Start
Aguila, Ariz.
Finish
Jerome, Ariz.
Miles
111.39
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com
JEROME, Ariz. -- Pick your poison.
For Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens, it was the searing heat of the desert southwest that tested him early into his cross country bicycle ride. When you are fresh off a New England winter, temperatures approaching and sometimes crossing into triple digits are a smack in the face.
For David Shula, Teevens’ old teammate, good friend and riding companion for the first 10 days or so of the trip, climbs to upwards of 7,000 feet have been as foreign as 100-degree heat has been to the football coach.
“My only hills in Florida are are an old landfill that's converted to a park and overpasses,” Shula said with a laugh after the pair called it a day in the Ghost City of Jerome, Ariz. “It’s beautiful up here, mountainy, green with big pine trees. It’s really nice after the desert -- but there was a lot of climbing.”
Although Teevens has had the benefit of riding in the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, even he readily admitted that the challenge after leaving Burro Jim’s Motel in Aguila early Wednesday morning was a stiff one.
“It was a long day and it was fun, but we climbed something like 11,000 feet total,” he said. “We went up to 5,000, 6,000 and 7,000 feet on three different peaks.
“It was 6-7-8 mph uphill. We had a 15-mile climb, a 12-mile climb and a 6-mile climb. It doesn't kill you, but it's just long and gradual. The last one, they said we didn't want to climb that hill. It was all switchbacks. Probably a 7-percent incline that might have been up to 8 or 10 in places. It was back-and-forth, back-and-forth.”
Highlights of the day included a ride though People’s Valley (Teevens: “It looked like Bonanza with the Cartwrights and a lot of horse farms between the mountains.”) a specially prepared breakfast by Burro Jim’s cook Tom -- who came over early from Wickenburg specifically to feed the pair -- and a photo op at 7,000 feet.
Lowlights included Teevens’ first flat tire ("I hit a nail. Rear tire. A pain in the butt but we got it fixed.”), nearly burning out before a stop for bananas and oranges at a Wal-Mart, and the climb to that photo op at 7,000 feet.
Better add to that list the bartender whose name will not be posted here -- it sounds like the expensive, usually red flower you buy by the dozen -- in a little saloon in Kirkland. She either was having a bad day or simply didn’t like bicycle riders.
“It was the only place you could get anything to drink and she would not give me ice,” an incredulous Shula said. “I bought three 16-ounce bottles of water for a buck apiece, which is ridiculous. I asked for three glasses of ice and she wouldn’t give them to me. She was the only person we met who wasn't the nicest person you could meet.”
While Teevens admits he’s falling behind his original schedule, he remains confident that once the mountains are behind him he can make up for lost time. “That’s my sense at least,” he said. “We’ve been in the saddle 9 1/2 to 10 hours a day. I can do a lot of miles when it flattens out.”
Apart from a somewhat sore, um, backside, Shula is doing fine.
“Hopefully this is hump day,” the former Cincinnati Bengals head coach said. “I've always thought the third consecutive day when you are doing something is hard. I planned on that when I was coaching. As far as your body and mentally, you give yourself a little break.
“Of course we chose the third day to be the most intense,” he said with a laugh. “Just to defy that logic.”
TODAY: The intrepid duo will ride through Sedona and Flagstaff and then head due east, passing by towns with names like Canyon Diablo and Two Guns. Depending on how it goes, they could make -- or pass through -- Winslow, Arizona, which is sure to loosen up the vocal chords of at least one of the pair.
“I’ve actually been singing Eagles the whole time,” Shula said. “It’s my inspiration for the trip.”
NOTE: Teevens is wearing a pink bracelet, hoping to raise breast cancer awareness and inviting those inspired by his ride to contribute to the Prouty effort (see link to the right). Shula, like his friend, feels awkward encouraging anyone to make donations, but says those who would like to may also give to the Don Shula Foundation, which raises money for breast cancer research in honor of Dorothy Shula, who died of complications from breast cancer in 1991.
With a lot of time to think during 4-5-6 mph climbs that can last more than an hour, Shula found himself marveling at his mother and the courage she showed during her fight. “As I was climbing our third climb today I literally did think about the pain my mom and others have gone through,” he said. "I realized climbing a hill is nothing."
Editor’s Note: If David Shula’s ride inspires you to do so, you can send a contribution to:
Don Shula Foundation, Inc.
c/o Charles Morgan, Esq
Executive Director
1300 Northwest 167th St.
Suite 3
Miami, FL
33169
Today's map (courtesy of Tom Hoyt's handiwork)
More on Reggie Williams' election to the College Football Hall of Fame can be found in the Orlando Sentinel and the Detroit Free Press (Williams is from Flint, Mich.). The latter story notes:
Williams, who still holds the Dartmouth record for unassisted tackles in a career, is the first black player from the Ivy League elected to the Hall of Fame.If you have the New York Times handy, or access to Times Select, there was a story yesterday built around the work of Archie Roberts, the former Columbia quarterback. The teaser for the story: "For the past four years, Dr. Arthur Roberts, a record-setting pass-slinger at Columbia, has been studying football’s struggle against cardiovascular disease." ... Here's a link to more background on the study, thanks to Jake Novak.
And finally this ... after going winless last year, the Hanover High softball team -- with a certain freshman leadoff hitter and center fielder -- defeated arch-rival Lebanon last evening for its third win in the last four games. The freshman had a single, an RBI double, scored a run and made a handful of catches in the outfield.
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