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Buddy on a Bike
4/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Bruce Wood
Big Green Alert
HANOVER -- Whether it's pushing the building of a new varsity house from dream to reality in record time, planning a snowshoe outing for wide-eyed recruits from the deep south or promoting the idea that his players sit in the front row of their classes, the wheels are always turning for Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens.
They'll really be turning early next month when Teevens hops on his Serotta bicycle in San Diego and begins pedaling back to New Hampshire. Fit and trim at age 50, Teevens plans to cover more than 3,600 miles on his own two wheels, and he plans to do it in less than one month's time.
You read that right.
He will set off from California on the morning of May 7 -- two days after Dartmouth's spring football practice ends -- and intends to roll into New Hampshire in time to make son Buddy Jr.'s, graduation from Connecticut's Salisbury School in Connecticut on June 1.
By his count, Teevens will have to average about 160 miles per day riding through the desert, over mountains and through parts of at least 14 states to meet his timetable. He will be accompanied for at least the first portion of his trip by friend and former teammate David Shula '81.
"This is something I've always wanted to do," said Teevens, entering the third year of his second tenure at Dartmouth. "My sister Moira '87 did it years ago and loved it. It's been on my mind. I've gotten more into cycling as I've gotten older. It takes the stress off your knees and back. It's something I really enjoy."
While he's kept his plans relatively close to the vest so far, those who know what Teevens is up to have had mixed reactions.
"My wife's main concern is that I'm well-insured," he said with tongue firmly in cheek, where he proceeded to keep it for a time. "My staff has been very supportive and encouraging. It will get me out of the office. And the other people I've told have ranged from, 'Are you nuts?' to, 'I wish I could do that.' "
Teevens has shared his plans with only a few of his players so far.
"I'm sure some of them will look at me a little bit cockeyed when they hear about it, but I think it will be pretty well received," he said.
Teevens is no stranger to long-distance bicycling. Two years ago he pedaled from New Hampshire to a family vacation on Lake Michigan. "It was kind of on a whim and it was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done," he said. "You are out there by yourself and you just go. You meet farmers or locals and they are curious. They wonder why you'd do something like this but they are tremendously supportive. It was refreshing to see how friendly people could be. They didn't know me from anyone. I was just Buddy on a Bike."
An inveterate multitasker, "Buddy on a Bike," has a number of objectives for his ride. He's hoping to meet, albeit briefly, with Dartmouth alumni along his route. He'd like to renew acquaintances with high school coaches he's come to know through recruiting across the country. And he's touched base with the Prouty Century Bike Ride & Challenge Walk, which raises money for cancer research at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, about using the ride to help increase awareness of breast cancer, which has afflicted wife Kirsten's family. While he's not promoting his cross-country sprint as a fundraiser per se, he'd welcome contributions in honor of the ride being made to The Prouty at www.theprouty.org.
Although it's been on his mind for a while, Teevens only recently realized he could squeeze the ride into the busy life of a Division I college football coach.
"I thought if I ever did this it would be well after I retired, if I could still walk," Teevens said with a laugh. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it could work. With the nature of recruiting at Dartmouth I do a lot of heavy traveling in December, January and February. The May period would historically be more meeting with alumni and lighter recruiting for me. My thought was to tie it all together this way and hit different pockets around the country.
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