By day, Mick Hammer climbs grain bins.
And, much like the literary character Don Quixote, who tilted at windmills, Hammer dreams with every cold-metal ascent.
"I'm 66," he says. "And I figure that if I don't quit, I will have rollerbladed around the globe by the time I'm 72."
Don't bet against Hammer. Despite an inclement November, this inline skater put the "hammer" down during a warm December and finished off a productive 2014, logging 1,329 miles on his skates.
That gives this "wheel" a total of 14,336 miles on his inline skates since 2006, the year he really got into this active hobby. He rolled his way some 1,850 miles that first year, having most of his free-wheeling fun in Holstein, Iowa, the Ida County community he calls home.
"This winter kind of stinks because we've gotten a lot of snow in Holstein," Hammer says while driving from a farm site where he's done yet another check of crops stored in a grain bin, fulfilling the job he took six years ago after retiring from the U.S. Postal Service. Hammer travels the region checking on claims for a crop insurance firm.
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"Our company had something like 3,000 claims in 22 counties," he says.
His work requires him to scale grain bins, often 8 to 10 per day, to monitor the condition of various corn and soybean stores. The jobs, while difficult on cold and windy winter days, is made bearable because of the miles Hammer puts in atop his inline skates.
"Health-wise, I'm really, really good," Hammer says.
He did invest in something this year to complement his work on the city streets of Holstein. When those streets are wet, icy and somewhat snow- or salt-covered, Hammer steps on his new treadmill at home.
"I go on the treadmill every night and I hate it," Hammer says. "It's boring, but it's probably something I should be doing."
Inline skating is what Hammer prefers to do following his crop insurance work. The trouble, beyond winter precipitation, is the fact darkness descends on Holstein about the time he gets home from work.
Hammer skated recently in the dark and struck a pile of snow that sent him to the ground. "A 66-year-old doesn't work well with cement," he says with a laugh. "Luckily, I was wearing about three layers and that helped cushion the fall."
Hammer enjoys spreading the word about his hobby, as he hopes people pick up on this pursuit, or any healthy endeavor. If it's basketball you like, he says, then play basketball as often as you can. If it's blading around town or skating at the roller rink, get 'em laced up.
"If you do a fitness program and you enjoy it, you'll keep doing it," Hammer says.
To him, dieting isn't enjoyable. So, he looks at this issue from another angle. He can eat basically whatever he wants, just as long as he has conditions conducive to his inline skates.
Since 2006, he's found those conditions for much of the calendar year. It has enabled him to skate nearly 60 percent around this earth. If all goes well with work and play, Mick Hammer will circle that goal six years from now.
"It's a challenge," he says with a hearty laugh, "but it also keeps life interesting."
