapable of making ends meet. Someone may have just lost their job, or more importantly, lost their home. Gifts too have had a significant increase in services, up 43%.
As we again rode Talcott mountain, it seemed this year it was not as difficult. We actually got to Gifts of Love a lot earlier than planned. And, it wasn't raining like last year.
We received a nice talk form Chris and Diana. They provided us with the new information we were looking for. They provide services for 300 families a month. they also are doing some great things for kids with their backpack program. It was nice touching base with then again this year.
We then rode just down the Rt. 44 to the Ski Market & Bike shop and met with David Neuman. he had heard about BTC form hearing bob King on the WTIC radio broadcast last year and called Bob and mentioned that since we were coming through Avon he would service any riders bike if they wanted then checked out. Last year he worked on four bikes. He extended his offer again this year and he actually worked on 9 bikes. He is a great guy. we could not believe how generous he was. We again bid him farewell and thanked him for his kindness.
We also ate our Subway lunch right there at the bike shop. We were stuffed after word.
Once lunch was completed we headed for Canaan. The ride there was a bit difficult but everyone hung in. The hills strung the group out quite a bit. Enough so that Rob and Lou pasted Immaculate conception parish and had to bike back uphill to get there. In time they got back to where they should have been. Ultimately Rob and Lou rode close to an extra 12 miles that day.
When we were ALL at Immaculate, Fr. Jeffries assigned us our rooms and where we would be staying. Pam also met us there at Immaculate. Good to see her there. We went to our respective host homes and showered up. We then proceded to a parishioner's home that was serving us all dinner at their house. Everyone ate well and enjoyed the company.
Still cannot believe how trusting and kind these folks were. It still amazes us.
We had a quick pot luck going and all went well.
The presentation went over smooth. Fr. Jeffries asked many meaningful guestions.
We are grateful for the kindness felt by all.
We have a lot to be thankful for.
We left St. Bridget around 8:15. Jeanette's sister made good time getting to St B's. Everyone was excited and eager to get going. We were on our way. As we ventured to Foodshare in Bloomfield we had a coupe of spills, John Ryan and Mark, a couple of flat tires, but in all it was a pleasant ride. We actually arrived at Foodshare earlier than expected. after fixing Mark's flat tire, we got an overview by Sarah Santora about the 21% increase in what foodshare has had to put out since last year. They now deliver 15 tons of food a day as compared to only 12 tons last year. One of the most remarkable statistics we heard was that West Hartford, Avon, and Simsbury has a 75% increase in services over last year. It was evident what the economy has done to these services.
Foodshare provided the BTC team with granola bars, water, gatorade and most importunately, restrooms. By the way, they have entirely "green" bathrooms. Our discussion, while brief was to the point and we all learned a bit more.
We left by 11:30 and headed to Avon. We had planned to again stop at Gifts of Love. Gifts of Love is a Food Pantry of sorts. They cater to people who are working but are going through a bad time.
They are working but incapable of making ends meet. Someone may have just lost their job, or more importantly, lost their home. Gifts too have had a significant increase in services, up 43%.
As we again rode Talcott mountain, it seemed this year it was not as difficult. We actually got to Gifts of Love a lot earlier than planned. And, it wasn't raining like last year.
We received a nice talk form Chris and Diana. They provided us with the new information we were looking for. They provide services for 300 families a month. they also are doing some great things for kids with their backpack program. It was nice touching base with then again this year.
We then rode just down the Rt. 44 to the Ski Market & Bike shop and met with David Neuman. he had heard about BTC form hearing bob King on the WTIC radio broadcast last year and called Bob and mentioned that since we were coming through Avon he would service any riders bike if they wanted then checked out. Last year he worked on four bikes. He extended his offer again this year and he actually worked on 9 bikes. He is a great guy. we could not believe how generous he was. We again bid him farewell and thanked him for his kindness.
We also ate our Subway lunch right there at the bike shop. We were stuffed after word.
Once lunch was completed we headed for Canaan. The ride there was a bit difficult but everyone hung in. The hills strung the group out quite a bit. Enough so that Rob and Lou pasted Immaculate conception parish and had to bike back uphill to get there. In time they got back to where they should have been. Ultimately Rob and Lou rode close to an extra 12 miles that day.
When we were ALL at Immaculate, Fr. Jeffries assigned us our rooms and where we would be staying. Pam also met us there at Immaculate. Good to see her there. We went to our respective host homes and showered up. We then proceded to a parishioner's home that was serving us all dinner at their house. Everyone ate well and enjoyed the company.
Still cannot believe how trusting and kind these folks were. It still amazes us.
We had a quick pot luck going and all went well.
The presentation went over smooth. Fr. Jeffries asked many meaningful guestions.
We are grateful for the kindness felt by all.
We have a lot to be thankful for.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Brake the Cycle Tour 2009 - June 25 thru June 30
We will be adding our daily Journals to this blog beginning Thursday night, June 25. Follow along with us as we begin our sixth BTC Connecticut bike tour.
We head out to St. Joseph's parish in Canaan of Thursday. On Friday we will travel to St. Mary's parish in Newington. Saturday we head to Willimantic and St. Joseph's parish. We will be conducting presentations at each parish.
On Sunday we will be at St. Timothy's parish in West Hartford for 10:30 mass and a presentation. We will also be doing a presentation at Holy Family Retreat Center in West Hartford Sunday evening.
On Monday we head down to New Haven to St. Aedan's parish for a presentation and then head back to Holy Family for the night.
Tuesday, June 30, we head off to New Britain where we will attend out Finale at Corbin Heights housing project, part of PHRN, Public Housing Residents Network.
We intend to stop at Poverty Centers each day along our bike routes and visit legislative offices when we can to share the stories we hear during our ride, to bring a voice of those who do not have a voice to those who can help make a difference.
Join us where you can.
Peace,
Lou Terzo
We head out to St. Joseph's parish in Canaan of Thursday. On Friday we will travel to St. Mary's parish in Newington. Saturday we head to Willimantic and St. Joseph's parish. We will be conducting presentations at each parish.
On Sunday we will be at St. Timothy's parish in West Hartford for 10:30 mass and a presentation. We will also be doing a presentation at Holy Family Retreat Center in West Hartford Sunday evening.
On Monday we head down to New Haven to St. Aedan's parish for a presentation and then head back to Holy Family for the night.
Tuesday, June 30, we head off to New Britain where we will attend out Finale at Corbin Heights housing project, part of PHRN, Public Housing Residents Network.
We intend to stop at Poverty Centers each day along our bike routes and visit legislative offices when we can to share the stories we hear during our ride, to bring a voice of those who do not have a voice to those who can help make a difference.
Join us where you can.
Peace,
Lou Terzo
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Journal of Ride to St. John the Evangelist on 12/14/2008
Here is a journal of our visit to St. John the Evangelist.
Johnnie F. Bob, and I left St. Bridget at around 9:00 am accompanied by Pam. We would be getting on our bikes in Bristol and Pam would be doing support for us.
Glad we decided not to try to bike from St. B's at 8:30 because it was real cold! Mike and Jeanette would hook up with John Ryan around 11:15 and pick up the equipment and leave for St. John's together. We would meet them there.
We got to Bristol around 10:00 ish and got on our bikes. First thing we hit was a pretty good hill. It really got our hearts pumping and sucking in the cool air.
The ride was pretty nice considering the cold and the ice patches we had to avoid.
Some of you who biked to Watertown form Holy Family in June during the weeklong will remember that wicked downhill entering Thomaston. Wow! I rode my brakes the whole way. Never know if you are going to hit gravel or an ice patch.
Then we had that long 2 mile gradual uphill as we approached Watertown. Pam was a perfect support person. Glad she was aboard.
We made it to St. John's around 11:30 and Pam and I actually attended their 12:00 mass.
Bob and Johnnie F waited for Mike and Jeanette and set us up downstairs and we were ready to go at 1:00.
We were greeted by Fr. John Cooney with a great big smile. he was pleased that we biked over and thanked us for returning to his parish.
There were between 50 and 55 9th graders who attended with their teachers. They had attended the 12:00 mass first.
After they had some cookies and juice they got organized and sat for our presentation. Teri Morgado, the DRE who invited us, runs quite a tight ship. She had those kids under full control and she was right on top of things with us as well.
We did our usual presentation but Teri and I had communicated earlier and I had provided her with an outline of our presentation and gave her some of the issues we would mention and speak to.
She formulated an outline from that and passed that out to the kids before we presented. They were instructed to take notes and that they would be required to write an essay based on what they heard. Required!
Believe me, they took notes even asking us not to move off of some of our slides so they could capture the information. They were really a good group of kids and seemed to really get into it. Of course like with any group of kids there were some who when asked a question just gave you that look. But, for the most part there were others that were quick to respond.
I think we did good and based on the feedback I received Teri Morgado agreed.
We handed out candy canes at the end of our presentation bringing the season we are in. Actually Bob started us off wearing a Santa's cap and mentioned how one of the first homeless families were actually Mary and Joseph. Nicely done.
While we were having the kids sign the banner I was approached by Teri and she handed me an envelope with a small stipend. Nice gesture.
As you can see below she wants to keep in touch with us. She thanked us and again mentioned how some of us biked over but emphasized that we had given up our time to come visit , especially at this busy time of the year. The kids and teachers were appreciative. Teri also mentioned to me that she has mentioned out group to all the DREs in the area and strongly suggested they asked us to their parishes. So hopefully we will get a few more invites out of that.
You know, this parish actually has BTC as a link on their own website. Cool!!
We gathered in the parking lot and hugged and drove home to St. B's feeling good about what we had accomplished for the day. God bless!
Peace,
Lou
Johnnie F. Bob, and I left St. Bridget at around 9:00 am accompanied by Pam. We would be getting on our bikes in Bristol and Pam would be doing support for us.
Glad we decided not to try to bike from St. B's at 8:30 because it was real cold! Mike and Jeanette would hook up with John Ryan around 11:15 and pick up the equipment and leave for St. John's together. We would meet them there.
We got to Bristol around 10:00 ish and got on our bikes. First thing we hit was a pretty good hill. It really got our hearts pumping and sucking in the cool air.
The ride was pretty nice considering the cold and the ice patches we had to avoid.
Some of you who biked to Watertown form Holy Family in June during the weeklong will remember that wicked downhill entering Thomaston. Wow! I rode my brakes the whole way. Never know if you are going to hit gravel or an ice patch.
Then we had that long 2 mile gradual uphill as we approached Watertown. Pam was a perfect support person. Glad she was aboard.
We made it to St. John's around 11:30 and Pam and I actually attended their 12:00 mass.
Bob and Johnnie F waited for Mike and Jeanette and set us up downstairs and we were ready to go at 1:00.
We were greeted by Fr. John Cooney with a great big smile. he was pleased that we biked over and thanked us for returning to his parish.
There were between 50 and 55 9th graders who attended with their teachers. They had attended the 12:00 mass first.
After they had some cookies and juice they got organized and sat for our presentation. Teri Morgado, the DRE who invited us, runs quite a tight ship. She had those kids under full control and she was right on top of things with us as well.
We did our usual presentation but Teri and I had communicated earlier and I had provided her with an outline of our presentation and gave her some of the issues we would mention and speak to.
She formulated an outline from that and passed that out to the kids before we presented. They were instructed to take notes and that they would be required to write an essay based on what they heard. Required!
Believe me, they took notes even asking us not to move off of some of our slides so they could capture the information. They were really a good group of kids and seemed to really get into it. Of course like with any group of kids there were some who when asked a question just gave you that look. But, for the most part there were others that were quick to respond.
I think we did good and based on the feedback I received Teri Morgado agreed.
We handed out candy canes at the end of our presentation bringing the season we are in. Actually Bob started us off wearing a Santa's cap and mentioned how one of the first homeless families were actually Mary and Joseph. Nicely done.
While we were having the kids sign the banner I was approached by Teri and she handed me an envelope with a small stipend. Nice gesture.
As you can see below she wants to keep in touch with us. She thanked us and again mentioned how some of us biked over but emphasized that we had given up our time to come visit , especially at this busy time of the year. The kids and teachers were appreciative. Teri also mentioned to me that she has mentioned out group to all the DREs in the area and strongly suggested they asked us to their parishes. So hopefully we will get a few more invites out of that.
You know, this parish actually has BTC as a link on their own website. Cool!!
We gathered in the parking lot and hugged and drove home to St. B's feeling good about what we had accomplished for the day. God bless!
Peace,
Lou
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