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The Long Journey to Buffalo

by Kaito Shinzato
November 15, 2024

Hello. My name is Kaito Shinzato and I came to GCC from Japan to study abroad in the summer semester of 2024. My hobbies are cycling around the school and shopping. In September of this year, I went to the city of Buffalo and the Buffalo Bills stadium (Highmark Stadium) by bicycle from College Village (a dormitory located right next to GCC). Those who know the distance from Batavia to Buffalo will think this story is a joke. The absurdity is that cycling that distance takes an hour by car, but I did it.

The reason why I went to Buffalo by bicycle in the first place is because I love American football, especially the NFL. I started to become interested in the NFL about four years ago in 2020. It all started when I happened to see a collection of NFL plays on YouTube. I was amazed by the physicality of the players and their amazing plays. Since then, I have been watching NFL videos and collecting NFL goods. The team I was rooting for at the time was the Tennessee Titans. I was attracted by the coolness of the team’s logo and name. Another reason I wanted to study abroad in the United States was because I thought I would be able to feel the real atmosphere in the home of American football. By the way, after coming to GCC, I changed the team I support to the Buffalo Bills.

I bought a bicycle in August of this year. At that time, I was just using it for cycling around Batavia and shopping. But one day, I looked up how long it would take to get from Batavia to Buffalo by bicycle. I found out that it would take about four hours one way to get to Buffalo, so I decided to go. The reason was that I thought I would get there if I kept cycling for about four hours, and because as an NFL fan, I wanted to visit the stadium once. I gave up on buying a game ticket due to financial issues and time. Even the cheapest seats cost nearly $200, which I felt was a little expensive. Also, the game is usually played from around 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and to get back to the dormitory after the game, I would arrive in the middle of the night and it would be dangerous, so I gave up on purchasing a game ticket.

So, at 6:30 in the morning on September 21st, I left College Village. The journey was very long. It was very boring to keep riding on the same scenic roads.

First, I saw the New Era store in Buffalo (I didn’t buy anything) and saw Buffalo’s big city hall. After that, I rode towards the Buffalo Bills stadium, which was my ultimate goal. It took about an hour and a half to get there.

I did not see many people there because it was not a game day. I took pictures of the stadium there, bought some souvenirs at the Bills store, and headed home.

On the way back, I just went straight down a dark road, and I almost went crazy. Because there was almost nothing on my way home, and there weren’t many streetlights, it was really dark and the only thing I had to rely on was the light on my bike. Furthermore, due to fatigue, my bike speed was slower than when I went to Buffalo, so I was worried about when I would be able to get home, but I managed to make it.

I went to the Buffalo Bills stadium for hours even though it was not a game day, which is something that most people would not understand, but for me, just going to the stadium, not watching the game, was very valuable. As a member of the Bills Mafia, I went there and was able to feel the atmosphere of the Bills.

I don’t think I will ever ride my bike to Buffalo again. To be honest, it was harder than I expected. Maybe some people have done the same thing as me, but I would never recommend it to others. I would still like to go to a game someday. I hope the Bills make it to the Super Bowl this season. Go Bills!