NS TR: Riding my motorcycle to every Major League Ballpark

[adrenalated]

I have absolutely zero interest in baseball, or in riding my motorcycle extremely long distances, yet this is a fantastic trip report. Keep it coming!

[DeathVan]

I love baseball and motorcycles
Cool adventure!

I would have 30 more hats and 30 more pounds by the end of this...

[Supermoon]

I love baseball and motorcycles
Cool adventure!

I would have 30 more hats and 30 more pounds by the end of this...

I somehow weighed exactly the same, to the tenth of a pound as when I left. Some sort of Christmas miracle.

[Supermoon]

I woke up in Baltimore and had a very lovely stroll around the harbor while sipping a coffee and trying to get my back and legs to loosen up. Day six of our six games in six days stretch was upon us, and I was headed to DC. I lived in DC for a few years out of college, and if it wasn't for the afore mentioned summer heat, I may still be there. I am a desert kid at heart. Cook me in an oven, but don't put me in a sauna. I digress.



It was only about 45 miles to my hotel in Crystal City, VA. I wanted to get south of DC to expedite my southern travel the next day. Crystal City is where the Pentagon is, among other things, but it has really taken off in the ten years since I've lived in DC. Lots of apartments, shops, restaurants, etc.

I got the bike parked around 10 am, and I hopped the Metro into the city. After ten years, I still had $5 on my Metro card. We'll call that a win.



I wanted to pop by one of my favorite Smithsonians, the National Museum of the American Indian, or alternatively, go to Air and Space, they are next door to each other, but both were closed for a two-day music festival. Bummer. Walked around the mall for a bit instead, then met up with an old friend for a coffee.



After that, it was time for the game! It was a 4:15 scheduled start, but the day I was there was Ryan Zimmerman's number retirement ceremony. I didn't plan it, but that was very cool. Zimmerman was the first draft pick of the Nationals after they moved down from Montreal, and played his whole career there. He's beloved by the DC fans.





Nationals Park is a top 5 ballpark for me. It's an almost perfect place to watch a game. Not a bad seat in the house, great amenities, cool vibe. I was hoping to see a Bryce Harper appearance since the Nats were playing the Phils, but he was hurt and wasn't in the lineup.



Day 28 dawned and I was back heading South. This time with two days to make St. Petersburg, FL and the Tampa Bay Rays. I absolutely love St. Pete's, and my cousin lives there who is one of my favorite people in the world. First things first, though, I need to make some miles. I left before the breakfast started at my hotel, and a promise of Dunkin' awaited me at my first gas stop. Unfortunately, it was a bait and switch as the restaurants and gas stations on the road sign were 3 miles down the road (this should be as illegal as only putting decaf in a hotel room). Gas station coffee and a Clif bar it is.



A couple hours south of DC, and the accents start to really change. I had forgotten it was father's day, and an old crusty dude in a pickup asked me if I had kids, which I answered in the negative. "Don't you want to spread your seed?" he asked in a thick Southern Virginia accent, "No, sir, I'm good."

At this point I'm starting to get really nervous about my rear tire. I'm over 6,500 miles on my OEM rubber, which is squarely in the range of when people are replacing it, and the flat spot is more of the tire than the non-flat spot by now. It's a Sunday, so all the shops I called were closed, and even the open ones just laughed when I was asking for Africa Twin tires. Not a lot of these bikes around here, I guess... I just kept pushing on, hoping for the best, cause what else was there to do?

The day took me through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and a good chunk of Georgia, where I ended up just south of Savannah for the night. Total for the day, 590 miles in about ten hours door-to-door. I was hoping to make a few more miles than that, but by late afternoon the heat really sapped the energy out of me. Still, that was the longest day in terms of mileage that I'd ever done (for the third time this trip).

Time to rehydrate.


Ah Florida. How I never missed thee.

I rolled into St. Petes after a couple eventful hours on the road the next morning. It was 350 miles, but I barely remember any of it. Florida roads are like Texas, but with more gators. But, it was in Florida where I learned that I COULD fit a sixer of beers on my bike, so not all bad! I had to pay my rent for the night.



I got in to my cousins house and was thankful for a place to do laundry, pet some dogs, and my wife had shipped my permanent plates to me. I had been rolling with my temp tags which was nice for missing all the toll-by-mail stuff, but I think I need the permanent plates and an actual registration to get over the border into Canada which was just a week or so away at this point.

Once settled we did what everyone should do when you get to St. Petes: drink beer and eat Cuban sandwiches.


The Cuban place was a two minute walk from Tropicana Field, so we moseyed over there. It was game three of the Stanley Cup finals, and the Avs were in town to play the Bolts, but the game was surprisingly crowded and expensive to get into. Turns out it was against the Yankees, so there was a big contingent of NY fans there. Annoying.


The Trop is run down and ready to be demolished, but in a way that has a bit more charm than the Oakland Coliseum has. St. Petes definitely deserves better, though.

There's nothing like a night in a real home, with real family, to recharge, and neither I, nor the pups, wanted me to leave in the morning.


But the schedule stops for no man (or dog). After a final great meal, at a very cute coffee shop, I hopped on the bike with two missions. First, make it to Miami for the game that night, and two, find a rear tire.

As luck would have it, there's a motorcycle-specific tire shop in St. Petes called 8 Ball Motorcycle tires, and they opened at 10. I got there right as the doors opened, and they helped me right away. As they showed me the tires they had for my Africa Twin, though, my heart sank. All they had was a set of 80/20 off-road tires. Being on a trip that was 99% road, these didn't seem like they were the answer to my tire problems. Luckily, one of the techs found a pair of Harley tires that were going to fit my bike, and so, one hour, and $600 later, I was out the door with some fresh road tires, front and back.



Onward!



I hit the highway and started booking it Miami with a new side quest: see a gator in real life. My cousin said lots of them hang out on the side of the road where I'd be driving through, so I set my mind on finding one. Unfortunately, all I found was high-90's temps and life-sucking humidity. I pulled over at this rest stop, convinced I'd see one, but struck out. I will say that I've never approached a river bank so cautiously, though!


I only had the one evening in Miami, which was a shame. I have never been and would really like to have experienced literally anything about the city, but all I had time for was a quick shower, and an Uber to LoanDepot Park. Total miles for day 30: 277.

LoanDepot park was a bit disappointing. On TV it looks great, but inside it felt kind of dead. Like a mostly-deserted mall. On top of that my hotdog and beer were $23! Undefensible for a 1/8 full stadium in my opinion.



I thought about hitting the town after the game, but decided to call it an early night. This turned out to be the right call because, unbeknownst to me, I had the two longest days of the trip coming up.

[Supermoon]

I have absolutely zero interest in baseball, or in riding my motorcycle extremely long distances, yet this is a fantastic trip report. Keep it coming!

Thanks!

[SumJongGuy]

Next time in Florida just pull off at one of those "Air Boat Rides" signs. They'll show you some gators..

Too hot for me to be out on a bike yesterday. Above 90 degrees wind chill turns to heat blast. Safe travels the rest of the way and stay hydrated...

[Supermoon]

Next time in Florida just pull off at one of those "Air Boat Rides" signs. They'll show you some gators..

Too hot for me to be out on a bike yesterday. Above 90 degrees wind chill turns to heat blast. Safe travels the rest of the way and stay hydrated...

I would have loved to spend some time in the Everglades if I had the time

[Supermoon]

Next time in Florida just pull off at one of those "Air Boat Rides" signs. They'll show you some gators..

Too hot for me to be out on a bike yesterday. Above 90 degrees wind chill turns to heat blast. Safe travels the rest of the way and stay hydrated...

I would have loved to spend some time in the Everglades if I had the time

[The SnowShow]

I loved those blueberry beers at Boston Beerworks!!
Amazing TR!!

[Mofro261]

Fan tastic TR, great read so far.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Mesmerizing TR.

I saw the last Sox-Yankees game at the old Stadium. Jon Lester pitched a gem and left with a 2-1 lead only to have the reliever give up the hardest line drive I've ever seen hit. By Jason Giambi. Probably never got higher than 20 feet and easily cleared the centerfield wall. You're right about that new POS. No soul.

Most of the time, gators look like dead logs floating in the water....

[Supermoon]

Ok, I paused for the night at the end of the Miami game because I'm not exactly sure how to talk about the next few days. Where my time in St. Louis was the most difficult time of the trip as far as the actual trip went, the days following here were by far the worst days of the trip from a personal standpoint. What's weird about doing something like this in our time is that even while you are away for weeks at a time, you're still connected in to the world, and to your life back home. You can't really escape it by disappearing down the road in the way that people could prior to cell phones and the internet.

Part of the reason for writing this report is to get my thoughts out about the trip while they're still fresh, and writing about the moments like this are hopefully going to help me later on after the trip has faded into memory. Ok, enough vamping, let's get back on the road.

I woke up at 5:00 am in Miami with 675 miles to go until Atlanta. The plan was to get as far as I wanted to ride, stay the night, then get into Atlanta early-ish to catch the 1 pm game the next day. The forecast called for nice, but hot weather again, so I wanted to get moving as early as I could. One of the rules I had set for myself on this trip was to avoid riding at night if at all possible. I sort of broke this rule by getting out of Miami before the sun was up, though that felt more like a technical violation of the rule, rather than violating the spirit of the rule. Anyways, what are rules if not to be broken! And, not to worry, a couple days later I will break the rule for real...


(by this point I've basically stopped bothering to put the cover on the bike overnight unless I need it for security, since if it rains the bike still gets wet and then I just have a wet cover to stuff into my top case, which means some wet butts in the mornings)

Sunrise in South Florida


The highest point in Florida is only like 300 ft above sea level, so everything is flat.


I stopped outside of Lake City for gas, and the premium and mid-grade gas weren't working, which is when I found out that they make mid-grade gas by mixing regular and premium. Maybe this is common knowledge.

Just after lunch I passed the Florida/Georgia state line, and the temperature ticked up over 100 degrees.


At this point I was about 250 miles from Truist Park in Atlanta, and I started to think about where I was going to stop for the night. I was planning on making 100 more miles or so, and calling it a day, but as the miles ticked away I just hunkered down and kept going. Every mile I pushed on, though, the temperature kept climbing, until it peaked at 109 degrees.

(if you squint you can read the temp in the top right of my dash right there).

I have been in some hot places, but southern Georgia at 109 doing 70-80 miles an hour down the freeway is maybe the worst I've ever been in. It was like riding through a hair dryer. Every 30-45 minutes I was stopping to drink water, and put cold water bottles inside my jacket to try and keep my core cool. Looking back on this, I really should have just called it a day and gotten a hotel, but when I hit 150 miles to Atlanta all I could think about was making it there that night. As I've mentioned above, one of the trip rules I had was to never force myself to do more than 400 miles in a day to avoid situations just like this.

I will mention that my Icon Raiden jacket actually did really well in the heat. I was nervous about it starting out the trip because it's a thick touring jacket, but the vent design flowed so much air that with everything open it was no worse than having no jacket on at all.

Things were going as well as could be expected up until I hit Atlanta rush hour traffic. Sitting around for an hour in stop and go traffic with 103 degree heat was maybe the dumbest thing I did all trip... I was legitimately concerned about burning the bottom side of my legs from the heat off the tarmac. Woof.

(My phone actually overheated a couple of times to the point where it shut down and I lost my maps until I could get it inside my jacket to cool off a bit)

But all that being said, I rolled into my Atlanta hotel at about 6:15 pm, 672 miles and 12 1/2 hours after I left Miami. Once again, I had the longest day I've ever done on a motorcycle, and in probably the toughest conditions.

I got into the hotel, looked at the time, and I realized I could actually make the Braves game that night, instead of the next day, and basically get two days ahead of schedule. So a quick, and cold, shower later, I was back out into the Atlanta hair dryer to see Truist Park. I missed BMills here by literally fifteen minutes. He was having a drink around the corner after work, and had just left. We probably passed each other.


Truist Park is absolutely beautiful.


I sat in the shade for a bit, watching the game, then I realized that there were dozens of people walking around in Pride shirts, and you know what? It was Pride Night at Truist! You should know by now I love the Pride Nights at these parks, so I got up to go find the festivities.


Unfortunately, other than changing the color of their "A," there was nothing else going on in the park, they made no mention of it in the stadium, and the only reference I found to it on their website and social media was a press release they had sent out three weeks prior. That's a really disappointing showing from the ball club, in my opinion. To add insult to injury, as I was figuring this out, they started promoting "the chop," which I find extremely offensive. I lived a lot of time in Utah, and in that time have known and worked with a lot of Native people, and every single one that has said anything about the chop has said how offensive and hurtful it is. Baseball, like motorcycling, is a sport dominated by older, white fans, and as those people age out, there aren't new people coming in. Without being more inclusive, and without changing some of the more cringey parts of the experience, baseball will fade away. Nights like this don't do much to give me much hope about the future.

[Supermoon]

I woke up the next day with two extra days to my name, and I was ready to get out of the Atlanta heat.

A quick glance at the map showed me I was only a couple of hours from Deals Gap. Riding the Tail of the Dragon has always been on my list of things to do on a motorcycle, and with this new-found time, I could finally go do it. The plan for the day was to go ride Deals Gap, then find a place to stay somewhere north of there. It was Wednesday, and my next scheduled game wasn't until Saturday in Cleveland. So after a semi-leisurely morning, I hit the road about 9:30 and headed to the hills.

A couple hours later I had made it. It was day 32. Officially into my second month on the road.


I did the ride south to north, which seemed like maybe not the preferred way to ride it judging by the traffic, but man, what an experience. By far the best riding of the trip, and even with a fully-loaded touring bike, and no prior knowledge of the road, I managed to get some g's in those corners. I was grateful for my fresh rubber here, as on those old, worn out 50/50 tires I think I would have been a lot more nervous pushing it.


Somewhere along the way I bumped the angle on my helmet camera and got a lot of footage of amazing riding that was pointed straight at my tank. Doh!

(I maintain 29 is plenty fast enough through some of those corners. I don't care what actually fast riders have to say about it! )

Made it to the end with a big grin on my face, and the bike still upright. Nothing to complain about there.




After unexpectedly crossing off a bucket list item on a different bucket list trip, I kept moving north. I was just after lunch-time, so I had time to make some miles.

Crossing into Kentucky.


I kept pushing on, and made it to Cincinnati around dinner time. Unfortunately the Reds were out of town, or I could have made their game that night.


I was feeling pretty good, so after a quick dinner of gas station pepperonis and string cheese, I kept pushing north.

Chasing shadows.


I hit Columbus around sunset, with about 150 miles to go until Cleveland. It was June 23, so one of the longest days of the year, and I was milking all the daylight I could get. At this point I actually crossed my track from when I was going from St. Louis to Philadelphia just 12 days before.


I had a decision to make. It was getting late, but the reality of hotel check-in times basically meant that if I stopped for the night in Columbus, I still wouldn't really be in Cleveland until 3 pm the next day when I could drop my stuff at a hotel. So I made the decision to officially break rule number 2 of the trip, and drive after dark to make it into Cleveland that night.

I rolled in a little after 1 am, ending my day after 720 miles (including that detour to Deals Gap), and over 15 hours on the bike.

These kind of miles are nothing new for people who ride a lot, but doing almost 1400 miles in 2 days is so far beyond anything I'd ever ridden before, it was a revelation, in a way, and knowing I could do this kind of mileage two days in a row made some of the later stretches much less stressful.

[t-the-east]

I gotta say man, this is entertaining as fuck. I am thoroughly impressed with this trip, the tr, your persistence, all of it. I fully appreciate you taking the time to write this all out and share it all. Following along and looking forward to the rest. Thanks

[Supermoon]

I gotta say man, this is entertaining as fuck. I am thoroughly impressed with this trip, the tr, your persistence, all of it. I fully appreciate you taking the time to write this all out and share it all. Following along and looking forward to the rest. Thanks

Thanks man! I’m glad you’re enjoying it!

[Meadow Skipper]

I was blown away by 672 miles and 12 1/2 hours, but then I got to 720 miles and over 15 hours on the bike. Fuuucckk! Animal. Pretty sure I’da been so fucked up after that.

Nice catch on Deal’s Gap tho.

[Creeker]

I’m a huge fan of Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round, Long Way Down and the latest pre Covid on E-Harleys Long Way Up. This epic TR is comparable without the support team and camera crew!

Love it and Congratulations!

[Supermoon]

Yeah, watching Ewen and Charlie a decade ago was one of the moments that put the bug in my ear about doing a really long trip one day. Their trip logistics make my trip look like a walk to the corner store. I couldn’t imagine attempting it without a huge support crew

[schindlerpiste]

FKNA Great TR. Congrats on catching a ball. I have caught two in my life both Big Red Machine players (Tony Perez and Joe Morgan). Both in NY: TP at Shea; Joe Morgan at Yankee Stadium. Both post-season.

[Supermoon]

I woke up in Cleveland a bit sore, but none the worse for wear, overall. I had once again added days to the schedule with this ride, and could see a game that night. With the whole day to kill, I went into town and got tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I have never been, and they had a Beatles exhibit.


I was enjoying my time in there when news came in from the Supreme Court about their ruling on Roe. Not to get too political inside of this, but it was a really tough moment for so many of the most important women in my life. Knowing I was so far away, and could offer little to help them in this moment really hit me hard. On a day that I had been looking forward to most of the trip, all of a sudden I was questioning why I was even here. I sort of stumbled through the rest of the museum, and just headed back to the hotel for the rest of the day. I spent some time on the phone with some family, and did what I could from there. I decided to keep to my game plan for the evening, and had a weird, sort of out of body experience all night where on one hand I had probably the most fun ballpark experience of the trip, along with the background noise of the total atomic bomb that had blown up over society that morning.

As many of us know, BMills is from Cleveland, and is a huge Guardians fan, and he sent me a to-do list for visiting The Jake (aka Progressive Field). So I dutifully followed it as close to the letter as possible. What follows is my account that I posted once I sat down at the stadium inside the MLB thread...

First stop was Great Lakes Brewing


Anywhere that has Boilermakers on the menu is OK in my book

I went for the golden lager/Jameson combo (on the rocks since I’m soft)

Next stop was Steve’s for a gyro, but they were closed

Onward on an empty belly.

Bmills said to get four or five shots of Jager at the Clevelander, but I am thinking that was maybe a joke, and without the gyro, plus the added Jameson from earlier, one shot should be ok. Let me know if I need to do a makeup shot after the game.



Gave Jim Thome a high five


And then found out it was $2 beer and $1 dog night. So obviously did that.



A breakdance circle broke out with some sort of LSD muppet that is maybe a mascot?



Got my T shirt that I think is one of Bob Marley’s kids? Potentially one of the best young ball players also.



Now time to watch a game.



The game ended with a Red Sox win, and some post-game fireworks. I even stumbled onto a reggae festival while walking to my Uber.

I was planning to take another day off and stay for the Saturday Guards/Sox game, but the hotels were all $3-400 a night in town, which I just couldn't justify. So after a brief break, it was back onto my trusty steed, and headed to the land of Tim Hortons and Molsen. Next stop: Toronto

[Supermoon]

I hit up a little bakery in town owned by BMIlls’ sister before I hit the road the next morning for a croissant and to make some phone calls. Nobody there seemed to know what Change for a Nickel was.


I needed my 8,000 mile service done, and with a couple days in hand, this seemed like a good time to do it. I called around, and found a shop in Buffalo who could squeeze me in that afternoon. That gave me Exactly three hours to get to a shop that google said was 2 hours and 45 minutes away. Time to hit the road.

Back in PA for a hot minute


And then into New York once again.


The Honda dealership got me in and out in under two hours, so it was time for a mid-day snack. I was in Buffalo, so obviously you know what I had to do...


I got the original sauce, with the hottest sauce on the side, but if you like heat at all, I'd skip the original and just go hot. It was better, IMO.


Hotel rooms in Toronto were unobtanium, so I was torn between staying in Buffalo, and getting over the border and staying somewhere shy of Toronto on the Canada side. Ultimately, I decided it was better to get over the border as soon as possible, just in case there were any issue. With belly full of hot wings, I headed to the border.


I passed over with no issues, and didn't get flagged for a random COVID test, so that was as good as I could have hoped for.


I realized this was the first time I'd ever driven a vehicle outside of the US. I've travelled to other countries plenty of times, but never had a car, or motorcycle, with me. I switched my units over the km/h and headed to a town called St. Catharine for the night. A relatively easy day of just 225 miles.

The next morning I hit a Canadian institution for breakfast


It's not Dunkin, but it's pretty good!

I arrived in Toronto around 10:30, and immediately realized why I was having trouble finding a hotel. The place was packed for their big Pride weekend. It was the first one since COVID and the whole city was packed! The parade when right down the street by my hotel, and it ran for close to four hours. It was an absolute party.


I watched the festivities for a bit, and then walked down to the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's weirdly in the basement of a mall, but overall it's pretty cool.


After walking around the museum, I continued on down the waterfront in Toronto to a place to watch game 5 of the Cup Finals. What a beautiful place. Thanks for the rec Thalliea!


I sat down on their patio just in time for a freak rain storm to come through, and got treated to a rainbow over the lake.


I called it a night after the hockey game, and spent the next morning/afternoon catching up on some computer work before heading to Rogers Centre for the game that night.


Rogers Centre is starting to get a little long in the tooth, but the views are great.


One more sunset in Canada, and then back into the good ol' US of A.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Did you go up in the CN tower? Stepping onto that glass floor 1,500 feet above the street is pretty gut-wrenching. Too bad you missed Charlie the Butcher in Buffalo. I know Anchor Bar is the tourist go-to but Charlie the Butcher is where all the blue-collar folk go for lunch. Beef on a Wieck. On Thursdays, they have Prime Rib on a Wieck. Maybe this should go in teh Upstates thread....

[Supermoon]

Did you go up in the CN tower? Stepping onto that glass floor 1,500 feet above the street is pretty gut-wrenching. Too bad you missed Charlie the Butcher in Buffalo. I know Anchor Bar is the tourist go-to but Charlie the Butcher is where all the blue-collar folk go for lunch. Beef on a Wieck. On Thursdays, they have Prime Rib on a Wieck. Maybe this should go in teh Upstates thread....

Didn't get a chance to go up CN Tower. I was going to try my second day, but got caught up in computer bullshit until it was too late.

I was going to try to find Beef on a Wreck on my way back through, but didn't end up working out timing-wise. There is a very good wings restaurant here in Portland that is based on Anchor Bar, and some of my good friends here wanted to know how it compared, so that was #1 on my Buffalo list. Spoiler: the PNW knockoff is better than the OG in my opinion. One thing I've learned on this trip is going to the birthplace of a famous food doesn't always get you the best example of that food. See also: Chicago pizza

[tgapp]

Damn I fucking love this tr, super stoked that I got to meet up with you and even more stoked that this is such a cool project and something that you are so passionate about and so good at documenting. Fuck yeah dude!

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[snowaddict91]

I enjoyed following along on IG and this has been a great TR! Kind of funny that you drove through my homeland of NE Ohio in the dark, thanks to Bmills it looks like you didn't miss much.