Upon Further Review ...

Teevens Day 5

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- “Upon further review.”

As football people, Buddy Teevens and David Shula are more than familiar with those three words. As bicycle riders, they are putting the expression into action.

The Dartmouth football coach and his former teammate have made their share of phone calls, prodded dinner companion and onetime Dartmouth defensive tackle Lee Sedberry ‘82 for a little local knowledge, and spent time poring over maps to synthesize reasonable options for bypassing a couple of Interstate highways that temporarily sabotaged their bicycle ride between Flagstaff and the Albuquerque area.

Upon further review ...

They still hadn’t finalized their new route as of 9 p.m. Eastern last night.

“It’s just a matter of whether we start up again south of Albuquerque or near Santa Fe,” explained Teevens. “We’ve got the same problem with both places. If we go up to Santa Fe it looks like our best option would be to get a ride around (Interstate) 25 to Las Vegas (New Mexico) and then it’s all good. If we stay in Albuquerque, we need to get beyond I-40 to Route 41 south, then scoot east on 61 and up to 54 and we’ll be in pretty good shape.”

Whichever option they choose, they planned to be back on their bicycles this morning after a day off to regroup. Shula, who had originally expected to fly back home to Miami out of Albuquerque, will now continue on with his former quarterback for at least another couple of days.

“Dave's meeting was canceled so he's going to continue for a bit and I appreciate the company,” said Teevens. “We’re having a wonderful time together. There’s lots of goofy stuff and laughs with grease on our shirts, dirty hands, the problem with the CO2 pump. Lots of things

“Even with something like this, it’s good to have someone else around. We've been on the phone trying to figure out how you get through and it's, ‘You can't, You can't, You can't.’ It's part of the adventure, I guess.”

While they weren’t sure last night which route they would take this morning, they were certain riding on an Interstate wouldn’t be a part of it. (The two had planned to ride Route 66 through this part of the country but found it had been paved over as Interstate 40, leaving them no alternative but to bike the Interstate or get a lift. After a rough couple of miles on the Interstate two days ago, they opted for the latter.)

“It was a wise move and as much as I wish we could have pedaled across Route 40 we would have been bones and no one would have known about us,” said Teevens. “Part of me feels like an idiot, but the map shows Route 66 and access roads and there's nothing. There was no other way to get where we are going.”

Whichever option they choose, they expect to go through Tucumcari as originally planned and from there into Dalhart, Texas, up into the Oklahoma panhandle and on to Kansas. Shula has found a flight from Dodge City back to Miami that fits his schedule.

“All those roads I know we are OK on,” said Teevens. “Until we hit Flagstaff everything was fine -- Route 79, 81, 89. But after we got into Flagstaff and onto 40 we had to bail ourselves out. It’s too bad it worked out this way, but it will put me back more on schedule."

Teevens and Shula took advantage of yesterday's day off to drive to the Grand Canyon and enjoy a helicopter tour. “It was really a neat day,” the coach said. “I now have an appreciation for how large and how vast it is.”

He was talking about Grand Canyon.

Given what he’s attempting to do, he could have been talking about the United States.

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Columbia's list of incoming recruits can be found here. ... To listen to the College Football Hall of Fame press conference and hear Reggie Williams' remarks, click here. ... The Nashua Telegraph has a review of Chris Lincoln's book Playing the Game here. ... Former Princeton linebacker Brig Walker will play in Japan according to this story. ...