TAMPA, Fla. — Andrea Messina only fills up her car's gas tank about once a month.
She rarely goes to the gym. Yet, the 44-year-old is always on the go and she’s in the best shape of her life.
Messina rides her Trek mountain bike everywhere. To work at her store, Joe and Son’s Olive Oils, in South Tampa. To Trader Joe’s for groceries.
“They probably think I’m the Crazy Bike Lady,” Messina laughs.
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She rides every weekday.
“Even when it’s 40 degrees," says Messina. "I rarely miss a day.”
She even pulls her 6-year-old daughter Gianna in a bike trailer to Christ the King Catholic School.
“It gets my day going,” says Messina. “I feel great. And I can skirt past all the traffic and get to places much faster on my bike.”
Gianna likes it, too. Although that took a little time.
“At the beginning of the school year, she was a little embarrassed,” says Messina, who loves not having to deal with car circle. “But when other kids thought it was cool, she loved it.”
Messina says bicycling everywhere greatly improved her cardiovascular health and strengthened her core and arm muscles.
