Jennifer Billstrom
Founder
The co-founder of Velo Girl Rides, Jennifer Billstrom, creates beautiful cycling experiences in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and beyond. She has been designing routes and leading rides and tours for more than 20 years. Jen is the creator and director of the Cycle to Farm® metric century cycling events and the director of the Bookwalter Binge Charity Gran Fondo. She is an avid cyclist who enjoys descending mountains almost as much as she enjoys climbing them. Among her epic cycling accomplishments are climbing the Galibier, Rocacorba, Mont Ventoux, and Alpe d’Huez. Some of her favorite cycling events include Mountains of Misery, Assault on Mt Mitchell, Assault on the Carolinas, Bookwalter Binge Gran Fondo and Gran Fondo Hincapie. Her current favorite climb is Willow Creek, a gravel trail closed to motorized vehicles and located near the Russian River in Northern California. Jen believes that the proper number of bicycles to own is N+1; where N equals the number of bikes that she owns today. She is based in Black Mountain NC her husband David.
David Billstrom
Founder
David worked hand-in-hand with Jen for years to lead bike tours, where he drove the van, repaired bikes, made meals, and rode his bike. He loves teaching handling skills, tapping his experience bicycle commuting and touring since the 70s. He has also taught climbing, skiing, hiking and other wilderness skills for many years, including search & rescue on Mt Hood in Oregon. He has a long history in public safety as an EMT and firefighter and has served as Safety Director for numerous bicycle events.
David is currently helping lead the cycling clothing company Kitsbow, following a career in executive coaching, venture capital, and technology marketing. He still loves to ride his bike, especially with Jen.
Bethany Donovan
Graphic Design Diva
As an introduction to the sport of cycling, I volunteered for a couple of Velo Girl Rides events and fell in love with Cycle to Farm and the Bookwalter Binge Gran Fondo. Now I work closely with Jen on event marketing and graphic design projects. When I am not busy creating amazing designs, I enjoy the outdoors whether it be camping, backpacking, hiking, and cycling.
Leandra Ganko
Web Designer Extraordinaire
After serendipitously meeting through a mutual friend, Leandra of Le Ga Design Group, became the official tech and design guru for Velo Girl Rides. A bon viveur herself, Leandra admires the passion Jen infuses into her bike tour business and enjoys working together. When she is not toiling away on the web, Leandra could be found globetrotting around the world, hanging with her mini schnauzer or sipping Riesling…or quite possibly all three.