The Broad Street Bikers right before they leave for Fenway from in front of the Spectrum.
Few people are as insane as Andrew Moriarity and Patrick Montgomery, a few Flyers fans who have bled Orange and Black since birth. Their insanity however, is all for a good cause.
In a follow-up to the Phinally Philly breaking story about a pair of crazy kids ready to take a bike ride across six states (PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI, and MA) in five days to land in Massachusetts in time to support the Flyers in their Winter Classic game on January 1st, 2010 from historic Fenway Park, Phinally Philly decided to have a chat with Andrew Moriarity.
PP: What made you come up with this insane stunt?
AM: Well, we knew we would find some way to go, so we started talking about how we were going to make the trip to Boston. Out of jest, I used Google Maps to see how long it would take to walk, (for the record 5 days at about 16 hours of walking a day), and then Pat suggested we just bike it and turn it into a charity event, and from there, Wheeling to the Winter Classic was born.
PP: Have you ever been to Fenway Park?
AM: Neither myself, or my friend Pat have ever been, and I doubt either of us have the time to take a trip for a Phils game, so seeing the Winter Classic and getting our first look at the Green Monster is like killing two birds with one stone.
PP: I’m sure you’ve both ridden regular bikes before, but do you any experience on tandem bikes? Is it any different?
AM: Neither of us have ever ridden one before, but we will be picking up the tandem we will be using and getting a few practice rides in before we leave on Sunday. We just want to thank the people at the Cycle Corner of Frenchtown (http://thecyclecorner.com/) for providing us with the bike and really stepping up to help us out.
PP: Are you worried about the weather though another blizzard is unlikely?
AM: Well, hopefully the internet is correct as it has a nice window of partly sunny days following a Dec 25th and 26th with freezing rain. We are a bit worried about the weather, but not in the sense that we’d have to bike through it, we are more concerned about being visible to cars on the road to make sure we can complete the trip safely.
PP: Tell us a little more about the Blessed Sarnelli Community.
AM: The Blessed Sarnelli Community is an outreach program run by Father Kevin Murray, based in the Kensington Area of Philadelphia. The organizational mission is to meet the needs of the poor, abandoned, and homeless people of Philadelphia. They are currently in the process of renovating a new house from which they will base their operation. They do weekly outreach trips around the city of Philadelphia distributing food, drink, and clothes to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Upon completion of the house, they will again begin to offer (as they did for ten years at a previous location) hospitality with and for people in need through weekly lunches, showers and personal hygienic needs, full supper one night a week, as well as guidance, support and referrals. The community is comprised of young adult volunteers who view all who come through the door as guests. At the core of the Sarnelli mission is respect for the human dignity of all who are served.
PP: How long have you been Flyers’ fans?
AM: Since October 27, 1986 at 8:37pm
PP: What is your favorite current player? All-time?
AM: My favorite current player would have to be Scott Hartnell. He is one of the few guys that shows up to play every game. Yeah, he might take some bad penalties at times, but the guy is a gamer, and I respect and admire that. On a lesser note, I am also a huge Blair Betts fan. The guy has a role, and he plays it perfectly, not to mention our stellar record with him in the line up as opposed to him injured. Now, I am probably going to take a huge amount of flack for this but I’d have to say my favorite Flyer all-time is Eric Lindros. Now before I start to get hate mail, I was born in 1986, and grew up watching the Flyers through the 90′s and aside from Mario Lemieux, never have I personally watch a player so dominating on the ice. It’s a shame the situation ended like it did, but I have forgiven him and most other fans should too.
PP: Do you think the offense can pull out of this slump, and what(who) do you believe is responsible for the lack of pucks finding the net?
AM: It is quite baffling, since the Flyers have too much talent to not be scoring goals at the moment. Not being privy to the insider info, I can’t say if its the system, whether or not they’re partying too hard, or whatever, so I am just going to blame it on the shaving of Jim Jackson’s mustache.
PP: Where and how can we donate to your charity?
AM: The easiest way to donate would be through the donate portion of our web page, http://broadstreetbikers.webs.com/donate.htm , or if you don’t trust the internet you can mail checks using the following information:
Wheeling to the Winter Classic
PO 29303
Philadelphia, PA 19125
Please make checks payable to Blessed Sarnelli Community, and mention Wheeling to the Winter Classic in the Memo.
As you all sit comfortably at home watching the Flyers attempt to continue their nice little three game winning streak, the Broad Street Bikers are already on the way to Fenway.
Today was a long day! It started out with our family and friends cheering for us as we departed from the Spectrum in South Philadelphia at 8:30am. When we reached North Philadelphia my phone rang and ABC Action news asked if they could catch up to us and do a quick interview. We gladly accepted and pulled over to the nearest gas station and waited for them to come. The next leg of the trip went very smoothly, until we took a wrong turn when we were close to the PA/NJ border. This eventually led us to an on ramp to Route 1. Not where we wanted to be! So we called our trail car and had them lift us to a safer area. The next obstacle we ran into was our first flat tire. maneuvering around the streets of Trenton, NJ we looked at our back tire and saw it was completely flat. Again we called our trusty trail car and they arrived with all of the necessary fix it materials.
The rest of our ride was fairly uneventful, but it was a long 80 miles to Staten Island. This was our longest day of our trip, so we are very glad it is behind us! Thank you to Lina Tirro and her family for graciously hosting us tonight!
The Broad Street Bikers will continue their trek to Fenway through the week up until the big game with plenty of blog updates from their website. A couple stops have them in Connecticut over the next two days before stopping in Rhode Island and finally finishing in Boston, Massachusetts.
Loading ...