Off and riding: Annual bike ride starts in Pittston for first time

Tony Callaio and Kevin Carroll, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Apr. 23—PITTSTON — It was wheels up on Main Street Sunday morning, as hundreds of cyclists from all over the state kicked off the annual Lu Lacka Wyco Hundo bike ride in downtown Pittston.

Named for the three counties that the ride spans, the Lu Lacka Wyco Hundo (LLWH) has been drawing legions of biking enthusiasts to the area for years, but a few tweaks accompanied this year's ride.

Patrick Engleman, organizer and creator of the bike trek, said that this year marked the 11th year for the LLWH races — but the first time the race started in downtown Pittston.

"This is the first time we've been downtown and started the race from downtown. We've started runs before from Jenkins Township," Engleman said.

To celebrate the bike ride's new starting location, Saturday's NEPA Spring Outdoors Arts and Crafts Festival was debuted as a way to give the visiting bikers, as well as many members of the Greater Pittston community, a fun place to spend their Saturday.

"Many of the 600 bikers brought their families, and we wanted them to have something to do when they came to the city, so we decided to hold the arts and crafts festival as well as food trucks, music and other events planned," said Mary Kroptavich, the Main Street manager for Pittston.

The riders returned to the site of the Festival, in the Tomato Festival grounds off South Main Street, early Sunday morning to embark on this year's LLWH rides.

Engelman said that the Hundo is made up of four different runs of 40, 62, 75 and 100 miles, starting and stopping in downtown Pittston.

At around 9 a.m. Sunday, a police escort led a large pack of the riders down Main Street, past the Spc. Dale J. Kridlo Bridge and on their way.

Many riders were veterans of the Lu Lacka Wyco Hundo, but not all.

"I haven't done it before, this is my first time," said Dan Yeich, from Philadelphia. "I wanted to do this one because of the mixed terrain, and because it's a fairly local ride."

Engelman, a native Pittstonian currently residing in the Philadelphia area, said Saturday that the ride and the festival coming together was a perfect combination for downtown Pittston.

"This is just a fun ride and the festival is a great fit because it's great for the city," he said. "It's great for our riders and people get to see what Pittston really is like."