In my recent memoir, Alive and Fixable, my chapter “Cyclists And Saints” describes my fix for keeping Hubby safe when he rides.  I was out of sorts when Hubby was in a terrible, terrible accident back in 2010. Mostly because he was hurt, but why?

It didn’t make sense that an ultra-safe rider like him could find himself splat on the pavement. He always wears a helmet and bright clothing. His eyes are constantly on the look-out for hidden dangers like potholes, branches and cars zooming out of parking lots into traffic or drivers simply opening a car door.

Hubby is as safety-sensitive as a rider can be. How could I make him any more secure?

“Don’t ride,” was a tongue-in-cheek suggestion someone shared, but that wasn’t the right solution.

I knew in my gut; he would return to the road and it wasn’t my place to stop him. As much as I wanted to wrap him up in wads of bubble wrap, I had to think of a way that made both of feel as if he was in a pillow-stuffed snuggie. Prayers of course are practical but I wanted that power with him all the time, a least a representation.  A friend told me her Catholic church had a day for blessing bicycles. That got me thinking and after a little googling, I learned there is a patron saint for everything, accountants, travelers, drivers, even cyclists.

A quick shopping trip through catholicstore.com and I purchased a shiny new medal with the patron saint Madonna del Ghisallo.

Winner!

Hubby wore that swanky safety bling for eight years on every ride but one. Wham! He skidded across the pavement and earned another ride in an ambulance, just to make sure he was ok. He was fine. To us, Madonna del Ghisallo was spiritual insurance that worked.

So, imagine how we felt about a month ago when Hubby rode in a race, and somehow while changing from cycling clothes to driving-home clothes, the chain to his medal snapped and his miracle charm disappeared.

I immediately lapsed into the not-gonna-happen advice we got right after the nasty accident, “Don’t ride, until you replace that medal!”

Well, Hubby really wanted to ride with his buddies in the next couple of days. The weather was finally cooperating. I did the next best thing: I gave him a temporary Madonna del Ghisallo like you would get for a driver’s license. He could easily slip it into to his jersey in a plastic ziplock bag to keep the ink from running.

Paper Saint

I immediately got on to the catholicstore.com website and ordered another cycling medal. For good measure, I wanted to add a medal for the saint you pray to when something is lost. I had to google it first and when I saw saw the name, I erupted in giggles. The saint’s name was Hubby’s namesake:

St Anthony.

Double Safe!

I also learned from Wikipedia that there is a silly little prayer you can say to help you find your keys, wallet or cycling bling:

“Tony, Tony look around; something is lost and must be found.”

TBD if wearing a St. Anthony medal is as powerful as the Madonna del Ghisallo.