Thousands of baseball fans filed out of their home ballparks on Oct. 3 as the regular major league season drew to a close. They had memories of double plays, home runs, exciting victories and discouraging defeats for their teams over the past 6 months.
One of them, Romano Scaturro, remembered something more.
As he left Seattle's Safeco Field for the last game of the year, he could recall the 10,000 miles of road he traveled by bicycle to visit every major league ballpark in the US for a home game this season.
The 47-year-old restaurateur (shown above with his son from an earlier bike tour) from Cornville, Arizona, made the self-contained bike tour to raise money for future college tuitions for two orphans.
He formed the non-profit charity — Family Ride Across America to Nurture Kids (FRAANK) — with the goal of raising $1 for every mile. According to information at the donor page, he has raised about $3,000 so far with more on the way.
Bicycle travels
Scaturro is no stranger to athletic endeavors. He has a history of marathons, triathlons, and several cross-country bicycle tours — both east-west and north-south. This 10,000-mile summer was the longest.
Friends and his son accompanied him for parts of his bike travels, but the rest of the way he traveled alone. His journal is filled with stories of stealth camping and nights on couches to save money. His only time off the bike was a two-week stint as a cook for a travel agency tour in Ethiopa where he also pitched clients for funds for FRAANK.
Difficulties
At the close of the bike tour, he wrote:
“When I think back over all the adversity I endured: ruthless headwinds, searing heat, stifling humidity, horrendous bugs, lousy food, rude and careless drivers, endless hills, long, lonely, and chilly nights I can't believe I ever finished. This was without a doubt the most difficult thing I've ever set out to do.”
Scaturro had to keep to a tight schedule to hit the major league cities while the ball clubs were in town. He never took a day off between Houston and New York, average 70 to 80 miles a day.
Treasured memories
The most difficult stretch was riding 100 miles a day for five days between St. Louis and Chicago. Other tough stretches included the humidity and hills between Minnesota and Kansas City, and, of course, the wind and headwinds and heat of Kansas as he headed west.
He concludes:
“I hope also if anyone is thinking about their own adventure that they found a little inspiration from reading about mine. It's almost a story book ending for me now that it's over; something that no one or thing can ever take away because I hold all these treasured memories in my mind, forever.”
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