On The Road Again
On the road again...just can't wait to get on the road again. All my life is making music with my friends...and I can't wait to get on the road again - Willie Nelson
With all the back and forth to Reading over the last couple weeks, I all but forgot about the bus rides and how tough they can get. Living in Bucks County it made more sense for me to drive back and forth from my house – it saves me nearly 3 hours instead of driving east to Trenton for 45 minutes, then passing right by my general area with the team on the way to the game. But with Elmira looming on the horizon this weekend, I’m reminded of how long and difficult they can be.
The ride to Elmira is only about four hours – enough to catch a quick nap or get a little work done – and only the second time we have really “hit the road”. The first time was our Evansville-Cincinnati run October 19-20. We left on Wednesday the 17th at 10 pm so that we could be in Indiana on Thursday in the early afternoon.
But it didn’t work out that way…as a 13-hour trip took nearly 19 hours. There was the obligatory breakfast stop at a Denny’s and the needed pit stop for gas, etc. But with one driver who needed a break to keep us safe, it really added to the length of the ride!
Still, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. In some ways it was better, because last year we travelled by coach bus. This season, we roll like rock stars…sort of.
Now for those of you who haven’t ridden in a coach bus, understand you can get comfortable in the short run. But as the miles and hours add up it can be real difficult on a body, whether you are a well-tuned athlete or an old, out of shape athlete like me.
Stout’s provided the charter coach bus service last year and they did a fabulous job, plus our bus driver “G” was about as cool as they come. The biggest thing I miss is not having G to talk to before games, on the bus, dropping off the gear at 3 am. Our driver now (Dewey) is good, but G was special. He even provided “protection” for me at one particular game in Elmira, but that story will have to stay silent for now!
But I digress…the bus we use this year is a sleeper bus and it is nice. Twenty players, two coaches, equipment manager, trainer and one overweight broadcaster on a bus – tight enough on a coach, but more comfortable in the sleeper.
The biggest positive would have to be the ability to stretch out to sleep. Some of the beds are near the ceiling and some are low to the floor about as tight together as the bunks in a submarine, but everybody has about six feet or so to lie down and get as decent a night’s sleep as you can expect. In the coach it was like trying to sleep in an airplane seat – though you had both seats to yourself and don’t have to share a row. Sleeping was awkward for anyone, let alone the bigger guys, even if you could stretch out across the aisle to prop your feet up. Players made due and worked out ways to get some comfort, but it’s nothing like the sleeper.
Our bus has two TVs and a sound system so guys at either end can watch something different – even tune into Direct TV if they wish. The coach bus has video monitors if you bring some movies, but everyone has to see the same thing. That may not seem like a big thing, but the choice to have variety is nice.
What I like the best however, is the freedom of movement. The walkway might be narrow, but you can walk back and forth on the sleeper and stretch your legs without stepping on or over people, gear and luggage. You can actually go talk with several different people, get a card game at one of the tables, or sit with a coach and go over video. Cliques don’t form and you feel like a team, not just a bunch of guys riding together.
Oh, and since you don’t have to step on seats to try and move on the bus, if you wake up in the middle of the night or you are the first up in the morning and really have to answer the call of nature…well…it’s a lot easier to access the john at the middle of the bus than to dodge players and risk waking them up to get to the back!
It is definitely an upgrade, so thanks to the front office for setting it up for us. The ability to get rest, stretch out and relax is huge for an athlete with long rides and short turn-around times for games. While we used it to go to our second game in Reading, it paid off on that Evansville trip – we won a hard fought 4-3 contest in a game where we played the aggressor and looked more crisp. It shouldn’t be that way for an away team, but it worked for us.
It even helped me when we moved on to Cinncy. Helping move all that gear with Ross and Scott (Equip mgr & trainer) is tough enough, but to try and get loose in the cold at 3 am? Forget it. After the sleeper ride I actually felt like I had some energy that early in the morning. I hope I didn’t jinx myself by saying that!
Well, I hope that give you a little insight to life on the road for a Trenton Titan. We have a good thing so far with this bus and are definitely better off than most teams in that respect. Hopeful it will pay off in more wins this season…and you will be able to catch a glimpse of it here with our View From Atop Mount Olympus!
