THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 8, 1994 TAG: 9409080163
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Gordon
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
She is a bicycle enthusiast; he's a sailboat skipper. Now they are sailing along the seas of matrimony on a bicycle built for two.
Barbara Cassidy Sturgis, former long-time Suffolk resident and Tommy Sturgis of Portsmouth rode their bicycles from Emporia 23 miles to the Valentines post office where they were married recently.
After the ceremony, they hopped aboard a tandem bicycle, pedaled down to Lake Gaston for lunch and then back to Emporia where they loaded their bikes in a truck and headed for their honeymoon aboard their 23-foot sloop in Portsmouth.
A resident of Suffolk for 24 years, the former Barbara Cassidy, 46, is well known throughout the Tidewater area for her bicycling interests, especially in long-distance tours. It turns out that her new husband is a bicycle fan too.
``Tommy is a bicyclist, but not a long-distance rider like I am,'' she said. ``I've ridden 210 miles in 24 hours twice and 100-mile trips are not unusual.''
Sturgis, 51, was a widower and has been on the Hampton Roads sailing scene for many years. As a couple, he and Barbara have raced about four times now and he says she has learned quickly about sailboat racing.
The trip from Emporia to Valentines is part of a regular biking tour, usually made around Valentine's Day when Willie Wright, the postmaster, hand stamps all Valentine's cards with his specially made red cancellation stamp. Riding out and standing up with them were Karen Vlasak of Norfolk and Harold Aray of Portsmouth.
``We chose that site because of the name and I knew it from the bike tour,'' the new Mrs. Sturgis said. ``Bobby Wrenn, president of the Emporia Bicycle Club, performed the ceremony at 12:15, after the post office closed at noon.
``I wore a white vail that both my daughters wore at their weddings. Kelly, my younger daughter, made it.''
Two rain storms didn't dampen their spirits on the way back to Emporia, but it cut down on the sailing activities when they reached their boat, ``Lars-Frank''.
Wrenn, who also serves as clerk of the circuit court for Greensville County, heads up the annual Great Peanut Bicycle Tour and Rides, which starts today and runs through Sunday. They all begin at the Cattail Creek Campground near Skippers, about two miles from the North Carolina line.
Some 1,500 bicyclists will participants in various rides, but the main event is a 13-miler on Saturday, beginning at 3 p.m., when about 1,100 riders will participate, according to Wrenn. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Barbara Cassidy Sturgis waits for the groom, Tommy Sturgis, to board
their bicycle built for two to begin their honeymoon.
by CNB