Our Staff

Laura spent most of her childhood moving around with her family across Western Canada and central Europe. One of her favourite memories of that time was when her grade 4 class went on a week-long cycling expedition in the Swiss Alps, sleeping in a castle, a cave, a Swiss army bunker and in a farmers field beneath the plum trees. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and a Master's of Environmental Education and Communications and Public Relations and Social Media Certificates from Mount Royal University. Like the rest of the TWV team, Laura has been bitten by the travel bug which have included experiences such as swimming with manatees, sailing on a three masted wooden schooner of the west coast, flying in the cockpit of a Canadian Airforce Hercules, eating fondue in a yurt in the French Alps, working with endanagered wallabys in Australia and climbing a volcano in Nicaragua. She started at TWV in 2010 and looks forward to continuing her work with Two Wheel View in role of Executive Director in July 2017. 

laura.istead@twowheelview.org

Pat was born & raised in Calgary, where he grew up enjoying a wide variety sports & outdoor pursuits. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta and a Chartered Professional Accountant designation.  His professional experience includes time spent with a big 4 accounting firm, as well as managing the financial planning & analysis team with a publicly traded energy services company. In addition to his role with TWV, he teaches and develops educational content for the CPA West School of Business.

Pat is an avid traveler, having visited close to 30 countries, with plans to do more (from the seat of a bike, of course). His cycling story began at 3 years old when he took off his training wheels and promptly knocked out a couple teeth. Undeterred, Pat continued to love cycling and whether commuting or building community, he is a firm believer in using two wheels rather than four.

pat@twowheelview.org

Kayla was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and made the return to Alberta 2 years ago after living in Halifax and Montreal for nearly a decade. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music, Diplomas in Psychology and Leadership, and is completing her Masters in Professional Education. Her background is primarily in the arts, namely as a performer and a music teacher.  Kayla strives to be outside as often as possible, whether that’s walking, hiking, snowshoeing or just standing there. She has spent a copious amount of time biking the streets of Montreal and making frequent stops for bagels and cheese, and is looking forward to adopting a bike from Two Wheel View and exploring Alberta together. 

kayla@twowheelview.org

Molli grew up spending time outdoors with her family and really values the experience of adventure at a young age. As a born and raised Calgarian she is passionate about seeing her city, and its young people, thrive.  She is a graduate of the Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership Degree program at Mount Royal University. Molli is a passionate cyclist and a firm believer that bikes are a great tool for empowering youth and building community. 

m.bennett@twowheelview.org

Hank is a Canadian transplant and native Californian who moved to Calgary in January 2016. His first bike tour involved racks held on with duct tape, sleeping in roadside bushes, and a very awkward ride in a police car. He was 18, and has been hooked on bike adventures ever since. 

Hank graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN with a degree in English/Creative Writing. It was there that he also began to learn the art of bike repair, thanks to the university’s awesome campus bike co-op, MacBike. Since that time, Hank has been working almost exclusively in the bike industry as a mechanic and service writer, at different shops in northern California and Calgary. His passion for bikes is perhaps best represented by the number of bikes in his house at a given time: typically 15-20, including his bikes, those belonging to his partner, Shasta, and other bikes being refurbished for fun, fixed up for friends, or displayed as “art” on the walls.

Hank is equally at home commuting across town or bikepacking through the wilderness; he’s stoked to get the opportunity to share his passion for riding and repairing bikes with the next generation of cyclists at Two Wheel View.

hank@twowheelview.org

Becky was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. Spending time in wild spaces has been a part of Becky's life since she was a child. Becky graduated from Mount Royal University with Applied Bachelor's Degree in Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership. Since graduation she has been guiding groups of all ages on hiking, backpacking and snowshoeing trips as well as creating outdoor experiences with youth in residential care. 

Becky has also been deeply involved with Ghost River Rediscovery, this connection has provided an opportunity to learn traditional ways of connecting with the land from local elders, as well as connecting with all youth in the backcountry. 

Becky is a recreational mountain biker and a cycle commuter who is inspired by the power of nature and the mindfulness that can come from caring for and cruising with your trusty bicycle.

becky@twowheelview.org

Thom grew up in the foothills of the Rockies chasing freedom on two wheels or two planks.  He completed a BA in Sociology at the University of Victoria where he also came to know the bicycle as a form of transport and a way of life.  Two wheels took him on many adventures across North America in pursuit of wild places.  Bringing this passion back to Calgary he became a certified bike mechanic and enjoyed the bliss of wrenching on bicycles in a small community shop for several years.  Two Wheel View entered his life in 2016 when he began working with the Beltline Bike Club in Downtown Calgary. Since then he has begun working at TWV full time and is excited about the expanding opportunities to use the bike to spread joy and empower youth.

thom@twowheelview.org

Anne-Marie a rencontré Rick et Tanya lors d'un passage à vélo à Montréal en 2010. Elle a tout de suite aimé l'idée et le concept de Two Wheel View. C'est en 2015 que son rêve est devenu réalité et qu'elle a décidé de se lancer dans l'aventure et de démarrer un Two Wheel View au Québec. Anne-Marie a voyagé un peut partout dans le monde en vélo (Guatemala, Costa Rica, Australie, Nouvelle-Zélande, Pérou, Bolivie, Chili, Mexique) et a fait parti d'un club de vélo de montagne pendant des années. Anne-Marie a la piqûre du vélo depuis longtemps! Par contre, c'est en voyant grandir sa fille et en côtoyant la nouvelle génération qu'elle a senti l'importance de faire bouger les jeunes, leur inculquer des bonnes valeurs dans les respect de l'environnement et faire d'eux des adultes modèles. Anne-Marie est motivée à faire voyager les jeunes du Québec en vélo et faire des échanges avec les jeunes de l'Alberta ou ailleurs. Elle détient un baccalauréat en administration des affaires, ainsi qu'un diplôme en pédagogie. 

anne-marie.alder@twowheelview.org

Rick and Tanya founded Two Wheel View after returning from a 2-year bicycle adventure around the world. Both have more than 25 years of professional experience working in education and outdoor recreation. They have biked over 25,000 miles in more than 60 countries.

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Rick has been on trips to Norway in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015; Argentina in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; Quebec in 2013, 2015, 2016; Catalonia in 2006 and Dominican Republic in 2006. 

Tanille spent most of her life growing up in Calgary, but just finished four years in Kelowna completing her Nursing Degree. Throughout this time she made it one of her goals to use her vehicle as little as possible and instead travel using pedal power. Aside from Calgary and Kelowna, she has enjoyed personal bike touring trips around the Okanagan and Kootenays, as well as two trips to Argentina with Two Wheel View. The main reasons that she loves biking for transportation is because it allows her to spend more time outdoors, keep active, reduce gas costs, and is more environmentally friendly!

When not biking, she can be found exploring the outdoors on foot, by canoe or kayak, or cross country skis. She believes that people are more likely to care for the environment if they spend time enjoying it, so she makes it a priority to be involved in initiatives that take children and youth outside. Included in her experiences are four years of leading Outdoor Children's Camps through the University of Calgary's Outdoor Centre, trip leading with Two Wheel View in Argentina, volunteering with Kelowna-based Adaptive Adventures, organizing outdoor day trips with BC Parks and Wilderness, and a recent volunteer experience with a remote Northern Canada lodge. She loves the wilderness of Canada and feels extremely blessed to have grown up with so much space to play!

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Tanille has led trips to Argentina in 2014, SHLF in 2015 and the Alberta-Quebec Exchange in 2016. 

Trip Leader, Calgary, Alberta

Kayla Bonham has been an avid bicycle rider all through school, university, in her career as a computer scientist and software developer, and parent of three bicycling children. She uses bikes for transport, recreation, hauling stuff around town, fitness, and peace of mind. She loves mountain-biking, road-biking, downhill-biking, fat-biking, cycle-touring, all-season commuting, and a bit of cross-country and cyclocross racing. She has one of almost every kind of bike, including her own prototype Mars explorer. She coaches bike handling skills, leads group rides with Spin Sisters, EVCC and COC bike clubs. She is a greaser/mechanic at Good Life Community Bike Shop, teaching bicycle maintenance skills both there and with Two Wheel View's Earn-a-Bike and volunteer programs. To Kayla, the bicycle is one of humanity's best inventions, embodying the perfect, multiply-reinforcing combination of human-scaled, clean, low-cost, high-return, resource-wise, earth-friendly and person-empowering technology!

Trip Leader & Bike Club Facilitator, Calgary, Alberta

David joined Two Wheel View while on a break from his career as an engineering manager with a major international oil and gas company. He got to know the organization initially through fixing bicycles for the Earn-a-Bike program and met the passionate people behind 'changing kids' lives from the seat of a bike.' He asked about opportunities to lead tours and co-led the 2016 TWV Quebec/Alberta YMCA tour. It was such a rewarding experience that is currently getting ready for the 2017 YMCA Exchange. 

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David believes that many important life skills can be learned from the seat of a bike. His first bike tour was in Grade 8 where his group of friends cycled to Bragg Creek for a 3 day tour of the Moose Mountain ice caves. Highway 8 was not paved at the time and his Apollo 10 speed bike was put to the test. Many years and about 9 bikes later, David continues to enjoy mountain biking, road biking and riding around town for year round recreation and transportation. David is married to Sheilah and they have 4 children and 3 grandchildren. He also find to play his trombone with a couple of jazz bands in Calgary. 

Trip Leader, Calgary, Alberta

Shasta is a graduate student researching primate behaviour and ecology at the University of Calgary. Outside of academia, she is an avid mountain biker, year-round commuter, cyclocross wannabe, avid cycle-tourist, a very bad fat biker and novice road rider. She's from California originally, but is rapidly becoming integrated into the Calgary community. Through she's new to Two Wheel View, its already provided her with opportunities to connect more directly to the cycling and youth education communities in Calgary. She is passionate about living more intentionally and connecting to local movements as a method of contributing what she can to her community. 

Trip Leader, Calgary, Alberta

Amie is a native Albertan, being born within and raised throughout. 

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She has a passion for all things bikes and prides herself on year round cycle commuting in Calgary. Her enthusiasm for connecting with the natural world and its' elements has brought upon cycle tours in the Canadian Rockies as well as her first extensive solo tour around Iceland in the summer of 2016. 

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She is currently a Registered Nurse working in Neonatal Intensive Care in Calgary. Hiking, camping and climbing connects her with the people and places she loves most. If not enjoying the outdoors, Amie can be found reading or dancing contact improvisation. Community gardening and its benefits are a priority for Amie, connecting her with other Calgarians and promoting environmental sustainability. 

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Amie is looking forward to trip leading the 2017 CAWST Ride the Rockies Trip, an opportunity to foster her love for the environment and cycle touring! 

Trip Leader, Calgary, Alberta