 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Life cycling
By BILL COATS, Times Staff Writer LUTZ -- The 12-year-old marriage of Sherri and Dave Stedje is in high gear. During the first five years, Dave stormed across finish lines as one of the fastest and toughest amateur bicycle racers in Florida. Sherri was his faithful roadside organizer, juggling so many race logistics that cyclists nicknamed her "Mama." Then the tables turned. Dave goaded Sherri into competing -- hard. "She quit smoking, she slimmed down and she found out she's a tough little cookie," said Jennifer Davidson of Alachua, who has raced as a teammate of Sherri's. Last month, for the fourth consecutive year, Sherri won a first in the Master's National Road Cycling Championships in Bakersfield, Calif. She raced for 46 miles up and down desert hills in head-exploding temperatures reaching 105. Her Gatorade warmed to the temperature of coffee, and burned her mouth, so she depended on water offered by bystanders. She finished first in a field that had dwindled to 20 from 45. Two days later, she won the criterium, in which 22 riders raced 24 miles in continuous laps on a short course. She was named the overall women's champion for ages 35-39. The Stedjes are leaders among bicycle racers around Tampa Bay, and each races in Category 1, the highest amateur level. Dave, 38, is one of 27 "Cat-1" men in Florida; Sherri, 36, is one of five women. "If you had to train with Dave all your life," said Tommy Wilson, 28, who has trained with him some, "you'd be one of the strongest riders too. ... It makes everyone better, although at the time, you don't necessarily appreciate it." Race or sellThe Stedjes were high school sweethearts in Moline, Ill. He was on the swim team; she was a gymnast and a cheerleader. But Dave soon became bored with swimming. One day, he succumbed to the sleek beauty of a $600 bicycle, financing available. By 1989, the couple was unmarried, broke and at a crossroads. Dave wanted a masters degree in hydrogeology from the University of South Florida. Sherri moved to Tampa with him and took health-care jobs to make ends meet. Soon, she saw a newspaper ad for weekly bicycle races with cash prizes. She turned to Dave and demanded, "You either sell that bike or race it." Dave recalled, "I don't even think I thought twice." He entered the race and won it, along with a prize of $7. "I was hooked," he said. Sherri told Dave somebody had scoffed about his beginner's luck. So he returned the next week and won again. Dave joined a training ride with 75 of the best bicyclists around Tampa Bay. Dave Holt, owner of Ringling Bicycles in Bradenton, noticed the new guy on the old bike. Near the end of the ride, seven elite riders powered away from the pack. One was Stedje; another was a surprised Holt. "We've never even seen him before, and here he is one of the seven," Holt said. In cycling, the new couple in town had found a new pastime and a new circle of friends. They began house-hunting on bicycles, and bought a home off Simmons Road in Lutz in 1993. From there, country roads fan out toward the north. "We loved it, because you could get on your bikes and leave from your house," Sherri said. 'Screaming instructions'Dave pushed Sherri to begin competing, and built her a bicycle. By watching hundreds of races, she already had learned the tricks and traps of group racing, in which riders can speed along at roughly two-thirds the normal effort by tucking into the slipstreams behind other riders. Now, she took on the physical challenge of training with Dave and his friends. She would exhaust herself simply trying not to be left alone on a country road in the midst of nowhere. It paid off in 1994 when Sherri won the Women's Open Championship in Ocala over more than 45 racers, including two teammates. "Then I was addicted," she said. "She can hang right in there . . . with any of the men in Tampa," said Wilson. "She's just so phenomenally strong." The couple has become nurturing leaders in their sport. They formed the Best of the Bay Cyclists, a competitive team. Dave, along with Holt, persuaded racing promoters throughout Florida to create the Florida Points Series, a uniform awarding of racing points that allowed bicyclists to rise and fall in standings. The Stedjes particularly have supported women racers in a sport dominated at least 10-1 by men. Jennifer Davidson was a converted triathlete when Sherri began helping her. She has seen Sherri drift back during training races to encourage slower riders. Davidson has since won championships. "She would be screaming instructions to me all the way to the finish line," Davidson said. "That's such a unique combination," said Jessica Fish, the Times' cycling columnist. "She races like an animal, but she helps the other women in the pack like she's your sister." Dave's passion for cycling has moderated just enough that he sold the 17 bicycles that had accumulated in his garage. He works long weeks at PSI, a Tampa engineering firm near Tampa International Airport. But he often bicycles before and after work, including the 28-mile round trip from Lutz to his office. He rides 225-375 miles a week. Sherri, who quit her job two years ago to concentrate on racing, averages 350 miles a week. On autumn Saturdays, a season when Florida racers train for distance, the Stedjes will pedal from Lutz to San Antonio for a road race there, then ride home. The day's riding can total 90 miles. "When it rains, we get together and watch videos of the Tour de France," she said. "It's a group of people that's just obsessed with the sport." -- Bill Coats can be reached at (813) 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times |
