Start
Tuscola, Ill.
Finish
Richmond, Ind.
Mileage
175
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com
Richmond, Ill. -- Not all milestones in a cross country bicycle trip are on little green signs found on the side of the road every mile.
Another milestone, it turns out, can be on your wrist.
“Going from Illinois to Indiana I made it back into the Eastern Time Zone,” Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens said last night from Richmond, Ind., near the Ohio border. “That’s a psychological boost.”
Here’s another: Two years ago Teevens bicycled from Hanover to a family vacation on Lake Michigan. Told last night that he’s now east of Lake Michigan -- which took him a week to reach on his first big bicycling adventure -- Teevens was upbeat. “Good deal,” he said. “I guess I have a chance of making it.”
While he’s determined to be back in time for son Buddy Jr.’s, graduation from Salisbury School on June 1, he’s aiming to be at the Connecticut prep for festivities the night before. By car it’s about 830 miles from Richmond, Ind. to Hanover, N.H. While bike routes can be considerably longer, Teevens is confident he is on track to make his deadline. Particularly if he has a few more days like Sunday.
“I made a good run today,” he said just after climbing off his bike at 9 p.m. “I took two hours out with friends and I lost an hour with the time change or this would have been a 200-mile day. So I still have it in me.”
Teevens’ day began in Tuscola, Ill., where Gary and Susan Kling, whose son Jordan is a promising freshman receiver at Dartmouth, put on a Saturday night feast.
“They treated me like an absolute king,” he said. “I can’t say enough about how wonderful they were. They wined and dined me with chicken and shrimp, steak, salad, sourdough bread, ice cream.
"And," he said, "I slept. I went to bed about 9:15 or 9:30 and had a very good night's sleep.”
When Teevens hit the road around 7:15 a.m. Sunday, it was in the company of a trio of riders arranged by the Klings. The coach was joined by Mike Cross, who one day earlier participated in a 100-mile horse ride -- on a Belgian draft horse no less -- by Kim Ponder, a small animal vet, and by Jennifer Cross, who is training for the 160-mile Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) on July 14.
“They were all neat people but Jennifer was a ringer,” Teevens said with a laugh. “I came to find out she's raced nationally in cyclocross and criteriums and all that stuff. Mike stayed a short time ... but I rode 50 miles with Kim and Jennifer. They were racehorses. We went to Montezuma, Ind., where Kim had a favorite ice cream spot. She said, ‘I'm sure you want to keep going.’ I said,’No, if it’s ice cream, I'm in.’ I can't remember the name of the place but it was unbelievable homemade ice cream. We had flurries and then I was off.”Teevens was grateful for the company while he had it, as he has been each step of the 3,600-mile trip.
“Every group I've ridden with has been avid cyclists and they've given me some helpful insider knowledge,” he said. “Once again today they took me off the beaten path and over some nice farm roads. Fortunately we had a little bit of a tailwind and it was sunny. It was just a beautiful way to go.”
Teevens’ goal after the ice cream stop -- Indianapolis. Because it was a Sunday, he elected not to stop at the NFL Colts’ team headquarters. But Sunday or not, traffic in and around the big city spooks him on his bicycle, which is just one of the reasons why he was grateful for the help and hospitality of friend Chris Morrison ‘82, who has been tracking his progress for two weeks.
“I called Chris and there he was driving down (highway) 36 in the other direction with his family and waving,” Teevens said. “He swung around and because of all the traffic said he’d meet me in Danville about six miles away. I rode about 20 miles with him. He was all concerned about holding me back, but he was a pacemaster. He was racing and I was dying. It had been 100 miles for me at that point. He could really go.”
Although Morrison and wife Marie had planned on Teevens arriving for a dinnertime barbecue, they gladly welcomed him into their home and altered their plans. “I told them this is a good day to ride so rather than stay overnight I'd love to just maybe eat and have you drop me out of traffic on the other side of the city,” he said. “They were nice enough to adjust their dinner schedule. We had bratwurst, potato salad, some really neat tomatoes with sauce and cheese, rolls, salad and ice cream.
“You've got to have your ice cream,” Teevens said with a laugh.
The coach got a kick out of meeting the Morrisons’ young daughter Olivia, and also had a chance to catch up with former offensive guard Sam Laurin ‘82, who also lives in Indianapolis.And then Teevens was off again, setting his sights on Richmond, Ind., just a long spiral from the Ohio state line but more than 60 miles from Indianapolis.
Sunset in Richmond Sunday night was about 8:51 p.m., so Teevens thought he had a chance. “ I had just pulled over to switch sunglasses from my day ones to some kind of night-vision ones,’’ he explained. “I knew I was getting close and there was a woman named Pat who had a Great Dane and a dalmation and was out working on her garden at about 8:15. I asked her, ‘How late does it stay light?’ She said, ‘Why are you asking?’ When I told her I wanted to make Richmond, and how fast I go, she said no problem. Then completely out of the blue she invited me in to have a cup of tea or something.”
Teevens politely declined the offer, lest he need real night-vision sunglasses, and zipped off to Richmond, where he checked into the Holiday Motel.
“Chet was the guy at the front desk,” Teevens said. “He told me he was going to give me the best deal in the house. He said, ‘You can stay in the boss's room, but you've got to promise me not to smoke. I said, ‘Not a problem.’ ”
Today's map
PROUTY RIDE UPDATE Increasing breast cancer awareness, rather than fund raising, was one of Coach Buddy Teevens’ hopes for his ride. Still, his trip has inspired more than $6,500 in donations to The Prouty Century Bike Ride & Challenge Walk, which raises money for cancer research at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
While in Tuscola, Ill., the Klings brought Teevens to meet with son Jordan’s freshman football coach, who recently was diagnosed with cancer.
“He's undergone surgery and is about to start chemo,” Teevens said of the father of young daughters. “He's just a young guy. It will strike anyone, any age group, anytime, in a variety of ways. So the people who have been kind enough to send money, it's going to a wonderful cause and a much needed cause.”
The spark Teevens provided to inspire your generosity has been much appreciated by those the gifts will be helping.
Listen to Jean Brown, Executive Director, Friends of Norris Cotton Cancer Center: “We're thrilled by Buddy's ride across the country. It's an extraordinary thing to do and his desire to raise awareness about breast cancer is so important. He's riding a bit farther(!) than The Prouty Century, but the thought is the same. We all want to do something to fight cancer. We all want to make a difference. That's what The Prouty is about and that's what Buddy's ride is about. We welcome him as a Prouty "virtual" rider and we're honored by the contributions people have made to his Prouty webpage. Keep it up, Buddy, we're rooting for you!
Here’s what Mark Israel, MD, Cancer Center Director, has to say: "I've recently gotten to know Buddy, and he's an extraordinary person. I am so appreciative of someone of his standing at Dartmouth, making this cause his own and doing something so stunning as biking across the country to draw attention to breast cancer. We at Norris Cotton Cancer Center are really honored to have Buddy on our team."
If you’d like to further help the cause, click here. Thank you.
The Daily Dartmouth has a story about Buddy Teevens, his ride and what he means to Dartmouth. Do check it out. ... The D also has a story about Floren Varsity House that notes completion of the project is expected in November, perhaps for the final football game. ... Nothing new here, but the SI.com piece has a nice Ivy League lede build around two well-known broadcaster and a Super Bowl coach.
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