Bicycling is a lot of fun. I've done it for ages. On the serious side, transportation cycling addresses many of the problems of modern society; pollution, carbon emissions, traffic congestion, dependence on foreign oil, cardiac disease, obesity, diabetes and stroke. While doing all this, it can also be a delightful way to get around and see things. I've written a number of things about cycling over the years and this page links to them because I'm sure the world is breathlessly awaiting my writing! Have fun!

Links to Matt's Bicycling Articles

Bicycle Commuting Handout I commute to work by bicycle some of the time and have done so for many years. I put together a handout on Bicycle Commuting originally for a talk I was asked to give, and have used and updated it since.

Bike Touring Circa 1980 Right out of college with no job lined up I instead went travelling. I took my bike. This page is about the bicycle and equipment I used that happy summer. This is one of the earliest pages on my website, from about 1997, and still picks up comments from others who did something similar.

Riding to Duluth In 2005 I rode to Duluth with my 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. We did over 80 miles each day. This page is adapted from the original blog entries about the trip.

The 2006 Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour The Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour is a brilliantly-conceived event involving, as the motto says, Three Gears, Two Days, One More Reason for your spouse to ask, What Now? Dress up as 1930s Englishmen, ride three speed bikes from stop to stop, it's a great time. The 2006 ride was my first. This is my account, put together from the original blog entries.

The 2007 Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour My second participation in this event. I went as the Quicker Vicar this time, and celebrated The Blessing of the Bicycles ahead of time.

Rabeneick Three Speeds Down at One on One Bicycle Studio they get some cool bikes come through. This pair of German three-speeds caught my eye, and the One on One folks let me take these photos. These bikes have since sold (in May 2007). (Note: Page not posted yet!)

Thoughts on Three Speed Gearing After the 2007 Three Speed Tour, I wrote about the gearing of three-speeds. I compare stock gearing, my somewhat-lowered gearing for the Tour, modern Nexus 8-speed internal hub gearing, classic 1970s ten-speed gearing and modern 27-speed gearing, with notes and a graph of which I'm very fond. This article is boring in the extreme to all but the worst bike nerds. You Know Who You Are!

The Order of Service for A Blessing of the Bicycles

I ride the Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour as the Quicker Vicar and we celebrate a short service at the beginning of the ride and do a singalong on the Saturday night. To my surprise, I've had some inquiries about this from actual clergy based on posting just the 2007 service, so have decided to post all the Blessing of the Bicycle bulletins here.

The 2007 Blessing of the Bicycles was the first. I got ordained by the Universal Life Church and put together a service. Rather than use a Biblical reading, I adapted Shakespeare's Saint Crispin's Day speech from Henry V to fit with Saint Dunstan's Day, which matched up with our weekend. I like the ending of this particularly:

and cyclists everywhere now-a-bed
shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here
and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
that rode with us upon Saint Dunstan's Day.

The service proved to be a success, and we decided to go with it again the following year.

The 2008 Blessing of the Bicycles was for Whitsuntide, the week after Pentecost, which was very early this year. Pentecost is based on Easter, March 23 this year, and it hadn't been that early since 1913 and won't again until 2160. The reading this time was an adaptation of Genesis from The Cyclists' Apocrypha, slightly modified and done so as to include congregational participation. We also had a brief serious bit, remembering Sheldon Brown, who died in February.

The 2009 Blessing of the Bicycles was for The Feast Day of Saint Caroline Chisholm. I was a bit hard up for a relevant saint's day! This year I went with a Cyclist's Lamentation from New Zealander Annie Welborn, wailing and gnashing of teeth over missing a bike on ebay written as a very traditional Church of England prayer. I made this interactive as well. Caroline Chisholm was an Australian saint, so it was an Antipodal service. We stuck with Amazing Gears for the hymn but actually had the music written out this time.

The 2010 Blessing of the Bicycles was for Whitsun Eve, as Pentecost was near, and we returned to the Cyclist's Apocrypha and did The Flood and the Ten Commandments portion, slightly adapted. For the first time, we also switched hymns, to I Sing a Song of the Chaps on Bikes, an adaptation of Lesbia Scott's I Sing a Song of the Saints of God. There was another moment of silence, this time for midwestern bike nerd Phil Wood, who died earlier this year.

In 2010 we went from just a songsheet to The Vicar's Hymnal with all the songs we sing. This repertoire keeps growing but currently includes our versions of folk songs (Danny Boy, Loch Lomond), hymns (Amazing Grace, Comfort, Comfort Ye My People) and even a 1930s Cycle Touring Club song (I Like to Jump Upon A Bike). We have actual music for most of these and a short bit about the original underlying piece. The lyrics are generally tailored to the Three Speed Tour specifically, but perhaps they'll inspire you to write your own.

I haven't written the 2011 Blessing yet, and am undecided about whether to expand the readings or just declare the 2008, 2009 and 2010 readings as Years A, B and C as is done in the traditional Lectionary, with the Shakespeare kept for when Saint Dunstan's Day falls on our weekend. I am considering adding a second hymn (based on People Look East) to the service. In the meantime, the hymnal is likely to expand by a couple of more hymns this year and we will probably post recordings of the songs so you can learn the songs sometime other than Saturday night under the influence of beer!