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Cyclists Hit Home Base Times Five

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A second-year divinity student from Pasadena wanted to do something unique during a break in his studies at Fuller Seminary, so he decided to go to a ballgame.

On his bike.

And he wouldn’t settle for just any ballgame. Anybody can do Dodger Stadium, he figured. Ben Wideman decided he wanted to see minor league players work, from Lancaster to Lake Elsinore.Remember he only has a week. It would have to be five games in five days.

“We checked the schedule and it was like the perfect storm,” Wideman said over pizza and beer at Oggi’s Monday afternoon. “They were all going to be home games.”

Wideman wasn’t alone in his pursuit. Fellow cyclist and actor Tim Morgan, kept him company for the ride’s official launch.

The pair was headed for their first game in Lancaster and rode in from Pasadena Monday morning. A much steeper grade over Angeles Crest Highway could have taken them to Jethawks Stadium as the crow flies, but they opted for a flatter, more rider-friendly course. As they mused over the menu, they mentioned how welcoming Santa Clarita was to cyclists.

“We’ve just ridden into your town and it looks like a beautiful city,” Morgan commented.

Asked why he decided to embark on the pursuit, Wideman said “Aside from loving baseball and bicycles, I also love beer, so microbreweries needed to be part of the destination.”

Morgan said that they had ridden down Angeles Crest before, but “the speed that we came down, I can’t imagine going up. We recently did a 90-miler, 30 of them uphill. We know pain, but I don’t think we’re ready for it.”

From Santa Clarita, they planned on paralleling the 14 freeway for awhile.

“It’s easier to ride here, we’ll follow Soledad Canyon Road and cut through the mountains,” Wideman said. “I hope it’s not too intense.”

“We contacted most of the teams and they are supportive of our trips,” he added. “Our biggest concern was could we lock up our bikes securely outside, which they assured us we’d be fine.”

Their route then will take them from Lancaster to Adelanto, where the High Desert Mavericks play; then south to Lake Elsinore for a game by the Storm, east to San Bernardino for the Inland Empire 66ers, then to Rancho Cucamonga for the Quakes game.

“It’s 320 miles on the bike, without riding back to Pasadena,” Wideman said. “My wife is going to pick me up at the end.”

Both men started riding about five years ago, inspired by college friends. Now they look for two-wheeled adventures, either with small or large groups.

“You find community out there,” Wideman said about riding. “You can approach a cyclist anywhere on your ride and strike up a conversation, there’s definitely a sense of community there. And there’s the personal achievement element, too.”

“It doesn’t take long to get hooked,” Morgan added. “Riding is low impact, not a lot of pain in your joints, it’s mostly cardio and muscles. And you can’t beat the rush you get by going fast, and the distance. If you run, you cover 5 miles, but on a bike, 20 miles is manageable.”

“Today we’re covering 80 miles,” Wideman said.

Morgan said that cyclists are more in touch with their cities, because they spend more time exploring.

“You get to know where you live on a bike,” he said. “I’ve gotten to know Pasadena so much better. In a car, you find the quickest way to the freeway. When you’re on a bike, you spend more time, get to see where you live.”

The camaraderie of the road is another thing that attracts them.

“You might go running with a buddy,” Wideman said, comparing road runs with bike rides. “But we’ve ridden with a group as big as 20. It’s a rush being with other people on their bikes, there’s nothing like it. You’re always setting your goals higher. We did a 100 miles a few months ago.”

“You’re always thinking, what do we do next to top it?” Morgan interjected. “I want to bike across the country someday.”

“That’s everyone’s daydream,” Wideman said.

“Maybe I’ll just do the perimeter of the Americas,” Morgan continued. “Go along the coast of California, keep going on down into Peru….”

Wideman said his riding gives him a needed break from his schoolwork as well as time to clear his head.

“There’s definitely time to contemplate life and reflect on what you’re studying. A lot of theology is reading and lecture, cycling is neither of those two.”

“We’ve solved a lot of the world’s problems on our bikes,” Morgan said. “Any controversial issue you want to give us, we’ve probably talked about it on the saddle.”

Wideman and Morgan were anxious to continue (“320 miles, depending on how often we get lost,” he said). He will post pictures from the journey as well as write of his experiences on his blog at http://calleaguebiketour.blogspot.com/

Cyclists Hit Home Base Times Five

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