Coaches

 

BJC has a professional coaching staff of more than 50 that bring a high level of training, experience, and passion for cycling.
Coach development and education is a key component of our organization. BJC combines our own training with resources borrowed from other sports. Veteran BJC coaches mentor new coaches, and graduating BJC athletes are given the opportunity to become coaches in training. Athlete Wellness and SafeSport is a high priority for BJC. We’re proud to have earned Gold Level Certification, the highest level available.

 

Head Coaches

Pete Webber – Executive Director

Pete is BJC’s executive director and head coach. He’s been with BJC since 2013. Pete raced as a professional at the world cup and world championship level in mountain biking and cyclocross during the 90’s. After his racing career, Pete worked for the International Mountain Bicycling Association for 12 years before coming to BJC. Pete has been inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame for his bike advocacy work and has won the Double-Goal Coach Award from the Positive Coaching Alliance.

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Lester Pardoe – Director Devo Programming (email)

In three words: Adventurous, Humor, Passionate

Lester is the longest standing BJC coach, having first been involved in the pre BJC days of 2006. Lester has a degree in Physical Education and also studied High Performance Coaching for 2 years at the National Coaching Institute of Canada. He has worked as a coach and exercise physiologist for the past 30+ years, in a multitude of sports around the world. Lester moved from his native Canada to the States to work for the Salt Lake Olympic Committee in a joint role of Chief of Competition for the speed skating events for the 2002 Olympics, and to oversee youth sport development for 7 different sports.  Aside from his love of the MTB, Lester was an accomplished speed skater, racing internationally for Canada, and qualifying for 3 Olympic Games. Lester has been an Olympic Team Leader and Coach in Speed Skating, and  also been a strength and conditioning coach for a Paralympic Team.  Lester is a full time employee with BJC as the Director of Devo Programming.

Christoph Cikraji – High School Program Manager (email)

In three words: Traveler , Adventure-Seeker, Type-A

Growing up between Japan and the US, adaptability, diversity, and travel are central to who Christoph is as a person. He developed a love for cycling from his years growing up in Durango CO, surrounded by some of the best mountain bikers in the world. This motivated him to pursue every discipline of cycling, multiple years of racing Enduro, and different opportunities to be a professional bike mechanic. After moving to CU Boulder to study astrophysics and international affairs, he spent his time studying, riding bikes, and wrenching with USA Cycling while working as Lead Service writer and Suspension technician at Full Cycle Bikes in Boulder. When the opportunity arose to coach BJC’s Gravity program, he was thrilled to take on the role as coach for the program, never realizing it would grow into the opportunity it does today. With his girlfriend Klara in the MBA program at CU Boulder, and aspirations to take the BJC High School program to the next level, Christoph calls Boulder home as he plans to continue riding, wrenching for, and coaching the next generation of BJC athletes for years to come.

Team Coaches

Margell Abel

In three words: Mom, cyclist, caregiver

Margell has been riding and racing bikes for three decades. Riding bikes is where she goes for her wellbeing, fitness and mental health, there is no better way to clear the head. Margell has a wealth of experience including 11 years as coach for the CU Women’s road team and 10 years with BJC. She loves coaching ‘cross in the fall and watching the kids learn new skills. Margell loves the way the kids live in the moment and inspire her at every practice with their kindness and camaraderie.

Garrett Gerchar

In three words: Cyclist, Outdoor enthusiast, Dog parent

A BJC alumni, Garrett was born and raised in Boulder. Having tried every sport growing up, they eventually found cyclocross at the end of middle school, joined BJC and eventually rode for the Clif Bar development team before graduating to their professional squad. Garrett has a degree in mechanical engineering from CU Boulder and his favorite part of coaching is teaching life lessons through the bicycle and sharing their love of cycling.

Noah Granigan

In three words: Competitive, hungry, wannabe ski-bum

Noah grew up in New Jersey in a family with deep cycling history. He’s the fourth generation from his family to be an internationally competitive cyclist. Naturally, Noah began racing early in his life, racing-up in the 10-12 category before he was technically old enough. Noah progressed steadily through the junior, U23, and collegiate ranks before turning professional in 2019, the same year he graduated from CU where he studied mechanical engineering. Cycling has taken Noah to races in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. Noah now specializes in criteriums in the US racing for the Denver Disruptors in the National Cycling League. In 2020, when his season was put on hold due to the pandemic, Noah began coaching at BJC and realized his love for helping juniors enjoy everything that he loved about cycling as a junior- the team dynamic, traveling the country with your best friends, and training and competing at your very best. In 2024, Noah will be joined on his pro team by Luke Elphingstone, a BJC rider that he coached in 2020.

Scott Tietzel

Scott is Boulder native and longtime BJC veteran and has coached MTB, cyclocross, and road. His coaching tenure at BJC dates back to 2012 if not further! He’s done nearly everything on a bike, from European road racing to mountain biking, cyclocross, and gravel grinders. Scott is the only rider to have finished the Leadville 100 MTB races in under 7:20:00 for 10 years in a row.  Scott’s day job is at CUORE of Switzerland, the same company that provides BJC kits.

Shelby Katz

Shelby started coaching for BJC in 2021 but had been with the Little Bella’s program for over 7 years before joining BJC.  Having raced since she was 10 years old in disciplines such as cross country running, long course and Olympic distance triathlon, XTERRA racing, mountain biking and cyclocross, Shelby loves to be on a bike.  She’s excited to share that joy of biking with the BJC athletes.

Chris Cook

In three words: Enthusiastic, Adventurous, Dad

Chris is a longtime Boulder resident who has been biking the foothills for more than 20 years.  He enjoys all types of cycling from commuting to gravel riding, but he really enjoys mountain biking and cycle touring.  Chris has two middle school aged daughters and works as a physical therapist. His favorite part of PT is teaching people how to avoid injury. He loves sharing his love of the outdoors and helping kids develop skills and nurture a love for cycling.

Casey Crazier

Since age 3, Casey has been riding his bike as much as possible. He grew up riding BMX, then racing mountain bikes, and also raced road bikes throughout the southeast with his collegiate team at the University of Georgia. He relocated to Colorado in 2017 for the mountain biking and outdoor lifestyle. He spends much of the summer riding Trestle Bike Park with his wife and 2 kids (daughter 10 and son 8). They own a Public Adjusting Firm, helping people get fair claims settlements as well as a construction company specializing in roofing called Lincoln Contracting.  Casey has coached several youth sports teams and enjoys sharing his love of biking with kids.

Sidra Aghababian

In three words: Adventurous, Outdoorsy, Environmentalist

Sidra has raced both XC and gravity for more than 8 years, including in high school and college. Originally from Southern California, Sidra moved to Colorado to attend Colorado State University, earning her BA in Environmental Policy, BS in Business Administration, and MA in Environmental Policy. Her full-time job is with an environmental nonprofit where she works to educate and support state legislators on climate and energy policy. As a new resident of Boulder County, Sidra is eager to start exploring the trails and continue encouraging others to experience the joy of biking as a means to connect with and appreciate the environment.

Tess Amer

In three words: empathetic, adventurous, and learner

This is Tess’ second year coaching with BJC but she is no stranger to working with youth. She was a teacher for many years, and now works as a school counselor in Boulder. When she is not working she spends her time training for some of the bike events she will be competing at this summer including Breck Epic. Tess has been an endurance athlete since she was in high school and is looking forward to sharing her many years of experience and knowledge!

David McNutt

David grew up in Boulder in a family of cycling enthusiasts, where he developed a passion for the sport as both a participant and fan of professional road and cyclocross racing.  During middle and high school David raced as a junior rider on the road.  His first job was at a local bike shop on the Hill as a mechanic during summers. He is currently working at BVSD as a Special Education Career Assistant Job Coach. David loves to ride bicycles and enjoys being outdoors spinning around the Boulder area.

Oliver Skelly

In three words: Curious, Southwestern, hungry

Oliver coaches in BJC’s Devo MTB program and brings many years of two-wheeled pursuits with him. What began as father-son bike rides to learn about zoning and parking setbacks in the muggy streets of Houston, fortunately morphed into a passion for trails, trails, and more trails in the Rocky Mountain West. His favorite ride is whatever he’s riding right now, but he particularly enjoyed his bikepacking epic on the Colorado Trail. When not pedaling, Oliver buries himself in 20lb textbooks, with aspirations to one day practice water law.

Zoe Zwecker

In three words: Adventurer, climate advocate, learner

Zoe is an avid adventurer and advocate for getting more kids on bikes. She began riding herself as a freshman on her high school’s mountain bike team in Maine where she quickly fell in love with the sport, community, and ability to explore nature all around. Zoe now lives in Boulder where she works as an Energy Analyst at a Black Bear Energy trying to optimize solar and storage projects to reach their financial and carbon offset potential. She is so excited to be working with BJC spreading excitement about bikes, and helping kids gain confidence in themselves and their vast skill sets on and off the bike.

Ruth Winder

Ruth began cycling at the age of 15. Since then she has been competitive at a high level. Most notably, she made the 2016 Olympic Track Cycling Team for Team Pursuit and 2020 Olympic Road Cycling Team, winning the 2019 National Road Race Championship, and taking home the overall win for the Tour Down Under in 2020. She recently retired from racing the World Tour full time in Europe for Trek-Segafredo. She found her passion for coaching in 2015 and has really enjoyed sharing not only her knowledge of being a coached athlete for 13 years, but her tactical knowledge as well.

Josh Winer

In three words: Energy – Adventure – Fun

Hi! I started coaching the young-devo program when my now 7 year old son joined BJC in 2022. I’ve since found my coaching home with the older devo kids – encouraging fun, developing handling skills, and pushing physical fitness abilities beyond what the kids perceive they are capable of. I’m originally from Michigan where I got into biking in my teenage years. I moved to Colorado in 2008 to pursue my MBA at CU and take advantage of the outdoor bounty Boulder has to offer. My bike passions are: MTB “super rides” from home (Super Walker, Super Betasso, big exploration rides in the foothills), gravel riding / racing, and bikepacking. I recently rode across Michigan (twice), across Florida, Durango to Moab huts, and am stoked to ride the Aquarius huts in the Fall of 2024. My “other” job is in sales with Maxar Intelligence, a local space/satellite imagery company. I love to ski, travel, camp, and explore with my wife and two kids!

Will Campbell

In three words: Dad – Husband – Fun

After moving to Colorado in 2002 and running on the trails west of Boulder too much, I got a job at a local bike shop and fell in love with cycling. I tried my hand in the local race scene, raced against some of the best CX riders in the state and country, and worked my way up the ranks. However, graduate school and a career in architecture put any further aspirations to bed. I still love getting out on my bike, whether it is road, CX or mountain, as much as possible. In 2017 my first son was born and I now have the added pleasure of including him into my cycling world. Watching him grow and gain confidence has been simply amazing. He joined the BJC Young Devo squad last fall and I immediately realized that BJC coaches might have the best job in the world and I jumped at the opportunity when it became available to me. I can’t wait to help the newest generation of cyclists to grow and learn.

Rylie Cotton

In three words: Colorado Native, Photographer, Tinkerer

Riley has lived in Colorado his whole life. Often taking ventures traveling around the United States; on family vacations and for competitive cycling. But, always coming back to Colorado. At a young age he traveled for his father’s local cycling races. Growing up with cycling it didn’t take long for him to fall in love. Soon, Riley started racing cyclocross and from there the passion bloomed. He joined Boulder Junior Cycling in 2013 to develop as a rider and learn new skills. He continued with cyclocross and mountain biking before not too long also transitioning over to road cycling. After switching teams a few times Riley came back to Boulder Junior Cycling in 2017 to continue his passion for cycling; and that year won a National Championship. Riley continued to enjoy cycling but fell ill two years later and had to take a break from cycling and school to recover. After a year of recovery and resilience he started school and cycling only to be stopped once again by Covid. Riley graduated from High School and continued his passion for cycling by becoming a coach for his School through the Colorado High School Mountain Bike League. He also started working at a local bike shop. Given an opportunity to coach for Boulder Junior Cycling he was thrilled to give back to his roots. Having been an athlete himself Riley understands the importance of development on and off the bike. He also brings the importance of fun from the High School Cycling League. Riley’s favorite part of coaching is watching athletes develop on and off the bike as they progress through not only the program at Boulder Junior Cycling but also as they progress through life.

Karla Kingsley

In three words: outdoorsy, curious, fun-loving

I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on some great Midwest mountain bike trails, even though I was more of a cross country runner growing up. I shifted from running to bike racing while living in Mexico as an exchange student, and then spent the next decade doing a range of riding and racing on the road, XC mountain bike, cyclocross and track all over the US. Now, living in Boulder and working as a transportation planner, I most enjoy mountain biking (especially descending), just about anywhere. One of my favorite aspects of mountain biking is always being able to learn and progress – and helping others do the same. I have two young daughters and we can often be found rolling around the trails or pump tracks at Valmont Bike Park.

Lindsay Clark

Lindsay has dabbled in a bit of all racing disciplines, but racing Cyclocross is her passion and love! A fierce competitor on the bike, Lindsay has finished years of numerous races at the top of the podiums, but racing Singlespeed is what best suits her. Singlespeed is not for the faint of hearts, but she finds it to be the most true, simple, stress free experience on the race course. She definitely loves mountain biking as well, and climbing is where Lindsay can put distance on her competitors. Lindsay came to BJC in 2021 to coach the Young Devo group, & she was wildly enthused to see her group every week. But Lindsay has been part of the program for a while. Her oldest son was mentored by some of the best coaches & riders through BJC’s program and won Regionals & States in 2016.

When winter hits, Lindsay will ride in crazy cold temperatures & embraces the challenge. She also enjoys skiing (skinning) uphill. She is the crazy person that people yell at while skiing downhill themselves or riding the chairlift up to the top of the mountain….”You are doing it all the wrong way!” Her biggest claim to fame is that her hometown is where “The Office” is based out off…Scranton, PA.

Ashley Zoerner

In three words: Adventurous, Energetic, Learner

Ashley grew up in Colorado and developed a love for bikes at a very young age. She went to one race as a junior, immediately made friends, and has been hooked on the community ever since. Throughout her career she primarily focused on Cyclocross and road cycling but Cyclocross was always her favorite. Towards the end of Highschool and in her early college time she was racing at the elite level of Cyclocross and competed with Team usa at the CX worlds in Luxembourg in 2017. On the coaching side of things, Ashley worked as a junior coach at the Colorado cycling camps growing up and then started coaching with BJC in 2019. She completed her Undergraduate degree at CU Boulder in Psychology, and she is currently pursuing her Masters in Kinesiology: Sport Psychology. Her coaching philosophy emphasizes training the mind just as one would the body. Outside of Bikes, Ashley is a lover of Dance, snowboarding and skiing, paddle boarding and surfing when she is back spending time with family in California.