Get Your Motor Runnin'

Blessing of the Bikes May 6, 2007
Article Courtesy of David Perry, The Lowell Sun - dperry@lowellsun.com
Biker Bob Mazzone of Bedford, chauffeurs a guest Sun reporter David Perry to the 18th annual Blessing of the Bikes at Sampas Pavilion.
Photo By: Bob Whitaker - Lowell Sun
We rumble left out of Kelly's House of Harley-Davidson in North Billerica onto Route 129. We are rolling thunder, about 700 motorcycles. The asphalt vibrates beneath us. The patron saint of travelers rides with us. There is a St. Christopher's medal strapped to Bob Mazzone's left handlebar. So does a Gremlin Bell, a small bell attached low on the frame of Mazzone's 2002 FLH touring bike, formerly owned by the Chatham police. The bell is said to ward off evil road spirits. A few families stand in front yards, waving as we pass, as for a parade. It's Sunday morning, and we ride in two rows toward Lowell for the 18th annual Blessing of the Bikes. The trip is about 16 miles, winding over Route 3 in Billerica. onto Route 4 through Chelmsford, over 495, and over Route 3 again at the rotary. We pass through North Chelmsford and over the Tyngsboro Bridge and on to the Sampas Pavilion on Pawtucket Boulevard. There is a full police escort along the way, ride captains peeling off to block intersections, ensuring the rolling parishioners free passage.
The Rev. John Fitzpatrick, a retired priest, blesses the motorcycles (with help from his "pastoral assistant," Dakota) at the Sampas Pavilion in Lowell, as his flock listens with rapt attention.
Photo By: Bob Whitaker - Lowell Sun
At 9:30 yesterday, many folks headed off to church. We did, too. We wear lots of leather, our trip louder than most. We are storming the gates of heaven. I ride on the back of Mazzone's motorcycle. His wife, Betty, rides her handsome 1986 Low Rider behind us.
There are stickers on my helmet, borrowed from Betty. "Out of My Way, I Have to Pee," says one. "Hang up and Drive," advises another. And, "Hair by Helmet."
The ride is seamless. Mazzone, 49, logs 5,000 to 10,000 miles a year by motorcycle. He has been riding since he was 15. A construction worker and churchgoing Catholic from Bedford with a graying beard and wide smile, he chats for much of the ride. A past director of the Merrimack Valley Harley Owners Group
"I'll try not to do anything abrupt," Mazzone promises his passenger, whose experience with motorcycles includes viewing Easy Rider and a stash of musty Steppenwolf records.
The Rev. John Fitzpatrick blesses motorcycles and riders as they ride past him yesterday at the Sampas Pavilion. This is his 12th Blessing. "It's one of those things where you go and get your bike blessed," says Mazzone in describing the event. "And if you believe in it, you're blessed for the year. You go, the father does a little service and you get holy water sprinkled on your bike." "It's a ritual," explains Guy Corey as motorcycles rumble into the parking lot of Kelly's. Corey is the MVHOG chapter director and ride director for the blessing. "If I don't do it, I feel jinxed."
At Kelly's before the ride, people of all ages mingle in the parking lot. Besides some of the Merrimack Valley chapter's 784 members, riders are expected from HOG chapters in Worcester, Boston, South Shore and from Nashua and Manchester, N.H. People photograph the scene. There's a bake sale in the corner of the lot.
"From welfare recipients to CEOs," says Mazzone. "Everybody shows up at an event like this. And everybody's welcome." Among the most welcome is Meghan Giblin, 21, of Billerica, who rides in the sidecar of her father Tom's motorcycle. Meghan was born with spina bifida, but has been riding since her father bought a motorcycle in late 2001. "She grins from ear to ear," says her mother, Rosemary, who figures Meghan has logged 25,000 miles in the sidecar. Her father attaches her wheelchair to the rack on the back of his motorcycle. "She gets upset when we go anywhere without her," says Rosemary. "She hears the bikes start up and oh, boy."
At Sampas Pavilion, a steady stream of people greet Meghan, who is a member of HOG. "More people know her than know us," says Tom. The Blessing of the Bikes originally began at St. Theresa's parish in Billerica, then moved to St. John the Evangelist in Chelmsford, outgrowing both, says Betty. It is the second year the blessing has taken place in Lowell. But it's the first without Dianne "Dee" Hennigan of Chelmsford, who died last July 9 at 47, from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident in Tewksbury. She was the Merrimack Valley HOG chapter's secretary.
Motorcycles rumble onto the grass in neat rows at Sampas Pavilion. The PA system plays Robert Cray's sleek blues before the Rev. John Fitzpatrick, a retired priest, takes the stage. He wears a sea captain's cap, has a long gray beard and a slim ponytail that falls below his colorful scarf. In his left arm, he cradles Dakota, a dusty-brown Pomeranian he calls his "pastoral assistant." He is 73, worked at a parish in Sudbury and spent 35 years working with the deaf. He mentions the loss of Dee Hennigan and says he prays "for the safety of every one of you here."
The crowd is silent. He offers a prayer for "peace on Earth," especially in the Middle East and for American troops. There is a Jewish prayer of thanksgiving, the Lord's Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, and a prayer of blessing that implores "whether they travel for business or pleasure, let them find God to be their companion on their journeys." The reverend rides, too, a 2003 Yamaha.
Betsy Murphy of MVHOG sings "Amazing Grace" a capella, with Hennigan's daughters alongside, one at each shoulder. "Ride safe, everybody!" Murphy shouts as she finishes. As they ride out, riders are sprinkled with holy water.
The Rev. John Fitzpatrick blesses motorcycles and riders as they ride past him yesterday at the Sampas Pavilion.