Biking for Baseball

Many people get excited about bike commuting because it allows them to combine something they would do anyway (getting to work) with something they love (riding their bike). But other people are able to combine riding their bike with a cause that’s important to them. Take Biking for Baseball: this Colorado-based organization will be hitting the road (no pun intended) in the summer of 2012 to spread awareness for the importance of youth sports programs. They’re still in the early planning stages of the trip (scheduled to begin in April 2012), but you can check out their website here.

5 guys, cycling-, baseball-, and youth sports-enthusiasts all, plan to visit every city that houses an MLB team, riding over 10 000 miles. They’ll visit every ballpark, from Seattle to Houston, from Miami to Toronto, finishing their cross-country tour in Boston (will they be able to score tickets for the chronically sold-out Red Sox? Let’s hope so!). At each ballpark, they will host a kid-friendly event, to help bring attention to the importance of youth participation in sports.

How About Riding to the Ballpark?

Even if you’re not going to ride over 10 000 miles to the ballgame, you can still get to the game on your bike. Many Major League organizations encourage cycling to the ballpark, and provide appropriate accommodations for bicycle parking. In Boston, it’s difficult to ride right up to Fenway Park because of the crowds, but there are plenty of bike racks less than ¼ mile from the ballpark. In New York, at New Yankee Stadium, there are dozens of covered bike racks within easy walking distance. Wrigley Field in Chicago even offers a free bike valet service, and both San Francisco and San Diego have secured bike parking patrolled by staff. To encourage biking to its games, Cincinnati hosts a Bike 2 Baseball event, where people who ride to the game get a special deal on tickets.

One exception to the bike-friendly baseball stadium appears to be Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, where there is reportedly nowhere in the vicinity of the stadium to legally lock a bike. Is this true Royals fans? In addition to raising awareness for youth sports, perhaps Biking for Baseball will also draw attention to the need for adequate bike parking facilities at stadiums across the country.

What’s your Favourite Sport?

How do you get to the stadium to support your home team? Do you ride your bike? If you live a ways from the stadium, could you park-and-pedal to save gas and money on parking? Do other teams have bike to the ballpark events like Cincinnati? Have you participated? If your kids play sports, can you ride to and from practice with them? What other ways can you combine you favourite sport and riding your bike? (If your favourite sport is cycling, it’s really easy!).