Buddy Bikes: Day 6 One To Remember

Day 6

Start
Santa Fe, NM
Finish
Tucumcari, NM
Mileage
170

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com
TUCUMCARI, N.M. -- The cycling gods owed Buddy Teevens and David Shula this one.

After battling searing heat, busy roads and just plain bad luck during recent days, the Dartmouth football coach and his former teammate found nirvana Saturday on the ride from Santa Fe to Tucumcari.

“This was the day you dream about when you cycle,” said Teevens, six days into his ride from San Diego to the East Coast. “It was probably in the mid’70’s with clear blue skies, quiet roads and beautiful scenery with red rocks and some white rock sprinkled in. The views were just stunning. We went from mountainous to high plains and in 170 miles saw only a dozen cars or so.

“It was an absolutely wonderful day even though we had a headwind the whole day. At one point I said this to Shu, 'I apologize for showing you such rotten cycling to this point, but this is what it is all about.' Fresh air, crystal clear, quiet, peaceful, changing scenery. It was the best.”

The day started where the previous night ended in Albuquerque, N.M., at the home of former Dartmouth lineman Lee Sedberry ‘82, who was their generous host.

“Lee and his wife were just awesome,” Teevens said Saturday night. “They had us stay at their place. His wife, Monette is a wonderful person, and they have three kids, Stan, Chandler and Chanelle. They had a big old pasta dinner for us. When we got up at 5 he had eggs and oatmeal and toast going for us.

"We couldn't get from Albuquerque up to Santa Fe except by going on I-25, so he dropped us off there and we kind of squirreled around access roads.”

They found their way with help from a map they had to buy because, truth be told, because one of the pair made a l-i-t-t-l-e mistake when they returned the rental car they used to avoid riding on Interstate 40.

“I’m going to have to rat out Shu,” Teevens said, the lilt in his voice a hint of the enjoyable day the two shared. “Shu chucked all our maps out of the rental car with the trash. I’m going to have to put an APB out for (freshman defensive back and pre-trip map organizer) Tony Pastoors.”

Fortunately, after what Teevens called a little “configuring,” the two had a relatively straight -- if not flat -- shot on New Mexico 104.

One of the highlights -- literally -- was Trujillo Pass, a cut through a mountain that from a distance appeared to block their way.

“I'm wondering how we are going to get around that sucker?” Teevens said. “Trujillo Pass. The America By Bicycle (riding organization) had come through recently and they had written on the road, ‘Get Ready for The Wall.’ And, ‘The Wall is Coming.’ And, ‘Oh No, the Wall.’ It seemed as if every mile leading up to it they had written something.

“Then you come around a corner and all of a sudden there it is. It's this chute with sheer cliffs on either side. Right through the middle of it is a 1.5 mile, probably 12-degree grade chute, and that's The Wall.”

Thanks to his training rides up hills like East Wheelock/Trescott Road in Hanover, Teevens made his way to the top ahead of Shula, who soldiered his way up. Waiting for his old teammate at the top and out of water, Teevens had a decision to make.

“I was pretty much Walled-out,” he said. “The debate was, do I wait for Shu or try to get some water and hydrate? The water won out. So I bolted.”

Teevens eventually landed at a place he called, “The Place,” where he met a woman named Estelle.

“She said, ‘I’m an EMT. Do you need me?’ “ he said with a laugh. “I told her I was fine and I just needed something to drink. She set me up and we started talking. It turns out she went to Dover High School in New Hampshire.”

After rolling into Conchas Dam the riders still had about 30 miles to Tucumcari.

“We made our best run at it,” Teevens said, “but the lights went out on us. We went the last hour and a half in the dark yelling, 'Car back,' and having no idea where we were going. But we made it.”

They holed up at the first place they could, the local Microtel. While it couldn't claim the personality of some of the places they had stayed on their way east, the timing was right to call it a night. “It's a shame we couldn't see anything coming into town but literally, we couldn't see each other,” Teevens said.

They hope is to make it across the tip of Texas and into Oklahoma today. The atlas lists Liberal, Kan., as a 207 mile ride from Tucumcari and while that would be a stretch, don’t rule it out if today is anything like yesterday.

“This was as close to a perfect day of cycling as you are ever going to come across,” Teevens said. “The only misfortune is we still haven't hit a tail wind yet. We got a piece of it two days ago. It's not a killer, but it's just no help. We were trying to go 200 but with the wind we weren't able to. If that changes, you never know.”

NOTES Teevens: “We hit our first bug hatch. We hadn't had dinner yet but I had breakfast, lunch and dinner with these little no-seeum, gnat-type things. Then I felt like I was taking shrapnel with these beetle type things. They hit you in the face, in the forehead, all over.” ...

Shula confirmed last night his flight back home to Miami is Wednesday morning from Dodge City, Kan., about 300-miles and change (by car at least) from Tucumcari.

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Reggie Williams and baseball? The new College Football Hall of Famer played the game some when he was younger. This story about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays playing in Orlando (where Williams works for Disney) touches on his background on the diamond. ... Former Dartmouth assistant George Landis gets a mention in this story about one of his former players at Bloomsburg making it to the College Football Hall of Fame, Divisional Class ...

New Hampshire will try for its third upset of a FBS (nee I-A) school this fall when it takes on Marshall. Check out the FBC-FCS matchups for 2007 by reading Matt Dougherty at The SportsNetwork.

And finally ... That certain Hanover High freshman won her first 5K road race yesterday, an event sponsored by the Tuck School. She didn't think it was anything special being the first woman (and second overall) because a lot more people ran the associated 10K, but I think it was pretty neat considering she somehow squeezed the race in before her high school softball game. ... The certain Hanover 7th grader, meanwhile, caught the first game and three innings of the second in a doubleheader sweep yesterday. Under a blazing sun, that's a lot of work. ... Oh, and the Hanover Green Machine Little League team improved to 5-1 yesterday morning, so it was a good day all the way from Tucumcari to the Upper Valley ;-)