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Blessing of the bikes coming to Portola Valley

A lunch, bicycle-related prizes, an outdoor party and a family-friendly bike ride along Canada Road will follow the first annual "blessing of the bikes" on Sunday, April 18, at 10:45 a.m. at the beginning of the regular Sunday service at Valley Presbyterian Church at 945 Portola Road in Portola Valley.

Celebrating the bicycle is a natural for Earth Day weekend — and for this church, which sits along the popular 15-mile Woodside-Portola Valley loop, Rev. Mark Goodman-Morris said in a statement. Cyclists often stop there to refill water bottles and use the bathroom, he said.

But the event is also "a graceful way to welcome our bicycling neighbors, and open our church as a place of hospitality and blessing," Rev. Goodman-Morris said.

The congregation of 350 draws from Stanford University and Silicon Valley communities and includes entrepreneurs, artists, writers, musicians and an active cycling community with serious competitors, including participants in the Race Across America, he added.

The church's sanctuary is notable for a glass wall that opens onto a redwood grove, labyrinth and prayer garden.

Go to www.valleypreschurch.org for more information.