Buddy Bikes: Day 12

Day 12

Start
Brunswick, MO
Finish
Jacksonville, Ill.
Mileage
161

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com
Jacksonville, Ill. -- Water.

On Day 11 of his bicycle ride from San Diego to the east coast it slowed Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens down.

On the 12th day of his 3,600-mile adventure it sped him up.

One day after flooding of the Grand River in western Missouri forced Teevens to do miles of depressing backtracking and rerouting, another river gave him a boost.

“I had a headwind again today and was lagging a little bit until I came up over a hill and all of a sudden there it was,” Teevens said. “The Mississippi! It was a psychological thing. Seeing it was energizing. I just wanted to get a better look at it.”

Teevens approached the river in Hannibal, south of Quincy. “It’s big,” he said of the Mighty Mississippi. “It was neat because I'm a big Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn fan. I stopped while I was crossing the bridge to look down and you could see an old section of Hannibal. You could kind of envision the story and the island and the boats. It was great.”

Inspired by the river and crossing into the eighth state of his trip, Teevens racked up 161 miles over the handlebars before landing in Jacksonville, Ill., where he was welcomed by family friends Mary Henry, her son Cole and Harmy Deal. Mary -- Kirsten Teevens’ “best friend in the world” -- took one look at the bicyclist, quickly decided he needed some fattening up after 12 days on the road, and pushed a quart of ice cream on him.

"It’s neat to see friendly and familiar faces,” Teevens said. “They will feed me well and get me to bed and I'll be up early and do it again.”

Like each day of the trip, Friday had its own set of adventures and misadventures, including a blowout and subsequent brain cramp.

“It happened on (Route) 26,” Teevens explained. “I was making real good time. I had taken a spare from (former riding partner David) Shula that I was going to patch. Like an idiot I grabbed that one and put it in. When I pumped it up, it leaked.”

While on the side of the busy road Teevens was surprised -- but not surprised -- with an offer of help.

“A nice guy, Dave, who worked for Nestle Purina, pulled over and offered a hand,” Teevens said. “I was shocked because it was literally a freeway. But he stopped and asked if there was anything he could do. There wasn't, but I appreciated the offer. I've said it many times, but people have been wonderful and want to help.”

Not all of them, however.

On a trip that has shown Teevens the best of human nature there have been precious few people who have shown him the other side. He came across several of them Friday.

“Monroe Country, MO has the worst roads and some people with the worst attitudes of anyplace I've been and you can write that,” he said. “I got cussed by an overweight old-timer, some guy who was a fisherman and some lady with no teeth, all for no reason. It was unbelievable.”

Once across the Mississippi Teevens put his head down again and made good progress as the wind abated late in the day.

“I didn’t stop at any schools. I didn't stop a whole bunch at all,” he said. “It's time to grind it out. I did meet a guy named Dave in Hull, Ill., a biker who was smoking his butt off. I kind of jumped him about that. He told me he makes the pizza in town.”

Down the road in Winchester, Ill., Teevens passed a marker for Stephen Douglas, the Vermont-born, Illinois senator of the mid-1800’s who tried unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president in 1852 and 1856.

“It's neat all the historic stuff you see,” said Teevens, a history major at Dartmouth. “I don't pull over and read all the signs, but it's stuff you'd never see in a car.”

Teevens plans to make it to Tuscola, Ill., today where the family of freshman wide receiver Jordan Kling is eager to continue the fattening up process that Mary Henry started last night. At perhaps 130 miles it figures to be a light day made easier by less wind and more good scenery unless he continues on after his stop in Tuscola. Either way, Teevens is enjoying his return to Illinois, where he once served as an assistant coach.

“The farms in western Illinois are really phenomenal,” he said. “I've been through here before but I didn't realize it's a little bit rolling. Not so much as Kansas and Missouri, but it's scenic and clean with the best roads I've been on in a while.

“This wasn’t the biggest day I’ve had, but I felt like I accomplished something anyway.”