Staff

 

Meet the Urban AdvenTours Team!

Every one of our staff members loves bikes and offers a unique perspective on bicycling in Boston and its surrounding areas. With such diverse backgrounds, they can offer a multitude of information on just about anything related to Boston or bicycles. From where to get the best pizza to recommending the best bike for your cycling needs, someone on our team can answer any question you throw at us.

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Andrew Prescott Chief Wheel Officer Thanks for stopping by our website and seeing what Urban AdvenTours is all about. As the Chief Wheel Officer of Urban AdvenTours, my goal is to get everyone riding bikes. We do it by offering quality rentals, selling and servicing bikes, and providing an awesome experience on our tours. All the guides you will ride with here are passionate cyclists, who use the bike for transportation and recreation, and love showing off our wonderful city by bicycle. Ok, so you want a little more info on me? Waterford High School football captain, to Wesleyan University Psychology/Sociology degree, to recruiter, bartender, world traveler, accountant, marketing manager for Anheuser-Busch, to BioBus driving fool. It is nice to be doing something I sincerely believe in, providing a great work environment for my crew and a great experience for our guests. For more on the history of Urban AdvenTours, click here.

Parker Musselman Born in Minneapolis, Parker moved to Boston in 2005 to pursue studies in political science and international relations. He soon became enamored with the simplicity of biking in a city that is, at times, choked with cars and one way streets. Coming from an automotive background, he was hooked after dismantling and reassembling his first bike, an 80′s Shogun road bike, and the stable only grew from there. From his start working the streets atop a pedicab, Parker sees himself working in or around the cycling industry for years to come. He can be seen enjoying the sun and sights of Boston, taking full advantage of our summers, and always looking for a good place to grub.

Craig Collins As he’ll tell you on his tours, Craig hails from the small town of Temple, Maine (as did Harvey Parker, founder of the Parker House Hotel!), and moved down to Boston in 2008 to attend Boston University. After two years, he took some time off from school to save money and gain some worldly experience, and instead stumbled right into his dream job, and decided to make his leave from BU permanent. He could talk about Boston all day, from the history, to the little-known facts, to the distinctions and differences between each neighborhood, but usually manages to keep his tours concise. Usually.

Billy Lopez, Jr. Bill was born and raised in the Allston-Brighton area of Boston . Encouraged by friends, family and teachers he attended classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts for art instruction through junior high and high school. After the age of 18 though, he made his living as a tow truck operator for six years and a painter for about the same. Health and fitness was always very important to Bill so during those years of blue collar work he attended the Massage Institute of New England and received his certification in muscular therapy. He then obtained a certification as a personal fitness trainer. Bill has been on a bicycle ever since he was seven years of age and enjoys riding all over the streets of Boston as well as rural Massachusetts. One of his goals is to ride from Boston to Manhattan just so he can take his favorite bike, an 86’ Schwinn (fondly named Baby Blue) over the Brooklyn bridge. He loves New York and has been there a lot but has never traveled there or through it by bicycle.

Chris Jochem  Born in Washington, DC, Chris started wrenching on bikes bright and early at the age of 13. He moved to Boston six years ago, and attended both Wentworth and Suffolk universities. He’s worked at a variety of other bike shops in the city, and now the promise of convenient and delectable treats from the North End have enticed him into our area. Aside from biking, Chris enjoys going to the Symphony, seeing Operas at the Charles theater, and movies such as Titanic, Steel Magnolias, Dear John, and of course, The Notebook.

Ed Ballo  Ed knows Boston through and through. He grew up in a suburb just north of Boston, works at MIT, and rows on the Charles River daily. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Ed is that he has never owned a car! Ed rides his bike, or uses public transportation wherever he goes. Ed speaks fluent French and Italian for our international customers, and has been a tour guide with various companies for over 20 years!

Ralph Gillis If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air, Ralph can relate. He comes from the seaside town of Hingham, Mass. He grew up mountain biking in Wompatuck state park, and the rest is history. Nowadays, he attends Northeastern University’s law school and spends his spare hours helping out around the Bike Shop.

Pell Osborn Born in Philadelphia, Pell has lived in Boston since 1970 and has commuted by bike for nearly 40 years! He’s really into Boston Architecture, and sometimes eats it for breakfast. He holds degrees from Kenyon College and Lesley University and attended Harvard University for additional study in animation. Pell developed an award-winning curriculum that uses animation as a vehicle for teaching and learning. He teaches animation at MIT, the Boston Arts Academy and in the Brookline and Boston Public Schools.

Glen Moore Glen was born in Vail, Colorado, with skis strapped to his feet. He grew up in the town of Dillon in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. In high school he became an avid mountain biker and backpacker and then went on to study acting at the University of Northern Colorado. After graduating he bounced around Denver for a few years to pursue acting. He came to Boston to find more acting opportunities. One of his favorite spots in Boston are the Victory Gardens in the Back Bay Fens. After having visited Italy, Canada and Mexico, he would say that his favorite vacation was Mountain Biking in Moab, Utah.

Greg Lockhart Greg is a Chicagoan by birth. After attending the Univ. of Arizona, he lived in southern CA before moving to Boston about the same time as Larry Bird. He has been biking the streets of Boston ever since. Greg’s favorite bike trips include hostelling along the Pacific coast, slickrock trail in Moab and the bike path to Madaket beach. He is actually celebrating his 50th anniversary of being off training wheels. When not riding Greg enjoys books, music, beer and a day at the beach. After ten years as a stockbroker he spent 15 years in the bicycle business on Nantucket Island. When guiding the city tour he enjoys telling tales of the old days at Fenway Park and the Boston Garden. Greg resides in the North End and is happy to recommend his favorite pastry and pasta.

Len Weiss Len grew up in the Bronx, but has been happy to call Brookline home for the past 13 years. His favorite spot in Boston is the Blue Hills Reservation….so much to do, so little time. While he loves Chamber and blues music; reading non-fiction and biographies, he’s also a wild man, into rugby, basketball, road and mountain biking, backpacking, Nordic backcountry skiing and motorcycle touring. Yep he’s into both kinds of bikes and his best vacation ever was a six week motorcycle tour through western Europe and England. Len has also traveled the world including the Galapagos, Venezuela, Monaco, Belgium, Denmark, Tanzania, Japan, Hong Kong, China and many more.

Jesse Gubb Jesse grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, about 10 miles from downtown Boston and now calls the North End home. After 4 years studying political science in the snowy woods of Vermont, he’s back in the Hub, eager to share his love of bikes and all things Boston. When not on tour, you might find him comparing cannoli in the North End (for professional reasons, of course), but more likely he’s still out riding. Jesse has lived in Australia, traveled to Israel, England, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, and Denmark, and just this summer got to explore the good old USA on a cross-country bike tour. Jesse also enjoys beards, high fives, long walks on the beach, climbing mountains, and skiing down them.

Hannah Weaver  Hannah came to Boston in 2005 to pursue a degree in Romance Languages and Medieval Studies at Boston University. Since graduating in 2009, she’s been teaching French to middle schoolers in the Boston area and riding her horse, Ada, in her free time. She lives in Cambridge and loves learning weird animal facts, making food, and painting.

Kate Paulsen  Kate is entering her promising first season around the shop at Urban Adventours. She arrived in Boston in March, after spending the last season of her life in Santa Barbara, California, teaching high school theatre, working in the wine industry and acting with the Lit Moon Theatre Company. Her alter ego is known as Helga Svetlana Karkininov, and judging from her accent and stunning looks, we can only assume that she is actually a spy sent from Moscow to infiltrate our country and steal our cycling and business secrets. You never know which one you will meet on any given day.

Sadie Lang Sadie is from Hollis, New Hampster, but she lives in Boston now! She’s graduating from Northeastern with a degree in Environmental science. She expects to be working in the Arnold Arboretum this summer. In her spare time, she enjoys terrible pop music, making pancakes, and playing with her pet mouse Casper.

Baylor Bennett Baylor is a farm boy from Kentucky who migrated to Boston in 2001. In a land where everyone rode horses, Baylor chose bikes. He is an outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and fishing and is an avid environmentalist and conservationist. He got the nickname “Mr. Scientist” because of his love for random science facts and statistics, but has never actually worked in any scientific fields.

Chris Thompson Chris has lived his whole life in Massachusetts, growing up in the small town of Blackstone (named after the original English settler of Boston!). He has lived in Boston for the past four years as he attended Emerson College. Now, after graduating with a degree in Political Communication, Chris aims to make a splash in the State House. Biking is one of his absolute passions in life along with heavy metal and cheeseburgers. His best vacation ever was two weeks in Hawaii, and he has also traveled to Toronto, England, Ireland, and Osage Beach Missouri. One day Chris would love to travel throughout Scandinavia.

Ted Schwartzberg Ted’s hometown is Boston, MA, where he has lived for all of his 28 years. After graduating from MIT, where he recently received Masters Degrees in City Planning and in Real Estate Development, Ted enjoys spending his days as an urban planner. His interests include skiing, camping and traveling. In addition, he enjoys commuting year-round by bike to avoid having to use cars and public transportation. His favorite local spot is the Harbor Islands National Park. One of Ted’s best vacations ever was riding his bike from the Provincetown ferry, through Cape Cod, around Martha’s Vineyard Island and back on the mainland to Plymouth. In addition to Massachusetts adventures, Ted has traveled to Western and Central Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and, most recently, Bloomington Indiana.

Brittany Lajoie  Brittany grew up in the tiny town of Pittsford, Vermont, but was drawn to Boston to pursue higher education. At Northeastern University, she finally settled on an International Affairs major and had the opportunity to study abroad in Cuernavaca, Mexico and Sevilla, Spain. Currently residing in Jamaica Plain, she finds herself jetting back and forth between the restaurants of Harvard, backyard barbeques in JP, cafes in Somerville, and her full time job at Boston Common Coffee, located in Downtown Crossing. An avid cyclist since youth, her other interests include agriculture and food, as well as South American culture.

Taylor Gaar  Taylor, originally hailing from the outskirts of Atlanta, GA, moved to Boston in 2010 to get his master’s in education. He liked the area so much that he decided to stick around and split his time between teaching and leading tours. Being on a bike allows him to continue a lifelong love of the outdoors, which has also led him to backpack through South America and row a raft down all 297 miles of the Grand Canyon. He has also lived in New Zealand and worked extensively with at-risk youth, and he always loves to share stories about Boston and beyond!

 

Urban AdvenTours Alumni

These are folks who have, sadly, left our ranks, but are fondly remembered. We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours!

Alex Scott  Born right outside of the city in Westwood Massachusetts, Alex came to Boston to pursue a higher education at Northeastern University. He loves all things outdoors, but most of the time you can find him riding around the city or in the mountains of Vermont or New Hampshire. He has lived in Boston for three years and has been an active member of the Northeastern Bike team specializing in anything to do with mountain bikes. When not on his cycle, Alex loves to snowboard, trying to fix his hopeless car, traveling, or trying to find the best new place to eat.

Patrick Kelleher-Calnan Patrick is from just north of Boston and attended Wesleyan University where her first heard of Urban AdvenTours. He started out giving tours and has been a key player in the growth of UA. Patrick loves sea shanties, metal Mondays and sweet bikes.

Garrett Lynch Garrett is a veteran member of the UA team, and has been working at Fenway Park since 2005. Garrett is full of obscure Fenway facts. Originally hailing from the Garden State he moved north to study at the Berklee College of Music. As a recent graduate of Berklee, Garrett lives by the mantra ride all day play all night. When not riding on tours you can catch Garrett on his Felt B2 but he has a special place in his heart for touring on a Specialized Globe. Garrett specializes in long distance tours for the advanced cycling enthusiasts.

Ku YooKu considers Boston to be his home, but he was born in Seoul, Korea. He’s lived in Boston since 2008 and his favorite spot may be Neptune in the North End. Another Wesleyan grad, Ku is a lawyer by trade, but he loves baseball, bicycle touring, autumn in New England, Bob Dylan, Prince (including Artist formerly known as Prince), Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, beer, old school cocktails, and hot dogs. Ku has traveled to South Korea, Japan, China, Czech Rep., Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, England, Spain, Aruba, Dominican Republic, and People’s Republic of Cambridge. He loves giving tours with Urban AdvenTours because it allows him to show people Boston the way he sees it, not just the landmarks, but also the cool alleys and side streets.

Justin VigliantiJustin was pretty much born into bikes. Ever since he was able to grasp the handlebars he’s worked for bike shops both in Boston and his native New Jersey. When he’s not riding or wrenching he spends time running a small design practice working on bicycle transportation solutions for Boston and designing bike shop spaces for Urban AdvenTours and other bike friendly companies. Justin has a dream that one day there will be a bike in every driveway across America.

Kurt JenneyKurt is from North Reading, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. He loves to meet new people and to get fantastic food. Hence, his favorite spot in Boston is Chinatown for the delicious discounted chow. He recently won the Xerox Award for Innovation and Information Technology at a student recognition event at North Reading High School. His interests mainly concern electronics and mechanics, especially bicycle mechanics. Kurt’s work at Urban AdvenTours has been one of the best job experiences ever.

Niko Skievaski  Niko is originally from Phoenix where he studied economics at Arizona State. He has recently moved to Boston to try and become a real economist in Boston University’s graduate program. Apart from that, cycling is his mistress. He has been competitive in road, mountain, and cyclocross. Before moving to Boston he toured the U.S. Pacific Coast from Seattle to Santa Barbara. When his head’s not in a book or helmet, it’s likely between headphones or involved in some deep, dismal discussion. Boston has grown quickly on Niko and he enjoys celebrating it by cycling her streets daily–on tours, on commutes, on life.

Karen AndresKaren moved to Boston from a small town in Ohio to attend Tufts University in 2007, where she’s currently studying anthropology. It took a while to adjust from seeing endless cornfields while biking to having buses and cars whizzing past her, but she has finally grown to love riding Boston’s city streets. She spent the past semester abroad in Ghana, and has also traveled to Mexico, Egypt, and the Netherlands. When exploring Boston, or traveling to other exciting places, she enjoys cooking up new recipes and getting lost in a good book.

John Tomai  Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, John was quickly relocated to Manchester, New Hampshire. He was able to experience all the great NH outdoors had to offer like mountain biking, road biking, snowboarding, and surfing. He spent most of his life in NH until two years ago when he moved to Boston. He is a Graphic Design major at New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University. His favorite spot in Boston is Dorchester Bay. While not riding his bike, you can find him reading, building things, designing, people watching, or going to shows. John has been to Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Virgin Islands and Canada.

Sarah MinahanSarah was born in Boston and has lived here her entire life. Her favorite spot in Boston is Jamaica Plain, because there are great places to eat, shop, run, and bike. She is attended Boston Latin School, and is now attending Middlebury College. She loves to bike, run, backpack, rockclimb, snowboard, watch Lost, and travel. She has been to Ireland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Israel, and Canada, and hopes to keep that list growing.

Tim Ennis Tim has called Somerville home for the past 7 years. His favorite spot to ride is the Government Center Parking garage spiral ramp (don’t tell!). He has been a professional bike mechanic for several years. In addition to bikes, he is an avid snowboarder and aspiring rock star. Every summer he rents a private island for a week and camps there. He’s been to Australia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark. He also lived in Quebec for a few years growing up.

Kris Ahlers Kris is a west coaster from Seattle who arrived in Boston in 2009. When not biking to work or around town for fun, Kris, can be found outdoors mucking about in whatever adventure he comes across. Kris is a lifelong student who is currently taking 1st year Japanese for the fourth time. His favorite activity and spot in Boston, is simply hanging out along the Charles River. Kris has been to several countries and written many acclaimed, however, as of yet, unpublished travel essays.

Peter DuranPeter “Duran” Duran hails from the deep depths of Dorchester, and having lived and/or worked in every neighborhood of Boston since he moved to the area over 10 years ago, thinks it’s his favorite. He grew up in Spain, frequenting Boston on regular vacations, went to high school just north of the city, and learned about philosophy and environmental conservation at the University of New Hampshire. He has traveled to Germany, Belize, Greece, Turkey, India, and Canada, and his dream vacation probably involves biking in Alaska by the light of aurora borealis. Peter is usually found playing outside—in his garden, or with his beehives, or foraging for wild edibles, or exploring some place new.

David Norcott David was born and raised in Massachusetts. He went to college at Worcester Polytech and was fortunate enough to study abroad twice. He has been to several European countries and has ridden a bicycle in Italy and Hungary. He moved to Boston in 2005 and spends his days cycling and writing software. He can usually be found in the neighborhoods of Allston and Brighton, or eating a burrito at any of the city’s fine taquerias.

Danielle Tarloff Front Wheel Reflector Danielle came to Boston from NJ to attend Northeastern University. She’s been here since 2004, and really likes hanging out in friends’ backyards and porches in JP and Somerville. You can also find her around some of Boston’s venues, she’ll let you know what great concert or comedy to catch. Danielle has also studied in Sevilla, Spain and traveled around Europe. She loves outdoor markets, seasonal weather, sustainable foods, and of course riding bikes.

Cole Archambault Raised in the bustling metropolis, er, suburbs of Western Massachusetts, Cole moved to Somerville four years ago to attend Tufts University, where he was the captain of the cycling team. While he can often be found guilty of escaping the urban snarl of Boston via the Minuteman Bikeway to explore the bucolic pastures of Lexington and Concord, Cole’s favorite Boston spots to visit include the Public Gardens and Castle Island. Cole spent the spring of his junior year studying in Barcelona, Spain. Cole has traveled to Bermuda, Canada, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Morocco, and Spain.

Matt Sousa Matt’s cycling life started off with a commute from Chelmsford MA, his hometown, to work in the Back Bay a few days a week for fun. It turned into a four to six day a week ride… year round. Having such a tie to the bike, it seemed natural to become a tour guide. He wanted to show off the beauty of the Boston Waterfront areas, beautiful stretches of bike lane paved roads, and the glorious HarborWalk that brings us to where Matt can be found after a long day of touring…the Harpoon Brewery. Now residing in Jamacia Plain, Matt can be found riding everywhere, or perhaps sipping a blend of Yerba Mate and ginger ginseng tea in Harvard Square. His goals include seeing this beautiful planet from the saddle of a bike, from sea to shining sea, with hopes of returning with many more stories.

Keith EspositoKeith is from the small town of Ledyard in southeastern Connecticut. He came to Boston in 2007 to study International Relations and Religion at Boston University and started at Urban AdvenTours fresh off his graduation in 2011. When Keith started riding, he pinned up a map of Boston on his bedroom wall and used a red sharpie to mark all the places he’d visited. Today the map is mostly red, but perhaps Keith’s favorite place to ride is along the Esplanade on a sunny day. Keith loves argyle socks, Russia, and slam poetry. He’s traveled to 13 European countries and his favorite cities are Berlin, Geneva, and Rome.