Bike Fever
I am feeling GREAT! The current weather pattern is my idea of Heaven: warm sunshine and cool breezes, all around 75 degree Fahrenheit! Just perfect. I took what I could of All Saints Day (November 1) off.
Eddie is a member of our parish and an acolyte in the church (like a junior deacon, more or less). We call him "Steady Eddie" because you can always count on him to be there for you and be there when he assigned to serve at Mass. He used to be an avid cyclist and would go on these very long bike rides several times a week with a group of bikers from his neighborhood. Sometimes they'd ride to Bondi Beach from Eddies' house, which is probably about an hour trip by car. For weeks we've been trying to get together for a bike ride, and All Saints was the day!
The first couple of shots are jacaranda trees in all their glory (1-2)! (I promised you them last week.) Aren't they lovely? Most of the year they are just green leafed trees. But now, in mid-spring, they bloom these pretty lilac flowers. It's so neat to see them burst out purple throughout the neighborhoods. Here is our tree out in front of the church (3). The other couple of shots were from Eddie's place (1-2). And here is a shot of the two cyclists before the journey (4).
Eddie has three bikes! He lent one to me and got it ready for my use. And then, off we went. Sydney is wonderful for bike enthusiasts as they have dedicated paths throughout the city. You can even ride your bikes on the "motorways" (what we would call highways)! The path that Eddie took me on followed alongside the motorway but was separate from where the cars drove.
We went out about 20K (12 miles) and then turned around and then returned, so around 25 miles round trip. We also had some nice scenery all along. It was all quite rural areas. Meadows and farms abounded. Here, you can see a meadow full of horses (5-8).
Halfway, we stopped for a photo shoot with the athlete (9). Eddie kept complimenting me about how I could keep up with him though not having been on a bike for some years. But what was even more astounding to me is that Eddie could keep up with me, as he is my father's age; some 25 years older!
The path was quite challenging as it had some big hills. Sometimes it went over the motorway, and sometimes under it. But the day being so wonderful, you couldn't help but want to be outside! Here is a shot of the path with motorway above and below at the same time (10). There were about four levels of roads/paths in this area where I took the picture though you can't see them all! Incredible!
These next shots are taken by a field where huge shrubs were all glowing with fiery red blooms (11-13). Really impressive with regards to the number of flowers and all along one side of this field.
At the end of the two hour ride, I made sure to stretch. Again, this shot was an "accident" (14). I just pointed the camera at my face and took a picture (not with my mobile, but a regualr camera). You can sense the glory of the day in the color of the sky with its peppering of cloud puffs. I love the way the color of my shirt jumps off the background. As you can see, I felt really happy.
The "Melbourne Cup" is the most famous horserace in Australia, if not the world (this is what they tout in the ads). It happens every first Tuesday of November, which was also All Saints Day. We celebrated in the friary with some guests. Before the race we picked the names of the horses out of a hat for the winner of the 3 pm event. Our provincial, the Very Rev. Michael Zielke, happened to be in town for a fraternal visit, too.
This is all of us as we got ready to watch the race, from left to right: Fr. Gerard Lofranco, myself, Br. Louis Schmid, Angela Barlowe (from the parish office), Br. Joseph Wood (head of the friars in Australia), Sally (an office volunteer), Catherine Bareham (from the parish office), Fr. Robert Melnick and Fr. Michael Zielke (our provinical from the States) (15). Br. Louis always hams it up and here he poses with an old radio to listen for the winner (16). Picked by myself, “Almandin” won by a nose, with jockey Kerrin McEvoy holding the reigns. (Fun fact, his sister-in-law won the race last year!). Here is the winners circle, in order of the drawing first to fourth place: Fr. Alejandro, Fr. Michael, Br. Louis and Sally (17).
Not sure if anyone will win in the coming election. Know of my thoughts and prayers for a peaceful resolution to a bitter and sad election race. God help us all!