Buddy Bikes: Day 4

Start
Jerome, Ariz.
Finish
Flagstaff, Ariz.
Miles
75

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- A box canyon is a geographical feature where the only way out is the same way you came in.

There are a lot of box canyons in the Southwest and Buddy Teevens and David Shula found one. Not literally of course, but they now know the feeling.

Arriving in Flagstaff, Ariz., on the fourth day of Teevens’ cross-country bicycle ride, the two were sidelined when one of Shula’s tires first went flat and then was shredded after just a couple of miles on Interstate 40. A trip to a bicycle shop brought the bike back into running order, but also some bad news.

What their neatly laminated map sectors showed notwithstanding, the stretch of famed Route 66 that the two planned to follow much of the way to Albuquerque has been cannibalized by I-40. The only feasible route to Albuquerque -- given Teevens’ rushed time-table for a return to New England -- would require them to ride several hundred miles on the shoulder of the Interstate amid the broken glass and other detritus that knocked Shula out of commission in a few short miles. Add in the tractor trailers whizzing by as well as sage advice from the local bike shop and the idea of spending days riding on I-40 wasn’t terribly appealing.

“They said to definitely stay off I-40,” an almost disconsolate Teevens recalled last night from Flagstaff. “They said, ‘You'll get killed.’ ”

Back to the drawing board -- or in this case the map -- and the former teammates began plotting a new route that would take them on a series of desolate roads looping well to the north of I-40. But the word from the local bike cognoscenti wasn’t good on that front either. The consensus from not one but two shops was that it wasn’t a safe or advisable alternative for several reasons.

The only way out of the figurative box canyon, they were told, was the way they came in. That would require backtracking through Sedona and Cottonwood before zig-zagging to Albuquerque on a patchwork route that would tack several hundred miles onto an already taxing schedule.

Weighing their options, Teevens and Shula did what quarterbacks and coaches do when things don’t look right: They called an audible.

“It’s disappointing but we’re renting a car and going to drive up to the Grand Canyon and bike there,” Teevens said. “Shu’s never been to the Canyon so something good will come of this. Then we’ll head over to Albuquerque. We’ll ride up to Santa Fe and then back to Albuquerque for Shu to fly back home. Then I’ll drop down to (Route) 60 and start back. I feel bad about it but we don’t have much choice.”

The disappointing end came at the end of a day that started with 6:45 pushoff and included a 10:30 sitdown with Jack Nason ’59 and his wife Laura at Jose’s Cafe in Sedona. The riders thoroughly enjoyed the hastily arranged meeting although Teevens admitted to making a mistake with his breakfast order.

“I had Huevos Rancheros,” he said. “It sounded real good. Not a thing to eat before you go climbing on a bike.”

Despite tired legs, the two enjoyed their ride up to Flagstaff. “We had a 22-mile climb from 4,000 to 7,500 feet but it was absolutely beautiful,” Teevens said. “It was two-lane, real tight, with no shoulders. It was like northern New Hampshire. A lot of RV's, a lot of tourists. There was red rock on the side. It was absolutely phenomenal.”

Tapping a little local knowledge provided by the Nasons, Teevens and Shula got off their bikes to cool down in a bubbling creek alongside the road before finishing the ride into Flagstaff and encountering the tire problems that started this part of the adventure unraveling.

“Dave has one of those CO2 cannisters for filling the tire,” Teevens said. “I don't trust 'em because, heck, I don't know how they work. So after he fixes the tire he pumps it up and the thing goes BANG! and it blows out the tire and everything else. Now he's panicking because he only has one tire left. I only have two tires anyway; the ones on my bike.”

That close call behind them, the two wisely stocked up on extra tires and planned a good night’s sleep at the historic Hotel Monte Vista before heading to the Grand Canyon today and then trying to hook up with Lee Sedberry ‘82 in the Albuquerque area.

The adventure will continue, although thanks to the "box canyon," it’s not the way Teevens’ dreamed it. “It’s bumming me out and I feel guilty,” he said. “On the map it looks clear that the road is there and we thought Route 66 would be a cool thing.

“In terms of mileage, this is going to shortcut a couple hundred miles, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

Today's map.