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Club Member Spotlight Brenda Gambina
I have been a member of the FFBC for some 5 years now. On my first "Get to Know you Ride", to my surprise, Brenda was also a member. It was like a welcome from my past. Brenda and my wife, Pat, had known each other. And both our children went to St. Edwards Catholic school. Brenda, of all my new friends at FFBC, was the only person who knew my wife and of her passing from cancer just a year earlier. Needless to say, I will miss seeing her on our Thursday ride. God bless her. Brenda was such a trouper!!! A very good rider, and a wonderful person and a true competitor--on the bike and in life. We loved her and will miss her very much . We hope Hank, the children and the grandchildren are coping with this grievous loss.
I started riding in February 2007 with the Tuesday/Thursday group after having two babies in two years. That is when I met Brenda. She was very supportive of my riding when I was the heaviest in my life and having hard time with it.
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I rode often with Brenda on Thursdays and three years ago, we trained for the Wine Country Century together with a group of women from FFBC. Some of you know that being trained by Donna Stidolp and Margaret Koniniec means we worked hard to meet their expectations and gained a lot of valuable experience while having a “good” time. One ride in particular stands out. Brenda and I were the slowest riders of this peppy women’s group and on this ride in Santa Cruz, we were the only ones to show up. We were a bit worried about what Donna and Margaret had in store for us. About mid-way through the ride, the ride leaders went ahead (probably so they did not have to listen to us groan when we saw the hills) and while we were climbing the first hill, Brenda called out. I turned around to check on her but she said she had dropped her chain and would be up in a moment. We continued around the next corner to find a short but very steep hill ahead. While we were negotiating a bad patch of pavement at the bottom, all of the sudden about 15 little colorful cars came speeding around the top, on our side of the 
road! This car club was enjoying their rally, but they would have taken us out if we had been at the top of the hill. They moved over, passed us without incident and as we continued to climb, we counted our blessings that Brenda’s dropped chain had delayed us. As we neared the top, the grade increased even more as it turned the corner. Brenda was just ahead and started standing to crest the hill. I remember thinking, “She is so strong, and to be able to get up out of the saddle and climb, when she is so tired is impressive.” It was all I could do to keep going. As we stopped to fix a flat a mile or two later, I told Brenda that I was just amazed at the way she climbed the hill. She said that from her perspective, I was the strong one, as there was no way she would make it up the hill unless she put her weight over the pedals. It really made me laugh. It made me think. It was a beautiful ride. Those cars were so surprising. We had a great time with Donna and Margaret. We were proud of ourselves for meeting the challenge. Brenda was a good friend and I miss her.
Lori Sommer
