[Following this past weekend's 17th Annual Peter L Teeuwen Memorial Ride, Peter Swan emailed GamJams with some background behind the man who has inspired 17 hugely attended January rides in his honor, and countless memorial Time Trials as well. While many of Swanee's emails are laced with commentary not necessarily intended for widespread distribution, this one was definitely one we all should see.]
The Life and Untimely Death of Peter Teeuwen
by Peter Swan, NCVC Lifer
Peter was originally from Holland, a successful businessman and an excellent, hard-core, bike racer (Cat 1 or 2). He was only in his early 40’s when he died.
But, he was also a mentor to many, many local Junior riders, often taking them to Jr Natz on his own nickel, and helped promote over 300 races with his club, the Tidewater Bicycle Association, over his Tidewater racing career. Hampton Roads was quite a hotbed of racing in those days (still pretty good), on several weekends during the year, TBA would promote “triple crown” events, running Fri – Sun; that were well attended by Mid-Atlantic riders.
Peter and Gerald (his older brother), the long-time VA District Rep (under the old system) were in the flower business (how Dutch, eh?); Gerald had the wholesale side and Peter a retail shop. Christina, Gerald’s daughter, still works for Gerald in flower growing business. The PLT time trial series that Christina promotes starts and finishes near the Teeuwen gardens in Chesapeake.
John Teeuwen (left) and Gerald Teeuwen (right) at the 17th Annual PLT Memorial Ride
Well, one winter Peter got a bad cold, but like the rest of us addicts, he continued to train in the cold (Dec - Jan) conditions for a couple of weeks. It got worse and worse, and apparently, he got pneumonia, and eventually so sick he reluctantly checked into a hospital at the urging of his family, friends and doctors. But, somehow, perhaps due to reduced staffing over the holidays, who knows, it spiraled out of control (remember how Jim Henson, the Muppets creator died?) and they just couldn’t get him out of the tailspin.
So, from fit as a fiddle (and, trust me, this guy was seemingly bullet-proof, like Ramon or Roger Friend) to dead in under 3 weeks.
It was a tremendous shock to the entire East Coast racing community. I drove down from PA for the funeral, as did folks from as far away as NY, NJ, GA, etc., and it was an overflow crowd in a very large church. Very sad, indeed.
But, his legacy and spirit live on, so I guess you can say he’s still with us.
Gerald Teeuwen (right) poses with Cam Holland during the 2009 event.
PLT 2009 photos courtesy of Carter Teeuwen (age 7).
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I was one of those young juniors that Peter took under his wing. I can still hear him say, "Get to the front."
Pete, you are still missed.
Alan Pearce
Posted by: Alan Pearce | January 31, 2009 at 08:36 PM