What a wonderful gift you give to Norris Cotton Cancer Center through your participation in the Prouty! Without the money you raise, much of what we do simply would not be possible. We are enormously grateful for your generous spirit."
Mark Israel
Director, Norris Cotton Cancer Center
Director, Norris Cotton Cancer Center
Editor's Note: As of Friday morning, Buddy Teevens' ride had inspired donations of $8,235 to The Prouty, making him second among current fundraisers. It will take a push, but wouldn't it be great to see that number hit five figures and have Buddy climb off his bike Sunday in Hanover as the top fundraiser? You can help make it happen by clicking here.
Buddy Teevens with Dartmouth alum Ray Boniface '78, who hosted him in Poland, Ohio.Day 18
Start
Jamestown, N.Y.
Finish
Canandaigua, N.Y.
Mileage
160
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. -- It was a day of fire and ice. Sort of.
Truth be told, there were no flames during Day 18 of Buddy Teevens’ bicycle ride across America, but it sure felt like it as the temperature on a steamy day challenged 90 degrees.
“It was hot,” the tired-sounding Dartmouth football coach said from Canandaigua, N.Y., Thursday night. “I probably drank more water than I did on any day of the trip. It was really hot and humid.”
There was no fire, but there was plenty of the other stuff at the end of a 160-mile ride from Jamestown, N.Y. “I’m at an Econo Lodge and the nice thing is they have ice,” Teevens said. “So I’m back to my ice baths, which saved my legs early. It’s not enjoyable. I just dump a tub full of ice and go sit in it for 15 minutes and my legs come back.”
He’s hoping his legs will be in prime condition today as he tries to set himself up for a Sunday arrival back in Hanover.
“If I can get a real good day (today) I'm going to be close coming into Sunday,” he said. “I still think I have a good day in me if I can get it out of me. One of those 200-milers would be big.”
What he did Thursday was big as he heeded a little local advice, leaving New York State’s Southern Tier and heading for the top of the Finger Lakes.
“I bumped into a cyclist and told him what I was doing and where I was going,” Teevens explained. “He sent me on sort of a diagonal route on 242. He said it was scenic, which it was.”
A trucker warned the coach that the route would be hilly, and that tip also proved to be on the money.
“There was a lot of climbing,” Teevens said. “The cyclist said, ‘You were out in California, so you’ll be used to that.’ It wasn’t bad climbing. But there was a lot of it. It was really scenic and pleasant, but it was another long day. The repetition of climbs kind of wears you down a bit.”
Something else wore him down also.
“I had to stop a ton of times to ask directions because of all the back roads,” Teevens said. “One of the problems I've had the last few days is I've had to stop for directions repeatedly and that will slow you down. I'd find out you couldn't go the way I was planning to go, get redirected, and then have to loop around.”
On the plus side, his bike was behaving once again, thanks to Wednesday’s stop at the Country Pedaler in Franklin, Pa.
“A fellow named Ken helped me out there,” Teevens said. “He was tremendous and didn’t charge me anything. Then he gave me a drink and wouldn't let me pay. He said, 'I admire people that do big things.' He was just a nice, nice guy. He tightened a cable that had stretched and I was good to go. I had a good day today because of it.”
Teevens got another assist on Thursday from Dennis Baldwin at the Ellicottville Bike Shop. “I ran out of tubes and he helped me out,” the coach said. “He also gave me some invaluable local knowledge.”
One of the day’s highlights, apart from the sweet scent of blooming lilac, the sight of apple blossoms and the beauty of the countryside, was a chance meeting with a family at a McDonald’s in Dansville.
“Mike and Diane Dobnack were sitting there reading the bible,” Teevens said. “They couldn’t have been nicer. The woman asked me what I did and where I was going and then asked if I would talk to her son, Daniel, who is home-schooled. He was an 8th grader sitting out in the car by himself. He had a North Carolina State hat on and I started busting on him about not having a Dartmouth hat. He was kind of shy, but baseball's a big thing for him so I talked to him about practice and about school. I said maybe he'll end up being a baseball recruit. Then all of a sudden the kid was smiling.”
Teevens might have been smiling also as he wheeled out of the parking lot and set off on the final 35 or so miles of his day.
“The last 15 miles it was just rollers, and steep ones,” he said. “It was getting dark. When I got to town it was black. I just checked into the first place I saw.”
Teevens hoped to get an early start today and put some serious miles behind him, perhaps on New York Route 20, an interesting road straight out of the 1950s.
“I think I saved myself a little bit of time with the way I went,” he said. “I also had a little bit of a tail wind, which was helpful. If I can get that again I may try to push all the way to Schenectady or Saratoga Springs.
"It’s a long way but I'm getting in the 150's regularly and I shouldn’t be getting lost anymore. This road runs all the way across so it looks like it's pretty much a straight shot. If I have a big day I definitely would be back on Sunday.”
While there are still 324 miles to pedal (according to Rand McNally), Teevens is optimistic.
“I feel like I'm almost back in New England at this point,” he said. “I've got a little more spring in my step because I'm just around the corner.”
Today's map
The Harvard Crimson magazine has a lengthy story questioning whether Harvard and the Ivies have as much African-American representation on their teams as they might. It's a provocative story. ... YES will once again be broadcasting Ivy League football in 2007 with the Nov. 3 game against Cornell a distinct possibility. ... As of early this week more than 50 golfers had signed up to play in the 10th Annual Friends of Dartmouth Football Golf Classic on Saturday, June 16th at Hanover Country Club. The goal: 100. For more information or to sign up, email Curt Oberg: curt.oberg@dartmouth.edu or phone him at 603-646-9094.
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