West Kootenay Cycling Coalition
MEMBERSHIP
Becoming a member will help WKCC run effective education and awareness campaigns, conduct meaningful advocacy work, and help work with communities to accomplish safe and cohesive active transportation networks.
EDUCATION
MEMBERSHIP
ADVOCACY
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WE ARE PASSIONATE CYCLISTS.
about us
The WKCC is an incorporated society whose purpose is to make active transportation awareness, safety and infrastructure prioritized in Nelson and the surrounding area. Our mission is to further the needs of our cycling community through advocacy, guidance and education and to actualize our vision for the Kootenays of Safely Moving Together.
MEET OUR TEAM
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Anna Lamb-Yorski,President
Anna's father taught her to ride a bike in the Selkirk College parking lot in the 1990s. Since then she’s enjoyed getting around by bike for both pleasure and purpose. After she began travelling with her young daughter by bike, she realized that the Kootenays have a long way to go in ensuring that cyclists and their families can move around safely and efficiently. Anna belongs to a large family of community minded women and is happy to spend her time volunteering for a cause she is passionate about.
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Joel Kailia,Vice President
Joel Kailia is a bike nut and long-time Nelsonite who helped found the WKCC. When he’s not riding his bike, talking about biking, or thinking about biking, he works as a GP specialist in chronic pain and addictions. He splits his time between several clinics in the Kootenays and the downtown eastside of Vancouver to manage these clinics and to be closer to his two children.
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Dana Diotte,Treasurer
In 2013 Dana gave up personal car ownership and opted to commute year-round by bike. To-date Dana has logged over 15,000+ km and 700+ hours of cycle commuting. He is passionate about active and alternative modes of transportation outside of personal car ownership. Dana is also a passionate adventure cyclist and offers bike packing guidance through his blog Roads are for Wimps.
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Pat Wray,Secretary
Pat Wray is a long time resident of Nelson, BC, moving here in 1980. She has been passionate about riding bikes for the last 20 years and most of her vacation plans involve a bike unless there’s snow and then it’s about skis. She was instrumental in the formation of the Nelson Cycling Club, was involved in many of Nelson’s Fat Tire Festivals and has spent many days doing trail maintenance. When Pat is not riding her bike, she works for Wildsafe BC or is in her newly revamped vegetable patch protecting it from the ravages of cats. She has recently returned from Cranbrook after a seven year exploration and is happy to be returning to the community of Nelson.
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Matt Nuttal,Member at Large
Matt Nuttall has been a bike racer and commuter for 40 years. In the 1990s, Matt worked as a City of Vancouver Council appointee on both the Bicycle Advisory Committee as well as the Bicycle Corridor Design Committee. He considers it a privilege to continue to apply himself to working with the WKCC and its partners in the West Kootenays.
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Andrew Murray,Member at Large
A mostly retired family physician, Andrew cycled and walked to work all seasons for many years. While he believes Nelson is both a great place to cycle and walk, he also feels that it is at times quite risky. He and his family did numerous hiking and cycling trips; also a few month long cycle tours. Andrew finds cycling fun, healthy for the body and spirit and mind, and great for the environment!
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John Bowden,Member at Large
John is the owner operator of Kootenay Cycling Adventures and helps guests discover the beauty of the region on guided and self-guided tours. He is an avid cyclist (touring, road, mountain, and chariot puller) who believes strongly in the benefits of living life on two wheels.
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Myrna Lindblom,Member at Large
Myrna is an active biker, on trails primarily, but as well as a commuter. Myrna appreciates the bike culture of Nelson and the community connection biking builds. Myrna is committed to bike road safety and advocates for all riders to be safe and responsible.
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Andrew Chewter,Member at Large
Biking has been a passion for Andrew since his early teen years. The lure of the wilds is what drew him to mountain biking, the form of biking he has enjoyed the most. University dramatically lessened his free time, but biking in any form was better than nothing, so during those years he spent most of his biking time commuting to UNBC (in Prince George, winters included) and to UBC (Vancouver). Children arrived shortly after, and after dragging them around in a trailer for a few years, he discovered the world of electric cargo bikes! As an environmental engineer, he has studied the impacts of transportation on our environment and believes bicycles are an important part of the mix for the future - he looks forward to being a part of improving cycling infrastructure in the West Kootenays.
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Glen Byle,Trail Representative
Glen has lived in Trail for 13 years and is now a married father of 3 young kids. In 2017 he sold his F-250 and bought an electric fat tire bike. The decision to become a 1-car family was made when Glen was reviewing his annual family budget and was trying to reduce his expenses. While having one car means the occasional bike trip in the rain and snow, the extra spending money for restaurants, movie nights, and mountain bikes is well worth it. Glen hopes to build off of the success of the skywalk bridge and help create an active transportation network in Trail. He believes that his community can be one that safely let's kids explore and be more active, allows seniors to live at home for longer and with more freedom, and ensures that more people can feel comfortable making the switch from a car to one of the many low speed options available today.
E-Mail: glenbijl(at)gmail(dot)com
