Sarasota cyclist leads group rides with enthusiasm

The cyclists gather on Longboat Key each Wednesday evening for a medium-fast ride.

On the back of their red-and-black jerseys, it says "Y Hammer it?" On the front, it says "Because We Can!"

In the middle of the pack, Bonnie Hammer smiles.

She's a ride leader with the Sarasota-Manatee Bicycle Club, which means that she's a recruiter, cheerleader, traffic cop, safety monitor, repairman and e-mailer extraordinaire.

A little responsibility hasn't changed her love for cycling.

"I like it because it's very freeing," said Hammer, a 41-year-old graphic artist and computer designer. "When I lived in New York, cycling was freedom. It was a way to leave, leave Manhattan, get off the island."

Now, living in Sarasota, she pedals to an island, but the rides feel the same.

When Hammer isn't cycling, she's playing tennis or paddling a kayak. Her summer tan matches her brown hair. She doesn't look her age.

Maybe that's why kids like her. After 20 years in the corporate world, she plans on changing careers and become an elementary school teacher.

When she lived in southern California, Hammer did computer work for a special effects company.

"The biggest movie I worked on was 'Cliffhanger,'" she says. "I made it look like Sylvester Stallone was climbing those mountains without wires. My friends look on the credits and my name is there: 'Visual compositing, Bonnie Hammer.'"

She laughs.

"I got paid a lot of money to do wire removal," Hammer says, "but it was basically sitting in the dark 14 hours a day, doing something over and over again."

That was about the time she got into cycling.

Before a Wednesday ride, Hammer makes sure her cyclists sign in, have necessary lights and equipment, and understand the riding conditions.

She's practical when she's not being superstitious.

"We can't talk about the clouds," she said before one ride. "We've been getting wet lately."

The group rides at about 18 or 20 mph, which is fast but not too fast. These are serious cyclists with pricey racing bikes. They want an upbeat ride with an energetic leader.

"She's more enthusiastic and that's the thing," says Tom Cason, a regular rider. "Somebody to keep the fires stoked."

Hammer sends out a weekly e-mail newsletter to local riders. (Her address is bonnie*hammerized.com, for anyone interested in riding.)

Wednesday cyclists joke about the red jerseys she got all of them to buy and wear. They pretend to grumble about her leadership, but admit she keeps everyone in line.

"She does have the New York in her," says Glenn Kroecker, who rides a recumbent bike. "She does like to keep everybody in the group riding by the rules. We talk a lot; she's very good at making sure people don't forget that."

When Hammer talks, her Long Island accent comes and goes. She had a green Schwinn growing up, but only used it to ride around her neighborhood.

Her mother still lives in New York, but her father retired to Longboat Key. She has a younger brother and sister who both ride.

In California, she started spinning at her health club. Then she started doing a big state ride: 565 miles in six days.

Since then, she has pedaled all over the country and in Canada.

"My favorite ride was when I rode Glacier National Park with my aunt," she says. "That was beautiful."

taken from Herald Tribune

 

Yep, now that's the ride most folks need to do! I like to look around too much and see what the countryside looks like so I'll never be able to ride that fast. I'd like to, don't get me wrong(I have a competitive side from my running days.........a long time ago) but I know my limits and since I do know them, I choose to take my time and just enjoy the ride.