We had a wonderful breakfast with those folks who brought us over to the church and revisited last evening We were more relaxed this more as we believed we had much more time to make it to our next two destinations. We would be splitting up this afternoon. Some of us would stay in Collinsville while the others ventured over to Wethersfield. Two presentations at the same time. Hadn’t done that before.
Bob made a revision to his Cue Sheet and we avoided going up those monstrous hills on Route 109 at the beginning of our ride. We stayed on Route 202 which was definitely a more pleasant ride. There was more traffic but wide shoulder and far less hill climbing. We would stay on this route for like 19 miles.
There were some steep hills here and there. Going into Litchfield was “fun”.
John Ryan fell a couple of times and had a small issue with his bike an shifting but he survived.
While in Litchfield when we were taking a break on their green, we noticed a couple of folks with a big camera. Thinking it was some film crew I ventured over and had a small conversation with the women “reporter”. She thought our mission was interesting but the cameraman did not had what was necessary to film or interview us. I gave her my card none the less. You never know.
I also went over to the restaurant where we had a great send off breakfast when we last visited this area and presented at St. Anthony of Padua parish several years ago. I wanted to see if Michael Lynn Capello still worked there. They did not remember her or us.
We continued our ride and enjoyed some nice down hills as well. As we entered the Burlington/Collinsville area we hit a 2 mile down hill that had to be on of the best down hills we ever experienced. I broke the speed limit for the second time on this ride. The first time the speed limit was 25 mph but this time it was 40 mph. Wow!
We hung a right at the bottom of that hill and proceeded on to St. Patrick’s. We arrived around 2:00, more than 4 hours early.
We had our lunch in the cool basement of the church and relaxed some before the four bikers heading on to Wethersfield had to depart. Everyone else who “had” to hang around until 6:00 pm decided to go to Holy Family to shower and relax, take a nap, whatever.
We need to hear from someone who presented at St. Patrick’s. this would be Claire’s first time presenting. From what I was told she is a natural and did a great job. Sue Ryan also pitched in on that presentation.
Johnnie F, Tom, Pam, and I rode to Corpus Christi parish. We left around 2:30 and arrived there at 4:00. We were two hours early. Nancy Kiely came around 3:00 and we discussed setting up. She was concerned about the possibility of a lack of attendance.
The four of us had to “shower” in the sink in the respective Men’s or Ladie’s rooms. While I was in “showering” in walked a gentlemen who had a shock I am sure because I was in my birthday suit when he came in to do his thing. He didn’t say one word or make a jester or move to wash his hands. He just quietly left when he was done. I am sure he had a story to tell.
After our “showers” we told Nancy we would be going over to Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream and be back in plenty of time.
Yummy! Was that ice cream good.
Went back to Corpus Christi. Pam said she was surprised that this parish was on our list and sort of echoed the concern Nancy had. When we got to the church the parking lot was full. But it wasn’t for us. They had daily mass.
During the potluck we did get a decent crowd of about 25. And, we had the parish’s three pastors in attendance. One was the retiring pastor, Fr. Lonegan who served both Corpus Christi and Sacred Heart parishes. The other was the new pastor, Fr. Jay and the other was Fr. Campion. We also had a visit from Fr. Stephen. So we had four priests at the beginning of our presentation. Hadn’t had that happen preciously.
The presentation went well and we engaged with the participants quite frequently. I could tell Nancy was pleased because she was smiling as we ended. She came over and was impressed with the turnout and our message. Nice how the Holy Spirit works His ways.
It was a great end to our presentations for the week. We took home some goodies and packed up and headed for Holy Family.
Unfortunately we found out that Fr. Terry was a bit indisposed with some health issues and would not be joining us tonight as we would all gather for a little celebration of Fr. Stephen’s 44th birthday.
We got to Holy Family slightly ahead of the others coming from St. Patrick’s.
We put the bikes away for safety and went to our assigned rooms. It was quite stifling from the heat of the day but we suffered through it.
Rob DeSesa also joined us this night. He would ride with us on Tuesday to the finale in Waterbury.
A pretty nice day of sharing and we finally ha a chance to be together as a group and tell some stories, laugh, and relax together. Although it was hot, everyone stayed around until they realized we had to get some rest for tomorrow. I will remember this ride to some degree because of the trials and tribulations of Claire. She sure had some stories. So glad she joined us on the ride. She hung in there even when the hills pulled her down.
Pedal or ……., Pedal or ……….
Lou
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