Somewhere around junior high, Sister Mary Ann Spanjers remembers going to mass, coming out of church one afternoon and just feeling different.
“Feeling more like myself,” said Spanjers, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity.
It was receiving the Eucharist, consuming the bread and drinking the wine that represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ, that helped Spanjers feel more centered.
“I knew I wanted that in my life — becoming closer to God and myself and other people — and knowing there was a connection I had with God and knowing I wanted that on a regular basis. And also knowing I wanted to be with others to make a difference in the world. I tell my students, you only have one life. And I didn’t want to do something ... boring.
“I wanted to do something radical.”
You’ve heard of the Flying Nun?
What’s more radical than the Cycling Sister?
That’s Spanjers, who will be on her bike Saturday traversing the road of Southern Arizona, taking part in the 2023 El Tour de Tucson.
Sister Mary Ann Spanjers, originally encouraged to come to Tucson for the dry climate, beams when she talks about her students San Miguel High School.
Spanjers grew up on a farm in a small town in Wisconsin by parents who were Dutch immigrants, along with — you guessed it — three sisters. She grew up in a faithful Catholic household, but not one that was overly religious. She mainly enjoyed spending her time outside and with animals.
But after her time at a Catholic high school, where she learned more about St. Francis of Assisi — he liked the outdoors and animals a bit, too — she decided to explore a life of servitude.
“I always tell my students, I wanted more adventure in my life,” she said.
So she became…a sister?
Well, yes. And that has taken her from Wisconsin to Michigan to the tallest mountain tops in Peru to the halls of Congress to what she thought would be the scorching border heat on the edge of Mexico and the United States in Texas.
In the Andes Mountains in Peru, she worked especially with women and children impacted by gang violence, and that work led her to the border in Texas, where her bilingual skills and experience working with displaced people came in handy.
It was there, though, that she realized not all of the south Texas has the same climate.
“I thought would be hot and dry and sunny, and it was hot and moist and humid,” she said, which caused her health problems.
She was encouraged to come to Tucson for the dry climate, where a position in theology opened at San Miguel High, a small Catholic high school that is part of the Cristo Rey network. The school’s program is doubly focused on education and work experience, as students typically of low means work one day a week in businesses around Tucson.
“It gives them wonderful experience and information, and they become very confident in socially working with adults,” she said.
She beams when she talks about students who have gone on to Stanford, Brown, Georgetown and the many who have excelled at UA.
“I just totally enjoy teaching,” she said. “I discovered as I started teaching that the relationship between teachers and students is unlike any other. I’ve learned immense things from students. You can’t duplicate that.”
Sister Mary Ann Spanjers first competed in El Tour de Tucson in 2018, finishing the full 100-plus mile course. This year, she'll compete Saturday in the 2023 version of the event at either the 32- or 62-mile distance.
The daughter of Dutch immigrants, Spanjers has been on a bicycle basically since birth, and, she says, her mother, too.
“Mom especially was bicycling all her life; that was the mode of transportation,” Spanjers said.
Spanjers’ father died of cancer during her senior year of high school, and her mother eventually retired to Sun City, Ariz., and continued cycling. She even won a gold medal at the Senior Olympics in Phoenix.
She just passed away in March, and she remains an inspiration for Spanjers.
“She always said, ‘Cyclists are the nicest people. You never find a crabby bicycler,’” Spanjers said. “I think it’s because your left outside for so long.”
Spanjers has gotten more than just inspiration from her dear mother, but also her bicycle.
She’s done 500 miles from Pensacola, Fla., to Sarasota, and ridden from Cincinnati to Cleveland.
And she also did the entire 2018 El Tour, honoring her own cancer journey. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had completed treatment and, she said, needed something to bring awareness and to raise money and also for my own healing.
“That was a wonderful accomplishment,” she said.
This year, unable to train for the full 100-plus-mile event because of the unyielding heat, she will attempt the 32- or 62-mile ride.
“Our goal this year is to partner with El Tour, gain some exposure to our wonderful school and what we offer, and maybe raise some funds along the way,” Vice President of Advancement for San Miguel Ricky Dominguez told El Tour.
Inspired by her mother, a lifelong bicyclist and eventual Senior Olympics Gold Medalist, Sister Mary Ann Spanjers has been on a bicycle basically since birth. She's set to compete Saturday in the 2023 El Tour de Tucson, either at the 32- or 62-mile distance.
Quickly in her path toward sisterhood and a lifetime of service, Spanjers realized that she’d been a Franciscan all along.
Growing up on the farm, she enjoyed being outside, working on the tractor, bailing hay.
“St. Francis, you never see him in a church,” she said. “He’s outside and with animals. It’s about where do you connect with God?”
Spanjers journey toward the sisterhood was linear, but it was not without its deliberation. Yes, she felt called. But the process ensures it is about more than a calling, but a devotion.
“The church gives us the gift of time before you make a permanent commitment,” she said. “You meet and live with sisters and you are completely free to continue on or not. That’s one of the best kept secrets. There’s so much time for discernment and a lot of freedom the church gives us.”
There is freedom and work and adventure and sisterhood and faith and a lot of fun. And a shocking amount of sports.
“I live with three other sisters and one of our regular outings is watching the Packers,” said Spanjers, a lifelong fan. “That’s almost a requirement to join our service. Many of our sisters taught the children of the players. In Wisconsin, the head coach gave the house mother a TV.
“So we could pray harder.”
Football Sundays — after mass, of course — are one of the few times Spanjers enjoys being inside.
She’d rather be outside, preferably on her bike.
“Prayer is part of it,” she said. “I never listen to music. Never have headphones on. I have this favorite ride outside the mission, going uphill the whole time, on Mission Road, and there’s not much out there, but I enjoy whatever wildlife I see. Roadrunners, coyotes, once in a while a snake. I enjoy the life you see in this desert that doesn’t always seem to be full of life.”
Well, you know why she likes going uphill, of course?
It brings her closer and closer to God.
Watch: El Tour de Tucson's inaugural race was held in 1983 and over the past 40 years, the event has provided pro riders and novices alike the chance to take to the streets.
The 40th annual El Tour de Tucson will be held Nov. 18, 2023.
