- November 29, 2024
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They call her Sergeant Sandy — and for good reason.
“My husband’s a retired military airborne ranger,” said Sandra Widham as she pondered over her nickname. “I guess between being an Army wife and raising three kids all over the world, that makes me a sergeant. And hey, sometimes the guys need that motivation.”
The “guys” being her neighbors in Hidden Hills who are a part of her unofficial biking group. The five or six people that participate like to take rides together around the city and even across the state.
“We rode across the state for a guy with Parkinson’s disease a year and a half ago,” Widham said. “It was something on his bucket list and we made it happen. It was one of my favorite rides.”
More recently, Widham and fellow neighbor-biker Rick Moisio participated in the annual Spoonbills & Sprockets Cycling Tour and biked 100 miles up Florida State Road A1A together. Widham said it was Moisio who taught her a lot about long-distance biking.
“I saw him riding one day and said ‘Hey, mind if I tagged along?’” she said. “He showed me what commands to call out and how to draft to save energy. I’m a competitive person, so once I got on a bike, I wanted to do it all. He taught me everything I know.”
Moisio said he’s been riding with Widham for three years now, and credits her with keeping him motivated.
“Sergeant Sandy,” he laughed. “She’s a motivator and a much stronger rider. We ride about 100 miles a week.”
After a heart attack 12 years ago, Moisio began biking to keep his health in check and ended up really enjoying the the feeling that it gave him.
“I started for physical reasons, and after a while you discover the mental benefits of it,” he said. “It’s a good release and really relaxes you. A lot of people they think it’s more than what it is, but if you ride enough anyone can do it.”
Widham also began biking for health reasons after she injured her knee chasing a dog.
“One of the recommendations is to bike,” she said. “I had always biked to work because I lived so close, but biking more regularly made a world of difference. It really strengthened my knee and did a lot good for me. It just the clears my head. More people should ride bikes."
