Raised in Millbrook, New York, Alex found the Gila Hike and Bike in a very cool fashion; riding across the country on a women’s tour of the Southern Tier. Her cycling trip from San Diego to Saint Augustine meant that she and her group were reliant on bike shops along the route. After two days resting and recuperating in Silver City, she knew she’d found something special in the town and at the bike shop. After a year of working out the details, she moved back!

Before her cycling tour, Alex was a food educator and an academic who worked for a culinary non-profit that provided job training and scholarships to inner city culinary high school students in the five boroughs of New York City. Today, in addition to working at the Hike and Bike, Alex teaches Culinary Arts at the Aldo Leopold High School, and organizes endurance mountain bike races across New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona with Zia Rides. A graduate of the Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado Springs, Alex enjoys engaging with folks about the importance of bike locks, hydration and the red Chile over at Nancy’s New Mexican diner.

Born in Norfolk, England, Martyn developed a love for golf and spent his youth competing across Southern England. In 2002 he traveled to America to play golf while attending University, and completed a Bachelors degree in English at WNMU. During his time at Western he purchased a mountain bike and discovered Boston Hill, Jeff Reese and Jamie Thompson. The rest is history.

Martyn’s grandfather worked at Raleigh Bikes in Nottingham England, so the opportunity to work closely with Head Mechanic Bill Schum helped unearth a passion for cycling and bicycle repair that only compounded with time. A die hard Norwich City soccer fan, Martyn feels at home in Silver City and is excited to be a part of the local cycling community. He enjoys playing and listening to music and is happiest adventuring along side his two children, Addison and Zeyah and his person, Alex.

Born on a skate board in Richmond Virginia, Eric spent his school years studying audio and video production with a sprinkling of business marketing. He played baseball and basketball for fun, but it wasn’t until he moved to live in the mountains of Asheville, NC that he discovered backpacking. After a month of trips in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, he decided to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. “Thru-hiking the AT opened my eyes to long periods of time outside in new places with new people, and I was hooked.”

While hiking the Grand Enchantment Trail, the ‘tall grasses and wet creeks of the Gila’ took their hold. Leaving behind the growth and crowds of busier outdoor towns, Eric and his wife Tanya moved to Silver City in 2013. While still a backpacker and ultra distance runner, recently Eric has spent more time riding bikes. “It doesn’t get much better than car-camping on small creek in the Gila and sneaking out for a pre-sunrise run or ride.  We’ll never run out of spots to do that in the Gila.” Take a moment to chat with Eric in front of the Gila National Forest map and let him do the talking!

Back in early 2018, fifteen different stray dogs decided to throw a party. One thing led to another and come the morning none of them could remember what happened! Fast forward a couple months and voila, Jacob deGrom-Pearson-Olsen-Doggle was born!

Named after the NY Mets Cy Young award winning pitcher, it’s somewhat surprising that Jacob doesn’t have any interest in baseball whatsoever. He loves going on hiking or mountain biking adventures with his Mom, Alex and he also loves spending time at the Gila Hike and Bike. Our resident Customer Service Expert, Jacob hopes you come by and see him while he’s ‘working’ in the store.