This past summer, I discovered cycling again after many years of not cycling. My Trek bike from NBX Bikes in Warwick hung in my garage, waiting and waiting for me to get back into cycling again. Work, family commitments, baseball seasons – just some of my many excuses why I didn’t get out on the bike for awhile. But this summer was different. I had the time and the work schedule to fit in an hour, then an hour and 1/2, then sometimes 2 hours of cycling during the week and weekends. And I absolutely am hooked and love seeing all the great scenery that Rhode Island has to offer.

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I was riding through Narragansett one day, just off the bike path, and noticed Sprague Park on my left. I had passed Wilson Park in North Kingstown earlier in my ride. I started to think about how many baseball fields I can bike to in one ride, within reason. And then I thought about the Rhode Island Baseball community and how these baseball fields connect us all. And that it would be really cool to bike from field to field, from town to town, and community to community to show just how closely connected we all are to each other. Westerly may seem far from Woonsocket, but if you connect the two cities through a network of leagues, fields, and communities, they don’t seem so far away. And so this was the spark that inspired me to want to set out on my first ever Rhode Island Baseball Field Relay Ride.

After dropping my Trek off for a preventive maintenance visit at NBX in Warwick, I got onto Google Maps to see how my relay ride could be set up. Realistically, I cannot do 70 fields in one ride. Based on locations, and the fact that I want to visit about 70 fields on my relay ride, I can realistically ride to anywhere from 2 to 10 ball fields in one day. At each field, I plan on taking photos and a video of the field. Also, I plan on saying a few words about the Rhode Island baseball community, the baseball field, maybe point out an interesting feature or two of the park, and give the address of the baseball field. Then, I will hop on my bike and ride to the nearest field on the map. And repeat.

My three objectives of the Rhode Island Baseball Field Relay Ride are:

• Show the connection in the Rhode Island baseball community through this series of baseball fields
• Encourage fair playing time for youth baseball players of all ages, abilities, and divisions to keep these kids playing into their teens and beyond
• Support the efforts of the many coaches and leagues that value teamwork, sportsmanship, and leadership skills in youth sports

Weather permitting, I hope to accomplish this relay ride by the time the leaves have fallen and the temperatures have sunk below my bike riding threshold. If you are a local league volunteer and would like to help me with information about your league, your field, your sponsors, or something you would like me to promote on video, please get in touch with me. I will be posting the fields and route I will be traveling at least 48 hours in advance on social media. If you are in the area, feel free to stop by and say hello. My email address is ribaseballexperience@gmail.com and you can send me photos, videos, and information to that address for me to post.

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My first set of baseball fields will be Little Compton’s amazing field in Adamsville and Tiverton’s awesome recreational facility and baseball field. I will be heading out to Little Compton as soon as my bike is ready later this week.

Baseball Parks, Fields, and Complexes