Members of the Overbrook Bicycle Association will once again pose for a group photo in front of the oceanfront gazebo when they arrive in Sea Isle City. (Photo courtesy of Sea Isle City)
What began six decades ago as a way to celebrate the completion of final exams is now an annual tradition held “just for fun.”
Sixty years after a group of 19-year-old students from St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia completed their first bike ride from Philadelphia to Sea Isle City, the “Overbrook Bicycle Association” is still going strong.
On Saturday, more than 60 OBA riders will participate in the group’s 60th anniversary bike ride to the Jersey Shore.
Starting their 80-mile ride at the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, they are expected to arrive in Sea Isle at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Promenade at John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
The riders will pose for a group photo in front of the oceanfront gazebo on the Promenade. They will be welcomed to town by Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio and other city officials. The mayor will declare June 7 as “Overbrook Bicycle Association Day.”
Afterwards, there will be a celebration at VFW Post 1963, 301 JFK Boulevard. To honor the riders during the celebration, a slide show will be presented reflecting on the past 60 years of biking together from Philadelphia to Sea Isle.
This year, two of the original bikers, Fran Dolan and Joseph Fitzpatrick, will be riding among a large group of friends and relatives, including the next generation of their children and about a dozen grandchildren.
The ride started in 1965 when a group of friends attending St. Charles Seminary decided to bike from Philadelphia to the shore during their final exams “just for fun.”
Although it began unplanned, the original bike route has remained unchanged year after year, with the same exact stops for refreshments, lunch and breaks.
