Again from 30 years ago

With me are Jimmy Rafferty, Michael O'Brien and Tommie Smith

As I shared with you two days ago, during my first two years in the USA I did not have a drivers license, and so I was on my bike a lot, as it was my only means of transportation, visiting people, going for communion calls, going to the stores and many other errands. During the summer, I also organized a few bike trips with some of our older altar-boys, of course after testing them to see how strong and determined they were to undertake a long bike trip. So during the summer of 1982, we biked all the way to Montauk Point, at the very end of Long Island, a 100 mile trip. We broke it up in two days. On the third day we were supposed to take it easy, relax a little and take the train back to New Hyde Park. However they would not let us take our bikes on the train, and Fr John Heinlein came to our rescue, borrowing a van to pick us up. The boys however combined the money they had reserved for the train ride and hired a small boat, enjoying a sailing trip across Montauk Point.
 

Tommie Smith, John Ryan, Michael O'Brien and Martin O'Brien

The following year, we decided to do a round trip, bike on the north shore and biking back on the south shore, over 200 miles in all, covering the stretch over 5 days, even staying with some friends and parishioners who had summer homes along the way. My biking years continued for another decade, but I realized it was much safer in a car, even though my fascination with biking has continued, especially by following the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia over the years.