Erin Graber, new bike tour manager
Bill Hall, our beloved bike tour manager, moved away to the mountains of Idaho this summer. We’ll miss him, but we’ve got a bright new face filling in–Erin Graber.
While working on her business administration degree at Shepherd University, Erin Graber spent her weekends guiding rafts on the Shenandoah River. After college, she moved to Morgantown, WV to sell outdoor gear at Pathfinder. She got her sweat on at Power Yoga Morgantown every week and made friends with the owners, a pair of boaters from Ohiopyle. Through them, Graber hooked up with Wilderness Voyageurs in Ohiopyle and trained to guide on the Youghiogheny.
“I just love the whitewater industry and the people associated with it,” she says with a characteristic, sweet smile. “And the staff is like family. We take care of business and have as much fun as we can while doing it.”
But Graber has another passion—cycling.
“My dad’s an avid cyclist,” Graber explains, “So I’ve been biking as long as I can remember.” While she was growing up, Graber mountain biked at Cooper’s Rock State Park. She started road riding when she moved to Morgantown. “Then I had access to all the cool bikes at Pathfinder,” she grins.
After spending a couple months rafting, she heard that Wilderness Voyageurs was hiring a new bike tour manager. So she applied. After a whirlwind interview session, Graber snagged the job. She moved out of her place in Morgantown and set up a tent in Ohiopyle. (Until she found another apartment, of course.)
Since she started working, Graber’s been able to sample a few of Wilderness Voyageurs’ cycling tours. She’s pedaled the six-day Great Allegheny Passage tour, the GAP and C&O Canal Highlight Tour, the Civil War Bike Tour, and the Katy Trail Tour in Missouri. And there are more in her future.
“I love going on bike tours,” she says. “The bed and breakfast’s we stay in are awesome, and the food’s great. It sure beats living out of a tent.” She laughs.
As the new manager, Graber hopes to use her passion for outdoor travel to add some fresh new flavor to the bike tour scene. She’s working on adding some new tours to Wilderness Voyageurs’ repertoire, including one in Washington State and another in Colorado.
“Right now I’m working on an all-female bike tour that would be a mix of road and mountain biking,” she says. “I’d also love to include some yoga classes and cooking instruction. It would be fun to add in some different activities to the bike tours that would appeal to lady cyclists like me.”
The job’s got a lot of perks, especially her new company vehicle: a tricked-out Kona Rove. Plus she scored a Cannondale shop shirt (unfortunately it wasn’t the design with the humping bunnies on the collar).
Interested in “Living the Dream” and working as a bike tour guide or working in Ohiopyle. contact us at
Wilderness Voyageurs Outfitters Inc
103 Garrett Street, Ohiopyle, PA 15470
800-272-4141
www.wilderness-voyageurs.com