The Team
Anthill……
The Director
Jay Bearhead is XXX and currently resides in Tk'emlúps (Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada). At X years old, Jay was put into foster care before being sent to a residential school in the US, where he suffered horrendous abuse and trauma. Trying to lead a “normal” life working in a bike shop, before falling into addiction and homelessness following a breakup, Jay says the bike literally saved his life. Now on a path to healing, he mentors indigenous youth dealing with their own generational trauma through mountain biking.
Nouran Salah
While many of us don’t think twice about riding a bike, in some places in the world, it is still frowned upon for women to ride bikes. Cairo-born and raised, Nouran is a force to be reckoned with, breaking social taboos is non-negotiable for her. Challenging the status quo, Nouran started Cycling Ghekos—the first female cycling movement in Egypt—to empower women to ride bikes and change the narrative. The group hold regular meet-ups as well as aiding underprivileged communities by bicycle.
Megan Hottman
The Cyclist Lawyer. Megan is a powerhouse in and outside of the office. A former professional road and track cyclist, Megan was competing in World Cups and racing in 2011 for a pro team, "Primal-MapMyRide", before hanging up her race bike and getting to work at her practice, Hottman Law Office, AKA The Cyclist Lawyer. Blending her passion and profession, Megan has now represented over 120 cyclists in their cases, as well as provided counsel to other lawyers, cycling groups, bike shops, and organizations. “I'm doing what I was meant to do."
Kwabena Danso
When Kwabena Danso left his small village Yonso, Ghana, to go to school in the city, he realized that all of the economic opportunities were confined to the city. After meeting someone who introduced him to bamboo as a material for bicycle frames, he went home to build a factory for his business Boomers Bikes, which has since produced over 3,000 frames, employed over 50 young people aged between 18 and 29, and provided an income to 20 young people who harvest and 200 farmers who cultivate bamboo.
Janice Tower
Janice began competitive cycling when many would be thinking about retiring and has since completed a huge swathe of mountain bike stage races from the Absalon Cape-Epic in South Africa, Trans-Rockies in Canada, Trans-Alps in Europe, to the 350-mile trans-Alaska Iditarod Trail Invitational in winter—which she recently completed for a second time after turning 60. As well as racer, Janice coaches pro cyclists through to newies; and has set up a Mighty Bikes kids program that coaches over 200 children. She’s also Founder of Singletrack Adventures, the local trail association for mountain biking in her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska.
RRDBlocks
Darnell Williams, AKA RRDBlocks, is an infamous rider based in New York City. Inspired by Rough Ryderz videos, his street riding led him to start Bike Life in NYC: a movement that sees hundreds of cyclists take to the streets, block traffic, and generally have fun riding bikes—everyone is welcome, whatever bike they ride. It’s all about community for DBlocks, who also hands out bikes to kids all over the city. Riding every day, you’ll find DBlocks and his crew dominating freeways, popping wheelies and riding a bike just about any way imaginable.