Pulling together these roundups of Buddy Teevens' ride takes enough time and effort that I've had several people ask me why I would bother. You asked, so here goes ...
First, I bicycled across the country two times myself and am vicariously enjoying (and occasionally suffering through) a third trip by chatting with Buddy each evening and writing about his adventures the next morning. Buddy and I have been talking about him doing this for several years -- I've been one of his sounding boards -- and it's exciting to see him have the chance to finally do it. (Now if he'll just let me call a play or two ;-)
Second, Buddy is hoping to use the trip to bring more awareness to the fight against breast cancer. Hopefully the media will catch on to what Buddy is doing and I thought in my small way maybe I could help him spread the word. (In fact, two newspapers called me this morning to find out how to reach him.)
Finally, Buddy is raising money for cancer research. While he isn't an official entrant in the "26th Annual Prouty Century Bike Ride & Challenge Walk to celebrate and support the courage of cancer patients and survivors everywhere and to raise money for crucial cancer research at Norris Cotton Cancer Center," people can make donations to that worthy cause in honor of his ride.
Buddy feels tremendously awkward asking people to contribute to the Prouty and I did too, until I stumbled across one of the Prouty's most basic fundraising tips. It says:
"Don't be afraid to ask! You're not going to dinner with this money - you're working to find a cure for cancer!"So I'm asking. I'm hoping if you enjoy these daily stories and find Buddy's ride inspiring that you'll reach into your pocket and help out with whatever you can. You can contribute here. Just type in Buddy's name and off you go.
Some people already have given. If even a fraction of the others who have been following Buddy's trip make a donation it will mean a great deal to Buddy and will aid the important work done at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
Coach Buddy Teevens (left) and David Shula at 7,023 feet on Mingus Mountain in Arizona in a photo shot by passers-by Patti and Ed Olson and shared via email.Teevens Day 7
Start
Tucumcari, N.M.
Finish
Guymon, Okla
Mileage
180
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com
GUYMON, Okla. -- Buddy Teevens is on a winning streak: Two in a row.
One day after enjoying the best riding conditions of his cross country bicycle trip, the Dartmouth football coach and old friend David Shula got a Mother’s Day bonus. Conditions were even better Sunday as they covered a trip-high 180 miles on their way to the fifth state of the journey.
“We finally had a tail wind,” an obviously pleased Teevens said last night from Guymon, a town of about 10,000 in the panhandle of Oklahoma. “It's like the leash came off. The way it has been, you push, you push, you push and you are pedaling hard but you aren't going anywhere. We did 170 yesterday in 12:48 and today it was 8:51 in the saddle for about 180 miles.
“It was a great day for a ride with the wind. Just prairie farms and another good road. (Route) 54 was pretty well done, especially in Texas. We could even have kept going but strategically, in terms of where the hotels were, it was best to lock into a place here.”
The day began in Tucumcari on the eastern side of New Mexico with a 7:15 pushoff. Like each day of the trip, Day 7 highlights included the people the pair met along the way, like Lori, the young mother in a food market in Logan, N.M., who let them use the store’s rest room, chatted them up, offered them a little history of the area and a few thoughts about the road ahead.
Teevens and Shula’s last stop in New Mexico was at Nara Visa. “It was almost a ghost town, known for Plains Indians and buffalo,” Teevens said. “Everything was closed down. Then we crossed into Texas and had our pictures taken in front of the Texas flag and the ‘Welcome to Texas, Home of George Bush’ sign.”
On an otherwise perfect day, what was a less-than 100-mile trip diagonally across the northwest corner of Texas wasn’t without mishap. “Shu found out what Texas thorns were about today,” Teevens said. “One stop, two flat tires. We couldn't find anything; it looked like mystery prickers. But he did yeoman's work. I just watched him change the tire. It worked out pretty well.”
Despite the flats, Shula enjoyed his final full day of the trip. Although he had arranged a flight out of Dodge City, Kan., for Wednesday, two productive days over the handlebars have left an easy ride to Dodge City, meaning the riders will likely go their separate ways later today.
“He may be able to take a Tuesday flight now,” Teevens said. “Or he can kick back. Or maybe he can ride with me and turn around and come back.
“My thought is get up into Dodge, make sure he's all set and then keep going. I'm pretty close to being on schedule. I'm about right and then I've got to goose it from there.”
With his part of the trip winding down, Shula took a few minutes Sunday night to reflect on the past week.
“I'm really glad I was able to do this with Buddy and that I did this part of the trip,” he said. “ I think it was the hardest part for him because of how spread out it is. From now on he should be going town to town through more populated areas. And I don't think he'll have as dramatic climbs as we had.”
Having ridden with Teevens, Shula is confident his friend will complete his ride in time for Buddy Jr.’s graduation on June 1.
“If the wind is not blowing against him I have no doubts he'll be fine and be able to handle it,” Shula said. “Even if he has wind, he does a good job of cutting through it."
Spending eight or 10 hours chasing each other on a bicycle can put a strain on a friendship, but that hasn’t been the case according to Shula.
“We really have enjoyed each other,” he said. “It's not like we ride together all day. He goes off. He's done a great job of pacing it for me. Usually every hour or so he checks in with me. So it's not like we are getting totally sick of each other. We really don't see that much of each other until the evening.”
As it turns out, they don’t always see each other -- and they don’t always see the same things.
“Buddy went right by two pairs of antelope today and because he was going so hard he never saw them and he likes that stuff,” Shula said with a laugh. “I stopped and got pictures of them, which ticked him off.
“But it’s really been great. Buddy is such a great guy and just a grinder. He's always positive. I might be complaining about the wind and how much farther we have to go and he's saying, 'You know, I think the wind is going to die down shortly. I think it's changing direction.' “
Shula, like Teevens, has seen things he’d never seen before on the trip, which began a week ago this morning in San Diego.
“I hadn’t experienced the southwest of the United states very much before this,” he said. “I've gotten to appreciate the vast open spaces of our country. (Dartmouth alum and Sedona, Ariz., resident) Jack Nason mentioned when we saw him that we would get an appreciation for how marvelous this country is and the way it links together the different areas and people and climates and everything and still remains a union. It really does give you an appreciation of that.”
Today's map.
NOTES Teevens hoped to have breakfast this morning with the Guymon H.S., football coach, a former teammate of current Dartmouth assistant (and former Oklahoma Sooner) JJ Jackson. .... Trip maps at first believed to be a casualty of the trash have turned up. “Gotta let Shu off the hook for that,” Teevens said with a laugh. ... The riders holed up last night at the Colonial Inn in Guymon. “It’s run by a fellow named Bill,” Teevens said. “It’s humble, but it’s got a fridge, air that works and a TV.” ... Two newspapers called the Green Alert national headquarters on Moose Mountain within minutes this morning hoping to arrange interviews with Teevens.
Taylor Layman, one of Dartmouth's four captains for 2007, gets a brief mention in this column. ... The Manchester Union Leader writes this in a column about Dartmouth alum Reggie Williams and the College Football Hall of Fame:
Reggie Williams wants the stereotype that many fans have of black football players -- think Pacman Jones or Randy Moss -- to change. Those weren't typical of his teammates during 14 years in the National Football League and he doesn't believe they are now. ... The former Dartmouth linebacker believes we need to tell the stories of the kind of men to whom young people should be looking up. People like Fritz Pollard and Brud Holland.More on Reggie in today's Daily Dartmouth.
This morning's email brought a note about Dr. Charles "Potato" Thomas '73, the former Dartmouth football player who died last week.
I know you don't want to get in the obituary business but this - abridged - statement from one of Chuck's emergency room colleagues captures what a remarkable guy the Potato was:
"Dr Chuck Thomas was doing what he loved most on May 10th 2007: providing medical care in the emergency department, relieving pain and suffering as well as providing medicine to cure common and uncommon diseases, to people most in need: Chicago’s underserved inner city community and people . . . Dr Thomas was one of the finest and most experienced emergency medicine physicians that ever walked this earth and provided medical care to patients most in need during a life time cut short by unpredictable and uncommon events. The city of Chicago lost a great and irreplaceable physician."
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