Bike SLO County functions with great staff and an active 10 member board. We are always looking for a few good people to join the board and be a part of our rapidly growing organization. Being a board member is a great chance to be directly involved in creating positive change for bicycles in SLO County!
Gary Havas
Gary is a native of the Bay Area who went to school at Cal Poly in the ’80s. Fortunate enough to return to San Luis Obispo in 2008, he immediately sought volunteer work to get closer to the community. He joined the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club, and got involved with Bike SLO County (then San Luis Obispo Bicycle Coalition) as a regular volunteer at the Thursday Farmers’ Market Bike Valet and other Valet attended events.
After directing the SLOBC Wildflower Century for five years ending in 2016, and serving on the board of the bike club for two years, Gary seeks to apply the skills he developed in those positions to the success of Bike SLO County and all the cycling and community development it stands for.
Garrett Otto
Garrett moved from Davis, California to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly in 2004 where he found his passion for cycling. Garrett became an active member in the bike community during his time at school and has been a passionate advocate since.
After years of working at various firms, Garrett started his own electrical engineering consulting business. The flexible work schedule has granted him the ability to spend more time to promoting better bike infrastructure in SLO. He serves as the Advocacy Chair for Bike SLO County and is a founding member of the advocacy group SLO Streets for All.
Kathryn Hicks
Kathryn’s passion for bikes was founded and flourished after her move to San Luis Obispo to study architecture at Cal Poly. After graduating Kathryn spent four and a half years in the Bay Area where she raced road and mountain bikes and volunteered with Little Bellas and Girls Rock. She returned to SLO at the end of 2017, and is ecstatic to be out of her car and back to commuting by bike. As a board member she plans to put her experience and endless supply of energy to work in our bicycle education and advocacy programs.
Outside of work hours, if she‘s not sleeping or eating, you’ll probably find her rock smashing on the mountain bike trails that surround SLO. If you see a mass of curly red hair be sure to chase her down and say hello because she’s probably riding with a pocket full of homemade cookies.
Jesse Englert
Jesse moved to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly in 2001 where he earned a degree in Computer Science and discovered a passion for mountain biking. He has completed three solo 24 hour mountain bike races on his much loved single speed.
Jesse is a father of two children (2 & 4 years old) who motivate him to help make San Luis Obispo County a safe place for people of all ages to walk and bike. He envisions a future where transportation infrastructure prioritizes people over cars. He is a founding member of SLO Streets for All, a grassroots group that successfully advocated for the Anholm Neighborhood Greenway project.
On weekends Jesse can be found riding West Cuesta Ridge trails with friends and volunteering to maintain the California Rare Fruit Growers demonstration orchard.
Nathan Deweber
Nathan hails from Ventura, California where he started riding at a young age. He moved to SLO in 2013 to take a job and has spent countless hours riding the local roads and trails ever since.
Having worked in several different corners of the bike industry, he has settled into a job in sales for a mixed group of bike and outdoor companies. He lives in San Luis Obispo with his wife Kate, a local Physical Therapist. You’re likely to see them riding through downtown on coffee runs or out on the trails at MDO.
Sara Della Ripa
Sara is from Thousand Oaks, California. She earned her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Cal Poly and now works in the maternal health field.
She has been a Bike SLO County volunteer since 2016. Herself and three other women in the Bike SLO County community were the first female bike mechanics in the North America Eroica ride in 2017. Sara joined the board so she can continue to impact her community by making cycling fun and safe.
Emily "Willy" Wilson
Emily "Willy" Wilson grew up in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, completed her bachelors degree in Tallahassee, Florida, and soon after found herself in central coast California in late 2013 where she discovered her passion for community, gleaning, and of course, bikes.
Willy currently manages the Establishment, a 19-person community-style house near downtown SLO, and is the coordinator of the local food rescue organization GleanSLO. She’s been involved with Bike SLO since she moved here in 2013 and hopes to facilitate and inspire more cycling and cycling-centric events throughout SLO County.
Karen Aydelott
Karen is an avid cyclist having completed 60 double centuries and the Paris-Brest-Paris event. In addition she is an experienced triathlete and has completed 31 Ironman distance races; 5 since her amputation on 2008.
After 9 years as the Executive Director of the Pasadena YMCA, Karen Aydelott retired June, 2001. A graduate of Wellesley College with a B.A. in Art History, Karen began her YMCA career in Minneapolis, MN.
In addition to serving as Executive Director of the Pasadena YMCA, Karen also served as Executive Director of the University of Minnesota YMCA and CEO of the San Luis Obispo County YMCA.
Since returning to San Luis Obispo in August of 2010, Karen has been a member of HEAL-SLO (Healthy Eating Active Lifestyle San Luis Obispo), chairing the policy Committee and serving on the Let’s Move and Healthy Community committees. She is also a member of the Asset Development Network of San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo County Food Systems Coalition. Karen Is also very involved with the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
Joe Bowman
“Have you had your aggravating flat tire experience yet?”
Joe travels the world to keep folks rolling on any type of bicycle, as well as things with tires, by preventing and repairing flat tires. As Consumer Marketing Director since 2005 for Genuine Innovations and Slime based here in SLO, Joe brings his experience from managing world-wide trade shows, events, race support, sponsorships and advertising/PR to keep the SLO Bike Coalition rolling. As he likes to say: “Green means go, keep tubes and tires out of land-fills, put trust in your tires, no time to spare, there’s no stopping you.” They say he bleeds green.
A graduate of Loyola Marymount University in business and communications, Joe also has vast experience with two ad agencies working with over 100 companies. He lives with his wife Mary, a nurse, in Shell Beach. His passions include bike race and event support, fund-raising for charities, golf, beach volleyball and helping to position SLO county as a premiere cycling destination for world-wide travelers and future residents.
Kelly Knox
Kelly grew up in SLO and has always enjoyed riding bicycles. After graduating college in Southern California, she moved back to SLO and rediscovered her love of the freedom of riding bikes. Kelly enjoys all the different aspects the biking community includes; family, friendship, fun, and the environmental benefits.
Working as a volunteer in the past for Bike SLO, Kelly has become involved in coordinating events like Bikes and Beauty, Hot August Bikes, and the Red Davis Celebration. Kelly has found a passion for being involved in a non-profit that is geared towards community and health, and enjoys being a behind-the-scenes person who can work with others to make fun things happen.
Kelly can be found riding her bike around town to coffee on the weekends, off on adventures with other bike enthusiasts, and around SLO exploring the lesser traveled roads. Her plans for being on the board are to pursue a better understanding of how to help others find comfort with the cycling community, whether it be alongside them or becoming one of them.
Public Board Meetings:
Second Monday of every other month
Jan, March, May, July, Sept, Nov.
6:00 – 8:00 pm
email rick@bikeslocounty.org with inquiries
Location:
10 Over Studio
539 Marsh St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
