The church reached out to those on two wheels, extending a blessing last month to dozens of riders lined up on a Denver sidewalk.

“We acknowledge the inherent goodness of non-motorized human powered transportation,” the prayer went, “and give thanks for the simple beauty of the bicycle.”

Spring turns out to be the bicycle-blessing season, the rites taking place from New York City to Los Angeles. In urban settings, prayers prove especially supportive, the concentration of motorized vehicles and volume of bike riders creating a perilous mix.

Any move to bring the Almighty into traffic control seems useful.

Even in smaller cities, the toxins of transit put otherwise normal folks in a sour state.

Bicyclists believe automobile drivers don’t allow them due space on the public avenues.

Drivers believe bike riders shun the conventions of road use, blowing through traffic signs and not yielding to other traffic.

Harmony is for choirs. Don’t expect a placid world that mixes the wishes central to two-wheel and four-wheel conveyances.

In mid-Missouri, the Columbia City Council has taken up a matter stinking of this dispute. An ordinance would make it a misdemeanor for people in cars to pester someone on a bicycle.

It was supposedly fashioned after a state law in South Carolina, a progressive state in bike friendliness. In part, that statute reads:

“It is unlawful to harass, taunt or maliciously throw an object at or in the direction of any person riding a bicycle.”

Someone violating the law faces a fine of $250 and possible jailing of 30 days.

Real-world enforcement might be tricky since the distributor of alleged harassment sees matters differently than the absolutely convinced recipient of it.

Pity the traffic officer trying to sort out a shouted indignity and whether it meets the standard of taunting. For legal certainty, it’s better (for the police, not the bicyclist) to have an object thrown ... at least some evidence is out there.

In Columbia, accompanying the online news article about the proposed ordinance, local residents sounded off about the issue’s pros and cons and the mental deficiencies attached to backers of both.

From one side comes the view, “Instead of worrying about their little feelings, perhaps you should be asking ‘why’ people are honking.” From the other side, intolerant drivers are regarded as “testosterone-challenged redneck bigots when it comes to sharing the road with a bicycle.”

Middle ground appears the loneliest place in town.

St. Joseph laws speak to the expected behavior of people pedaling. From the city code, Sec. 28-928: “Every person riding a bicycle ... upon a street shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle ....”

The clinical language yields little to the fact St. Joseph has become a city that fancies bicycling. Local tax dollars, a charitable trust and federal money have constructed an extensive hiking and biking trail throughout the city. And Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder came to City Hall last week to discuss the local leg of the Tour of Missouri, a professional bicycle race that will roll through in September.

Is a new ordinance needed here? Instead, a bike blessing for road safety might fill the bill. And an application of the Golden Rule.

Ken Newton’s column runs

on Tuesday and Sunday.