Madonna del Ghisallo Feast Day

For all you cycling (lapsed or not) catholics.....

*"On the hill above Lake Cuomo (Lombardi District of Central Italy) an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a wealthy man (Count Ghisallo) who was about to be robbed by highway men in late Middle Ages.

The vision of the Blessed Virgin scared off the highwaymen, and in gratitude the count started praying to her for protection and told the story to anyone who would listen. He instituted a roadside shrine with flowers and candles. The Virgin Mary under this title was originally prayed to for the protection of local travelers. The count’s story started to gain traction and belief among the locals, so he eventually scraped the makeshift shrine and funded construction of a small chapel. Through the years the legend grew and once the chapel was built, a official clergy were assigned to maintain the chapel, and the patronage of Our Lady of Ghisallo evolved from humble foot travelers, to humble self propelled recreational bicyclists. Recreational cyclists passed the idea of the protection from robbers to bike racers looking for safety from crashes and injury; and they must have established documented cases of it working (official “miracles” ascribed to praying for protection from the Madonna del Ghisallo) because in 1949 this humble legend became an official, certified patroness of the Roman Catholic Church.

Added to the official calendar by Pope Pius XII. At the same time that the legend was growing, the chapel at the top of Ghisallo climb became the finish line annually for the one day classic Giro d’ Lombardi race, and is a regular feature (once every two or three years) stage route of the Giro d’Italia.

The chapel started to gather a collection of cycling memorabilia (imagine the first Hard Rock Cafe in London). Bike frames, whole bikes, jerseys, festoon the walls of the chapel. Over the years great champion riders such as Felice Gimondi, Gianni Motta, Francesco Moser, Gino Bartali, Eddy Merckx, Alfredo Binda, Guiseppe Saronni, Mario Cipollini, Gilberto Simoni, and Stefano Garzelli have contributed race-worn gear to the chapel. As a matter of fact, it came to be a fact that you could not be considered a serious champion or potential champion until you had donated a jersey or bike to be displayed in the chapel. The memorbilia overran the space, and in a way cheapened the spiritual intent of the chapel; so in 2000 construction was started 200 yards from the chapel on a Museum of Cycling (imagine the American Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown) with the official blessing of Pope John Paul II.

When the museum was near completion, Pope JP 2′s successor Pope Benedict XVI was on hand to place and bless the corner stone May 31 2006. One of the great talismen among professional and amateur bike racers, plus weekend warrior bike enthusiats all over the world is the Madonna del Ghisallo bike tube medallion (click here to view this incredibly cool medal on a race bike. Note that the design of the medal incorporates a crankring, and the Madonna and Child are framed by a bike chain. To repeat, this is on of the coolest religious medals in all of the Catholic Church). Even Pope Benedict was the recipient of a custom wood bike with Madonna del Ghisallo badge afixed (click here for reiteration of story of Our Lady of Ghisallo apparition, chapel, the cycling museum, and to view pictures of presentation to Pope Benedict)."*