By JEFF OVERLEY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
NEWPORT BEACH – Love will make you do crazy things. Just ask Kenny Fuller and Pamela Mooney, cycling aficionados who tied the knot early this morning while wearing Spandex, and while standing outside a Peet's Coffee and Tea, where their romance started.
The Corona del Mar couple rode up on their special version of a stretch limo (a $12,000 tandem bicycle) while wearing their special versions of wedding attire (a tuxedo jersey for him, a white gown jersey for her).
Instead of "Bridal March," speakers piped out "Olympic Fanfare" as the lovebirds arrived. After pedaling through the shopping center parking lot, the two came to a halt amid 100 or so friends, family and fellow cyclists, who formed an aisle out of 20-speed bicycles.
"I never heard of such a thing, but I think it's fun," said Irene Fuller, mother of the groom.
Mooney, a 46-year-old personal trainer, and Fuller, a 61-year-old former cycling pro, arranged their first date while chatting two years ago at Peet's, and the rest is history.
"Next thing I know I bought her coffee, started dating, and now we're getting married," Fuller said before today's wedding.
The two have each had a previous marriage, and so didn't want a big to-do of things. To have it at Peet's seemed natural, since it's a gathering spot for all their cycling buddies. The biking theme was also a given, since they both enjoy the sport and since Fuller, a two-time Olympian, has won three dozen national cycling championships and five world titles.
"The bike is who we are; it represents a gigantic part of our life, and Kenny's life especially," said Mooney, who is taking her husband's last name.
Instead of invitations, news of the nuptials "percolated out of the morning coffee talk" that brings the cycling crowd to Peet's a couple times each week.
As the couple stood before a minister on the café patio, bystanders looked up – eyebrows raised high – from their papers and coffee to take in the spectacle.
After a few anecdotes about their time together, the two proclaimed their vows, exchanged rings – after removing their cycling gloves – and shared a deep kiss as the crowd cheered.
"I think it's been done before – people have been married on bikes," said friend Tina Stellhorn of Silverado Canyon. "But I don't know about at a coffee shop at 8 in the morning."
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
NEWPORT BEACH – Love will make you do crazy things. Just ask Kenny Fuller and Pamela Mooney, cycling aficionados who tied the knot early this morning while wearing Spandex, and while standing outside a Peet's Coffee and Tea, where their romance started.
The Corona del Mar couple rode up on their special version of a stretch limo (a $12,000 tandem bicycle) while wearing their special versions of wedding attire (a tuxedo jersey for him, a white gown jersey for her).
Instead of "Bridal March," speakers piped out "Olympic Fanfare" as the lovebirds arrived. After pedaling through the shopping center parking lot, the two came to a halt amid 100 or so friends, family and fellow cyclists, who formed an aisle out of 20-speed bicycles.
"I never heard of such a thing, but I think it's fun," said Irene Fuller, mother of the groom.
Mooney, a 46-year-old personal trainer, and Fuller, a 61-year-old former cycling pro, arranged their first date while chatting two years ago at Peet's, and the rest is history.
"Next thing I know I bought her coffee, started dating, and now we're getting married," Fuller said before today's wedding.
The two have each had a previous marriage, and so didn't want a big to-do of things. To have it at Peet's seemed natural, since it's a gathering spot for all their cycling buddies. The biking theme was also a given, since they both enjoy the sport and since Fuller, a two-time Olympian, has won three dozen national cycling championships and five world titles.
"The bike is who we are; it represents a gigantic part of our life, and Kenny's life especially," said Mooney, who is taking her husband's last name.
Instead of invitations, news of the nuptials "percolated out of the morning coffee talk" that brings the cycling crowd to Peet's a couple times each week.
As the couple stood before a minister on the café patio, bystanders looked up – eyebrows raised high – from their papers and coffee to take in the spectacle.
After a few anecdotes about their time together, the two proclaimed their vows, exchanged rings – after removing their cycling gloves – and shared a deep kiss as the crowd cheered.
"I think it's been done before – people have been married on bikes," said friend Tina Stellhorn of Silverado Canyon. "But I don't know about at a coffee shop at 8 in the morning."
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