In Ellee’s early teens, her
father Bruce began his love affair with cycling
(and started wearing bright neon spandex in
public, much to Ellee’s dismay). Not long after,
Bruce enticed Ellee into mountain biking–however
she still wouldn’t wear neon until her early
twenties. Throughout college she continued to
mountain bike and to commute avidly. After
graduating from Lewis & Clark College, Ellee
took cycling to a new level and became a bike
tourist. For two and a half weeks, she and her
father biked together down the coast from
Astoria, Oregon to San Francisco. From then on
she was in love with touring.
Ellee’s bicycle adventures have led her through
Oregon and Washington as well as Cuba,
Argentina, and Chile. Last spring she guided a
cross-country ride for Womantours on the Lewis
and Clark Trail and cycled for two months with a
fabulous group of women. In addition, Ellee
teaches a cyclist-specific yoga class at River
City Bicycles in Portland, she graduated from a
bicycle mechanics course at the United Bicycle
Institute, and she writes for Oregon Cycling
Magazine. This last fall she continued to
diversify her bicycling experience by racing
cyclocross–a muddy, masochistic, and raucously
unparalleled experience.
From Ellee’s personal endeavors and guiding
experiences, she gained reverence for the
healing potential of physical challenge. She
believes the We Will Because We Can bike ride
has incredible potential to be empowering and
inspirational. As the logistics coordinator,
Ellee is excited to support an event whose
fruits will potentially touch the lives of
hundreds of women. And what better way to do it
than planning one amazing bike ride.
