South Florida cyclist group ‘Break the Cycle’ rides for a cause

MIAMI – A handful of Miami-area residents started cycling during the pandemic to get healthy. But as the group grew, members started envisioning a mission.

“When you ride a bike, you see everything. Your mind opens,” said founder Maurice Hanks.

The group, called Break the Cycle, wants to get more people out of their comfort zones and call out important issues in South Florida, like social justice and public safety.

Now they have an added mission: helping those in the community with breast cancer.

“My wife -- she had breast cancer a couple of years ago. She’s a survivor,” Hanks said.

Sherita Hanks is now cancer-free, but she says she was diagnosed with the disease at age 37. Raising awareness about the disease and boosting physical fitness though cycling is personal.

“For me, it was for health,” Sherita Hanks said. “The doctors told me I had to lose weight, I had to maintain my [blood] pressure. It was a lot of things I had to do to make sure my stress level was together so the cancer won’t come back.”

Break the Cycle meets up in Miami Gardens, Overtown and near downtown Miami.

The Hanks’ are also raising money to help women in need get their mammograms through their foundation called Strong is the New Sexy.

Members of Break the Cycle also rode 100 grueling miles in the last Dolphins Challenge Cancer (DCC) event, where proceeds from donations go directly to cancer research and care, and are training to do it again.

The DCC just announced that Maurice Hanks will ride a stationery bike on the field during the first quarter of Sunday’s Crucial Catch game to support the organization.