5 reasons why biking to church is heavenly

Back row (left to right): Hector Lareau, Marina Lareau, Deacon Dennis DeVooght, Sacred Heart Church Moline, Andrei Lareau, Liz Merdian Lareau.  Front row: Gabe Lareau and Lucy Lareau.  Photo by: Chris Dufour

by Liz Merdian Lareau, editor, Mississippi Valley Health News Online

Sunday in the Quad Cities dawned cold, windy and rainy here in Moline, but, in the spirit of QC in Motion week and to satisfy a husband who has wanted to bike to church for years, today was a day I was not going to cave….

So, Hector and I, along with our four children, ages 4-13, dug out the rain gear, donned the helmets and pedaled our way to Sacred Heart Church in a procession worthy of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard in the children’s classic story “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McClosky.

As our Sunday morning drizzle served as a sort of baptism into this new form of church-commuting, I learned that biking to worship can actually be a joy for the following reasons:

1. No dressing up. Cycling clothes are much comfier than a skirt and heels. And the kids don’t complain either!
2. 

   Lucy Lareau - avid biker and button-pusher

   No back seat battles. Four siblings find it harder to bicker on the way if they are too busy smiling and getting to ride their bikes to church.  (There was a brief battle over who got to push the pedestrian traffic light button, but 4-year old Lucy got over it eventually.)

3. A sense of peace. After some mild exertion, we entered the church ready for mass, and not hurried after driving to church at the very last minute and sliding into the pew during the opening hymn.  If you bike to church, you need to allow extra time to get there, and thus, we were pleasantly early for the first time in a long time.
4. No fidgets. The pre-service exertion also meant the kids had expended enough energy to actually sit through mass and not find numerous opportunities to take a bathroom break. And, Lucy actually sat calmly and colored in her coloring book for the entire hour!
5. Donuts. Need I say more? You bike to church and the smugness of burning a few calories allows for a little guilt-free celebration. Bear claw anyone?