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# Four hours, three arenas and one service station: our road-trip guide to the league
- URL: https://einsnull-basketball.nichedthemes.com/the-road-trip-guide/
- Published: 2026-10-26T10:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T10:00:00.000Z
- Author: Marek Wynn
- Tags: On the road, Harbour Hawks, #wide, #justified, #Import 2026-11-11 10:06

Half our games are away, and the league is spread over three hours of motorway.

This is what twenty seasons of following the Hawks on the road have taught us, most of it the hard way.

## Northgate

The longest trip, two and a half hours on the bus, and the arena is a converted tram depot with the best sightlines in the league and the worst coffee. The away block is behind the basket the Hawks attack in the second half, so the noise is ours when it matters. Take cash, because the bar stops taking cards at 20:00, a rule nobody has ever explained.

## Lakeside

Ninety minutes, and the prettiest arrival, since the road runs along the lake for the last ten kilometres. The car park fills by 18:30\. The Pilots' drummer sits behind the far basket and does not stop for two hours, so if you have a headache, sit high. The chips at the stand by the north door are the best thing in the building, which is not a high bar, but they clear it.

## Ridgeway

The shortest trip at forty minutes, and the coldest building. Ridgeway play in a school sports hall with stands bolted on, and the heating goes on at tip-off and not before. Bring a scarf, and a second one for whoever forgot theirs. The home crowd is small and polite and claps our good plays, which takes some getting used to.

![A basketball court with an orange key in dim evening light](https://einsnull-basketball.nichedthemes.com/content/images/einsnull/evening.jpg)

Ridgeway at 18:45\. The heating comes on at 19:30.

## The bus

The supporters' bus leaves from the arena car park, is cheaper for members, and waits for no one, a rule our driver enforces with real pleasure. It stops once each way, at the services outside Ostheim, for twenty minutes. The chips there are better than at any arena in the league, Lakeside included.

Book by Thursday for Friday and Saturday games. After that you are on the waiting list, and the waiting list is Marek's phone.