Ganzar Strives to Make Communities Healthier, Children Happier
Texas resident's research aims to increase active commuting amongst students.
We're all learning very quickly that there's a lot more to cycling, and to life than racing bikes. But the lifestyle of cycling and its benefits to personal and public health is something that is forefront in the minds of many, including Rally Cycling rider, Leigh Ann Ganzar.
Ganzar hails from Texas, and when she's not training or racing on the world stage, she works at the Michael and Susan Dell Center of Healthy Living, a research center within the University of Texas. "When I'm home, I normally work 20-25 hours per week coordinating data collection and going into elementary schools to measure kids' physical activity and active commuting-to-school behavior," Ganzar says. "When I'm on the road for racing, I normally work 10-15 hours per week coordinating and writing research articles."
Busy she certainly is, but it's actually one less job than she had last year when, during her first year as a professional cyclist, Ganzar was also in the last year of her PhD and working as a research assistant.