Sandy has been an exercise enthusiast her entire life. She played soccer through her high school years and was a swim instructor and lifeguard in the summers. In college she discovered running and has been running ever since. After finishing her 2nd marathon in San Francisco (where friends from Rabun joined to cheer her on) she decided to start a race at Lake Rabun. The Rabun Ramble is now in its 13th year and is a 5K/10K fundraiser for college scholarships for Rabun County students. An average of 750 runners participate in this fun event annually. Last year they donated $22,000 from their proceeds to the Lake Rabun Foundation.
Sandy taught aerobics in her twenties and became a certified indoor cycling instructor in New York City where she lived for 10 years. Upon relocating to Rabun County (near Clayton GA) almost 5 years ago, Sandy first taught at the Fitness Center at the Old Edwards Inn in Highlands NC for 1 year. In May 2014 she opened her own studio where she's been teaching 4-5 classes a week. Sandy brings a fresh approach to spin classes with training from the top instructors in New York. Her classes are choreographed to upbeat, fun music that compel you to push yourself to your potential while having a blast.
If you’re looking to burn major calories but save those joints, indoor cycling is the perfect class for you. Every class is geared to all levels. Sandy prides herself in turning timid first time spinners into full time spin addicts!
CONNIE THOMSPON
Connie has always loved music and dance. In her early years, she was part of the dance line in high school and college. She and her husband, Tommy were also part of an exhibition clogging team for 10 years (Tommy is the better clogger!). They square dance, contra dance and have taken a number of ballroom dancing classes.
Exercise at a gym or outdoors was never really part of the routine and over the years, Connie did less and less, so she put on a lot of pounds, especially living here at the lake!
In 2014, she reached a break point - something had to change. 5 feet tall, 200 pounds, size 22....NO MORE! The first year - lost 30 pounds. In 2015, she started spinning at the encouragement of her family and Sandy. Lost another 25 pounds for a total of 55 pounds in 2 years!
Then the big thing happened - Sandy needed some help as her Spinning Classes were growing in popularity and she asked Connie to consider taking the instructor's course. Connie thought - "I can do this!". She thought she'd be the oldest and heaviest in that class, but was neither of those!
Connie has been a certified Spinning instructor since December 2017 and has loved every moment. Her classes are filled with great music, fun camaraderie and a push to rock it and leave "some sweat for her to mop up!". We can ALL do this!
SHERYL TESKE
Sheryl grew up in Montana, which means mountain in Spanish. Her love for those mountains started as a young girl, with family fishing trips along the Gallatin Gateway Canyon –insert the last scene from A River Runs Through It here. That love, then developed into connecting with nature in a variety of ways: running, biking, hiking, snowshoeing, and skiing are a handful of her favorites. She has always loved participating in sports of every sort, which even led to a short-lived pitching and shortstop career on the boys’ baseball team. (They didn’t have softball then.) However, she fell in love with gymnastics in middle school and discovered track and cross country- abandoning baseball. A back injury prevented a collegiate opportunity in gymnastics, so she became a walk-on in cross country and track at the University of Montana instead and earned her BA in English/writing emphasis with a health and physical education minor. Go Griz!!! She discovered her most endearing sport, mountain biking in her thirties after injuries from road racing sidelined her. At age 41, she was ranked number one in Montana’s category 2 women’s mountain bike racing division. An auto immune diagnosis has tamed her racing days, but not her racing spirit. She still enjoys a great trail ride, the discipline of spinning, and loves the incredible energy and happiness she feels from that “click, click” each time she clips into a set of pedals. Sheryl was desperately missing spin classes when she moved to Clayton and was elated to find Sandy’s Lakemont Cycle Studio and the Lakemont Cycle community in January 2019.When Sandy encouraged her to obtain her spin certification and assist with Lakemont Cycle classes, she was thrilled at the idea of stretching her horizons. She was nervous initially, but with tutoring from Sandy- who is not only a top-notch spin instructor, but an inspiration for reaching for your best self- Sheryl is finding her own personal groove. She strives to incorporate outdoor riding techniques, fun music and positive energy to her classes. She hopes that people leave her classes feeling energized, confident and empowered. She believes spin is a deeply personal journey that will prove you are always stronger than you might think. Her primary goal is to inspire a long-lasting connection and love for the art that is cycling.
