Bike Tour Guides

Kasia Martin

Kasia is the Director of Bike Tours here at Wilderness Voyageurs. Kasia hails from Boulder, Colorado, where she worked in the high tech field and like a good Boulderite, she commuted to work year round on her bike.  She has an infectious smile, and is well known for her communication and commitment to both details and having a good time. Kasia manages the entire Wilderness Voyageurs bike tour department!

Mark Piccone

A native of upstate New York and retired Army helicopter pilot, Mark came to Wilderness Voyageurs in 2020 with six years of bike tour guiding experience. Following his military service, Mark bounced around the U.S. teaching high school, working as a personal trainer and running coach, and fixing bikes at the local bike store as a mechanic. When he’s not leading tours, Mark enjoys training for triathlons and traveling with his wife.

Jesse Wilson

Jesse comes from a long career of outdoor guiding and management! He joined team Wilderness Voyageurs in 2021 as a guide and tour manager!

Nic Blouin

Nic has always been a professional guide — first on rivers, then rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking and road cycling. She has over 20,000 touring miles in the saddle (38 states plus Canada) on short trips, long trips & six times across the country. She’s also been a writer almost as long, focused on outdoor adventure & fitness and author of five guidebooks. When she’s not on the bike, Nic performs tour manager duties from her dog sits in Santa Fe or from the road in her camper van.

Rachel Luden

Gary Smith

Gary Smith remembers his first 10-speed Flamboyant Lime Schwinn Varsity bike a long time ago. Many bikes later and bike adventures in over 28 states and 5 continents, Gary now enjoys more biking time as a retired Pennsylvania State Park employee. Decades of inquisitiveness have filled his head with history, trivia and some very dry humor. He can help you enjoy your bike exploration adventure! Gary also travels domestically and internationally by faster conveyances as a volunteer bone marrow courier for the National Marrow Donor Program (Be The Match). He donated his marrow in 2000 and his recipient in Sydney, Australia is now 21 years+ leukemia free.

Colleen O’Neil

Colleen is an Ohiopyle local who came to work at Wilderness Voyageurs after high school. She grew up riding her bike on the Great Allegheny Passage, swimming in the Yough and running the trails around the state park. Colleen took her cycling hobby to new level when she rode the Great Divide Mountain Bike Race in 2017. In the off-season, she and her husband Montana put all their things in storage and travel somewhere warm to ride their bikes.

Paul Kingsbury

Paul lives in Elmira, NY where he’s owned a bicycle shop for nearly 40 years. He’s a lifelong cyclist with a passion for touring and helping others on tour. He’s led tours and managed mobile mechanical support for tours large and small for over a decade. The Finger Lakes and Erie Canal areas of New York State are his backyard. Living in the area, knowing the roads around the Lakes, and traveling the Canal for so many years makes him a bit of an expert on the area. Ask him anything, if he doesn’t know the answer he’ll make up something good!

Kartik Sribarra

Kartik (pronounced “car-thick”) got bitten by the bike bug when he moved to Portland, Ore., in 2003, where he bought a 1970s steel frame Miyata road bike, converted her to a fixed gear, and never looked back! Years later in Washington, D.C., working at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, he met and did some tours with Wilderness Voyageurs. He now lives in Ithaca, NY, with his wife and two kids. Too enamored by everything life has to offer, he’s somehow managed to avoid learning much about any one thing. He raises food and chickens, was a stay-at-home dad for his kids, worked as a floor manager in retail food settings, is on a local nonprofit board, and ultimately really just loves getting into the muckiness that is life and community.

Teri Moore

Teri fell in love with cycling 26 years ago when she bought her first road bike. But after discovering self-contained bicycle travel and rail trails, she knew she’d bike forever. She’s an artist, and cycle travel allows her to take time to meditate on her work while seeing the world in a whole new way – with the added bonus of staying fit!

Dave Cutcliff

Dave currently lives in Hershey, PA and has been guiding for WV since 2015. His passion for sport has been evident his whole adult life. After rowing in HS and College, he took a 25 year break from rowing because of various moves and participated in various other sports. He took up rowing again in 2000 and continued until 2015, when he got into biking. He has since done self guided tours with his wife and friends in both England and Sweden, as well as doing a cross country ride in 2017 with two friends. In his spare time, he enjoys kayaking, running, golf and skiing. He also works part time at a local Mountain near Hershey.

Chris Reed

A Pennsylvania native, Chris came to Ohiopyle to learn to be a raft guide in the summer of 2017 and stayed to guide bike tours. Aside from cycling and whitewater, his areas of interest include farming, foraging, construction projects relying on re-used and re-purposed materials, backpacking and crockpots. He’s lived in Missoula, Montana, where he enjoyed swimming in the Clark Fork and gazing at snow-capped peaks. But he always finds himself coming back to the Appalachian hills and mountains. Chris views life as an opportunity to “live deep and suck all the marrow out of life.”

James Oerding

James remembers building tree houses next to a BMX track as a youth in High Ridge, MO, but can’t seem to recall growing up.  After a journalism degree landed him in logistics, and a teaching certification landed him coaching tennis; he has come full-circle to rehabbing old houses and riding bikes, and you can’t slap the smile off of his face. A bicycle advocate who has a preternatural sense to wander, has no tolerance for boredom and wasn’t born to follow.  It’s easy to see why he loves being a bicycle tour guide.

Dave Erb

Dave’s childhood interest in tearing apart bicycles and lawnmowers to make them run better led him to a career in Mechanical Engineering, designing and developing machines. His adventurous spirit has led him on many bicycle touring adventures including several international trips and a recent trek cross-country USA. Dave also enjoys skiing, running, tennis, kayaking, backpacking,  and restoring his 160 year old farmhouse. Dave’s friendly attitude will help you enjoy life-in-the-moment with his natural curiosity about his surroundings.

Steve Kauffman

Steve is a kayaker, ski racer, raft guide and bike tour guide at Wilderness Voyageurs. A graduate of West Virginia University, Steve spends his winters as a ski patroller at Canaan Valley Ski Resort in West Virginia.

Montana Miller

Montana started selling chips in the Wilderness Voyageurs store in 2009, and now takes care of our fleet of tour bikes. Most winters he rides self-supported bike tours with his wife Colleen, where they’ve cruised around Vietnam, Mexico, the mountain west, Laos, and New Zealand. His main passions are riding his mountain bike off large rocks, sunshine, garishly printed shirts, fixing his Jeep, metal work and holding his fuzzy yellow cat upside down. He also enjoys a cocktail or three.

Megan Simpson

Megan grew up on the trails of Western Pennsylvania, cycling, running, and hiking through the Laurel Highlands whenever a moment freed itself. Coming to Wilderness Voyageurs in 2019 as the Bike Tour Specialist, she also joined the bike tour guiding team after graduating from Westminster College, PA, and competing on their cross country and track teams. Megan works on site at Wilderness Voyageurs and brings the perspective of a local and an athlete to your tour. In her free time, she enjoys writing, kayaking, travelling, or reading (about where to visit next).

Tom Sherburne

Josh Lawrey

Josh is a valuable guide here at Wilderness Voyageurs. Josh received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Parks and Recreational Resource Management and Environmental Education at Slippery Rock University. He served as Assistant Director for SRU Outdoor Adventures for two years, guides the Lower Yough, Upper Yough, and Cheat Rivers, and is one of our expert kayakers. He’s also put in guiding time on the Rio Grande in Texas, various rivers in Maine, and two seasons in Costa Rica on the Pacuare River. Josh also loves riding his mountain bike and can name ANY bird you see or hear.

Jim Polen

Jim has been interested in bikes ever since he was a child when he found his Schwin Varsity provided both his transportation and escape. Now that he is retired and his kids are out on their own, he has the opportunity to learn more from the experienced riders and do more with biking, sometimes without a plan. In his spare time, his other interests include, skiing, golfing and woodworking.

Philip Christopher

Philip’s first cycling job was during middle-school delivering newspapers. During college and throughout his career as a software engineer, Philip
continued to cycle for fun and exercise. He went on numerous self-supported bike trips with friends and later with family and new “bicycling friends” on
guided tours. Traveling by bicycle became a favorite way to travel off the beaten path at a perfect pace. It became a lifelong pastime and passion. As
a devoted fan of vacationing by bicycle, Philip is thrilled to share this passion with Wilderness Voyageurs guests to provide fun and memorable vacations.

Marissa Sommers

Marissa first came to Wilderness Voyageurs in 2016 to train to be a whitewater raft guide. She guided in the summers while finishing her Energy Finance degree at The Pennsylvania State University. After guiding the Lower Yough, Upper Yough, Savage and Cheat River, a desk job was far away in the rear-view mirror. In 2018 she came into the bike tour world leading tours on her childhood trail, The Great Allegheny Passage. When she’s not on the water or riding the trails you can find her hiking with her dog or getting some fresh lines on the slopes. Marissa has hiked, biked, snowboarded and rafted in many states across the US, ask her about some of her favorite spots.

Lea Chidlow

Lea guides the GAP4 and GAP5 trips for Wilderness Voyageurs Bike Tours. Growing up just outside of Pittsburgh, Lea’s favorite place to explore as a child was Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. Who knew she would someday have the opportunity to bike between home and her favorite place to play while introducing new friends to the history and beauty of the area? Being a local to the trail on which she guides, gives Lea a unique perspective of the narratives and people of the communities through which the Great Allegheny Passage rolls. Hiking, exploring and biking have always been her top three choices of recreation and sharing these activities with friends, old and new, is her definition of a good time.

Alex Ferguson

Alex makes his bed in many different places along the Missouri River valley. He grew up cycling on the Katy Trail, and many curvy and hilly areas of South-Central MO. The majority of his cycling is done on the mountain bike trail, though he does frequent the road bike per its convenience. For the past few years, he has spent countless days and nights paddling SUP’s on the MO river. Alex is an artist and musician in his hometown of Washington, MO, where he owns a woodworking shop and studio, building fine handcrafted Ukuleles. “Guiding the Katy is an amazing opportunity to share such a beautiful piece of the country with others. Missouri is a true hidden gem!”

Heather Reynolds

Heather is a Michigan native who moved to Ohiopyle in the spring of 2019. Her journey as a bicycle enthusiast began when she bought a shiny red road bike for her 16th birthday instead of a car, often preferring to pedal everywhere around town. After completing her first 200-mile bike tour alone up the west coast of Michigan, she knew she was hooked. She loves sharing her passion for bicycle touring with others and has tons of exciting travel stories to offer. Heather is warmhearted, loves inspiring others, and is a strong advocate for living in the moment.

Jason Andelman

Jason is from the Washington, D.C. area and currently lives in Arlington, VA with his wife and two teenage daughters. His background is in culinary work, and he was a pastry chef for a number of years before opening his own chocolate shop. He recently sold the chocolate business after 16 years and is now shifting gears (pun intended) career-wise. He currently works part-time at a local bike shop, does a little bit of freelance cooking and will be guiding a variety of tours for Wilderness Voyageurs! He is active in the outdoors, mainly with cycling (road, gravel, and mountain) but he also loves backcountry skiing, hiking, flyfishing, cooking, and watching Nats baseball.

A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, Ralph has always enjoyed riding and repairing bikes. His favorite place in Western PA is Ohiopyle. His desire to become a tour guide started after doing the Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. trip. He found it very satisfying to schedule and organize his trips. After seeing the Wilderness Voyageurs vans and trailers in Ohiopyle he knew his calling was to become a tour guide for WV. His hobbies include working on his house in Deep Creek, skiing at Wisp and spending time with his family.

Jody Kotun

Jody has a love for all things outdoors. She remembers getting her first 10 speed as a child for Christmas and has been biking ever since. You will find her
biking on the GAP throughout the summer. She also has a passion for hiking, skiing, sailing and kayaking. In the winter she is a Ski Patroller at Seven
Springs Mountain Resort. She and her husband spend winters and summers in the Pennsylvania mountains and spring and fall in St. Petersburg Florida. Jody loves meeting new people and sharing biking experiences with others.

James Gonzalski

James has laid roots in Atlanta, GA where he lives with his partner, Alison, plus their dog, cat, and a couple turtles. Following college at Georgia Tech where he studied Computer Engineering, James spent 15 years at a great job in IT consulting. A relative newcomer to the sport of cycling, James only caught the bug in 2010. While living in the DC area for a few years he met his first cycling love: the Great Allegheny Passage plus C&O Canal trails. In 2016, James embarked on an “epitaph-worthy” bike trip from Seattle to Boston, made possible by tremendously supportive and generous family and employers. James is looking forward to bonding over bicycle tourism with Wilderness Voyageurs’s guests.

TJ Statt

Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH, TJ learned that a bicycle represented freedom and adventure when his father took him on his first “bikepacking” adventure at eight years old. From then on, he’s always looked to plan the next adventure or challenge. After raising his kids and completing a career as a process engineer, TJ “retired in his forties to relive his twenties” Now, living nomadically with his partner (Terri), he finds great pleasure in hiking, biking, disc golf, food, drink, paddling, and campfires with friends all over the North american continent. Be careful about asking him about his last or next adventure because he might not shut up…

Frank Bell

Frank’s connection with Wilderness Voyageurs began decades ago working on and around the Youghiogheny River as a photographer and river guide. A lifelong cyclist and experienced bike mechanic, his guiding experience began in the 80’s hosting “Discovery Bike Tours” in Pittsburgh. He enjoys meeting people and sharing his love of the natural world, history and geography with fellow cyclists. One of several organizers of the annual “Tour De Donut” ride in New Wilmington, his interests span biking, hiking, kayaking, traveling and learning. A certified drone pilot, he is the also the owner of
Top Pix, LLC.

Bill Rosche

Bill “Major” Rosche has enjoyed long bike rides his entire life. During his 30-year career as a Marine, he logged challenging rides in Africa, Asia, Hawaii and Europe including Ironman Japan in 2008. On The Mainland he has mountain biked and completed Century rides in some of the most scenic areas of the United States. An avid hiker and paddler, The Major has trained as a Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace Instructor and American Red Cross Lifeguard. When not riding or guiding bike tours, he does repairs and improvements for Falls City Pub and the Wilderness Voyageurs campus. Among his notable outdoor achievements are rowing The Grand Canyon, winter mountaineering on Mount Ranier and hiking from Death Valley to Mount Whitney. He gets outside as often as possible and his favorite riding is on the steep and scenic back roads of the Laurel Highlands in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

P.A. (Patty Ann) McLaughlin

P.A. hails from the great state of PA. currently living in her hometown of Pittsburgh. Being outdoors is her passion – she is a self-proclaimed “Outdoor Adventure Specialist” for all seasons. An accomplished skier, she spent many winters as a trainer for the National Ski Patrol and discovered her love for teaching and is now a ski instructor at a regional resort. She also plans ski trips for groups because she loves to travel. When learning to ride her first two-wheel bike she remembers being covered with bruises and road rash for an entire summer. Biking has become her go-to fair weather activity along with paddleboarding. At just 5’2”, what she lacks in height she makes up for in energy and enthusiasm for sharing the outdoors with others. Her employment video for WV was on the benefits of smiling and she looks forward to sharing the bikeways and smiles with you on your next bike trip! Happy Trails!

Matt Kitterman

Richard Mitchell