Cavaliers host "Blessing of the Bikes"

The Cavaliers kicked off their 2004 riding season with the Blessing of the Bikes on Sunday, March 14 at Armstrong Park.

Rev. Dexter Brecht of the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans conducted the blessing. The ceremony began with an opening prayer, followed by the annointing of each rider and each motorcycle with sacred oil.

The event attracted a dozen riders and many friends of the Cavaliers, including club members Poncho, Doc, Doug, Mike D., Darryl, Jeff, and David. We also saw several new faces, including Lance, Lynn, Doug, Jack, and Kathleen. Our friend Brian even brought along his Audi TT sports car to be blessed, too.

We were also pleased to have many of our friends show up just to wish us well, including Kevin, Michael H., Michael W., Carl, and Lance. Doc's dad, who is a detective with the NOPD, covered the security detail for us.

Club members passed out small angel pins to each of the participants after the ceremony, and newcomers received the official Cavaliers friendship pins as well.

Following the ceremony Road Captain Poncho led the riders off on a ride to Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, with a police escort from Armstrong Park to the on-ramp of I-10. Seven members made the trip, with our friend Brian in his Audi TT following along.

We took the old Chef Menteur Highway east into Mississippi, and followed US Hwy 90 to Bay St. Louis. Poncho led us right into the casino's designated "Motorcycle Parking Only" section.

Once inside, we ate ourselves silly at the buffet brunch, going back for course after course until we could hardly walk. The food was very good, with a wide variety and lots of it.

After brunch a few of the riders tried their hands at a few slot machines or a few hands of blackjack, while the rest of us let our enormous meal settle. Soon we headed out to the bikes, saddled up, and headed back home, just in time to beat the rain.

Thanks go out to Doc for her work coordinating the bike blessing, especially for arranging for the preacher and the security. Thanks also to our friend Wally Sherwood for helping with the publicity on the event.

This certainly turned out to be a very successful event, and seemed like a great way for some new riders to get introduced to our club.