About Cyclist: “Ride Bikes, Be Happy!” Shawnita Sterett

I’m a civil engineer turned sales and marketing professional, mom of three boys, and I love riding bicycles with my husband, Shane, and our big family on bicycles! 

A sled hill in Breckenridge in Colorado, a Facebook contest, and Shane, brought me to cycling. True story! In 2011, I was excited for our family ski trip, as I had just lost 35 pounds. That sled hill showed me that “skinny” was not “fit”.

 I was DONE after one trip up with the boys, and I knew I had to do something to enjoy sharing their life adventures. So, I started running with a couch-to-5k app. Shane joined me, and we ran dozens of events from 5k’s to half-marathons together. 

Oh! You want to hear about cycling?!? Well, I entered a picture of us running for autism with friends on a local news station’s fit-family challenge, and we won! We won a family of four bicycles. 

After my first 20 mile ride at 12 miles per hour, a friend told me our goal was 20 mph. I was shocked! At the time, I could not imagine doing what is regular for us now. A bit later, Shane says, “Let’s ride the MS 150”. 

Doing that distance in a weekend sounded insane, but then in 2020, we beat that distance in ONE DAY! The rest is a long story of patience, stubbornness, and bait-and-switch games that somehow keep us riding together! 

    

I love to ride with friendly people who like to push hard, take care of each other, and laugh over food and drinks post-ride. I’ll ride 14 mph or 22 mph, gravel or road, short or long - as long as I’m riding with good people. There are many North Texas options for regular rides in Prosper and Frisco and with our own little group of friends/family we call “Los Locos”. I roll by the motto, “Ride Bikes, Be Happy!” 

My 2022 cycling goal is to survive Ride the Rockies with Shane. We like to try new things, and we love to travel together. We’ve ridden across Iowa twice, and we’ve done the Triple ByPass. So, here we go – a week of climbing mountains in Colorado! 

I have two bikes I love for very different reasons. My stunning new Factor Ostro VAM is aero, light, and smooth on our fast rides. I named her “Mahli” which means “Windy” in Choctaw. My Salsa Warbird is my buddy. “Luksi” (“Turtle” in Choctaw) is comfortable, playful, and doesn’t mind getting dirty and being left to sleep in the rain. 

A friend recently told me “keep your big rocks big, and your little rocks little”. I’m trying hard to live life with that kind of balance. I think it’s a good reminder to all of us.