Day 3 - riding and Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

So sorry for the delay in these posts! The final days of my trip were busy, and then I returned to the daily grind.

Anyway, catching up...

Central Pennsylvania is fascinating - farmland, mountains, valleys, forests,... the topography is always changing, and always just a little bit different. My third day felt like it had more climbing than any of the other days on the trip.

I passed a turnoff for one of the many Penn State campuses - since I work at the main campus, I had to take a picture!

The final game of my 4-games-in-3-days stretch was a home game for the Scranton Wikes-Barre RailRiders, AAA Affiliate of the New York Yankees (Evil Empire). A good friend from college met me for the game, and even gave me a four-wheeled lift to the game from our hotel. Immediately we faced the challenge of traveling by car rather than bike - a traffic jam on the way into the ballpark!

We had a great time, and the home team won on a last-second diving catch. This was the largest ballpark, and I didn't get any on-field interviews, free beers, or news reporter interviews, nevertheless it was a great way to end the trip.

We even enjoyed some fireworks to finish.

Day 2 - Williamsport CrossCutters Game

After two games on day 1, it was a bit of a relief to only have one game on the schedule for today.  A friend in Williamsport was hosting me an also providing tickets through a connection with the team. 

I arrived early because the CrossCutters had reached out to me via Twitter to find out if I was interested in an on-field interview. 

Um, on-field?? Absolutely! The Cutters play in Historic Bowman Field, the second oldest park in Minor League Baseball. The players actually walk through the concourse to get to their old-school dugouts, which was where I was supposed to meet Gabe from the CrossCutters game day team. 

He is an incredible PA voice, and handles most of the on-field pagentry that goes on at a Minor League game. Our pre-game interview was a lot of fun hanging out in the sunshine on the field. To thank me for my time (I should be thanking the CrossCutters!!) they gave me $10 in CrossCutter dollars to spend at the concessions. 

I was then asked by John, a local reporter from WOL News if I'd give another interview about my ride. It was so great to be appreciated for this little journey. 

The park is small enough that you feel somehow connected to the players and the game in a deeper way. It was fun to compare and contrast this with the two newer parks I visited yesterday. 

The Cutters lost to the visiting Lowell Spinners by a score of 5-3, bringing my trip record to 1-2 for the home teams. 

Tomorrow I ride 85 miles to Scranton to take in my forth and final game of the trip!

Day 2 - the Ride

An early morning rainstorm delayed my start today - fortunately it passed and gave me plenty of time for my ride to Williamsport. 

The scenery was much of the same - rolling farmland and picturesque mountain scenery - but my route took me on more busy roads than the day before. 

The persistent heat and humidity was back as my constant companion - maybe even more so than yesterday. 

Fortunately I had fewer miles to cover (about 65) and had a lovely stop for lunch with my sister-in-law and her kiddos in Lock Haven. 

Even with the shorter day my legs were happy to finally see this sign. 

More to come after tonight's game!

Day 1 - State College

I wasn't sure if the high heat and humidity was going to allow me to make it to two games in one day, separated by more than 40 miles. Fortunately my ride from Altoona to State College was pretty smooth and I even had time to go home, eat some dinner, and take a shower. I made it to Medlar Field just in time to hear the national anthem and see the first pitch!

The Spikes had also been following my journey on Twitter and tracked me down to give me a celebratory free beer from local brewer, Robin Hood Brewing Company!

It was a pretty bad game for the hometown Spikes - not even the hotdog toss could liven the crowd up while the Spikes pulled together just a few hits and got shut out 3-0 by the visiting Vermont Lake Monsters.

3-0 final as the Vermonters shake hands.

Ready for tomorrow and another big day of bikes and baseball!

Day 1 - Altoona Curve Game

Day one started with a 42 mile ride from State College to Altoona to take in a game at PNG Field, home of the AA Altoona Curve. 

WTAJ Reporter Ashley Doerzbacher had heard about my trip on Twitter and wanted to do a story about my journey. She met me on my way in to town and did a bit of filming for a segment about my minor league bike trip. 

You can check out the full story and video interview by visiting this website!

Altoona's stadium has a unique feature - a rollercoaster in right field!

It was Splash Day at the park, so between innings the upper deck was drenched with a fire hose. There was also a play area for kids to get drenched.

It was a fantastic start to the day. Altoona won 1-0 against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, and the game took less than 2 hours from start to finish, giving me plenty of time to get on my bike and ride back to State College!

It was a great start to my first day of the trip!

Photos from this morning

Day 1 - So far...

Highlights from this morning's ride to Altoona included the incredibly picturesque mountain valley scenery, the rolling farmland, startling a small fawn at the side of the road, scaring a flock of wild turkeys off the road, and being welcomed to town with a news truck from WTAJ TV! A reporter from that newsroom had seen my twitter updates and tracked me down to interview me for tonight's broadcast.

I made it with plenty of time for the Altoona Curve game. I'll post photos from the morning soon!