A short Bio of the board members of BACH (Bicycle Alliance of Chapel Hill
President
John Rees
John, a long time Chapel Hill resident has been both a board member and the president of the Carolina Tarwheels bicycle club. He has participated on the Carrboro Open Streets steering committee, and participated, planned and promoted numerous events in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Durham. Activities running the gamut of bike racing to kidical mass events that focus on children and bike safety. He also currently sits on the Chapel Hill Planning Commission, which gives him an early look at projects that can accommodate cycling as part of the pans, and also advocate for t he needs of cycling in review projects being presented to the town. John brings his life long experience of both urban cycling and recreational cycling to help serve the needs and the agenda of BACH
Treasurer
Jim Heil
Jim retired three years ago after a career as a bank examiner. He rides a bicycle regularly with the Carolina Tarwheels and on multiday tours. BACH is his first foray into bicycling advocacy. He has been involved with BACH for over a year and became treasurer at the first election of officers and directors. He is excited by the opportunities for BACH in Chapel Hill and in serving with the experienced and committed people involved in BACH.
Board members:
Joanne Gardner
Joanne moved to Chapel Hill from Wisconsin in 2013 and appreciates the milder climate that contributes to a longer bicycling season. She advocates for healthy lifestyles that include exercise for everybody and recognizes the importance of safe and convenient places throughout the community to engage in an array of recreational and fitness activities. Professionally, she guides people to improve their health through providing integrative nutrition consultations and empowering people to increase their activity. She joined BACH at its inception as a way to contribute to collective community activism and offer voice for the casual, family-oriented and evolving cyclists.
Paul Neebe
Paul is a native of Chapel Hill for forty years and has a vested interest in the community. After obtaining both a Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City, Paul returned home to Chapel Hill because he missed the quality of life this town can provide. Since that time he has developed his career as a professional freelance musician on the trumpet. Paul is also a Real Estate Broker for the past twenty years, with the last twelve as Broker in Charge of his small family Real Estate sales and rental firm. He was also on the Bicycle and Pedestrian advisory Board in Chapel Hill until it was disbanded. Paul is also on the board of the Friends of Chapel Hill Parks, recreation and Greenways.
Kevin Hicks
Kevin has been a resident of Chapel Hill since 2006 and an advocate for youth in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools since 2008. By day he’s a detective uncovering tough problems for clients’ fibre channel issues at IBM. By night he runs Triangle Bikeworks, a youth centered cycling nonprofit. He also sits on the board of Chapel Hill/Carrboro Youth Forward. An initiative that focuses its energies on providing support and funding for nonprofits dedicated to youth related challenges.
Founding members (no longer on the board)
Rainer Dammers
Rainer grew up in southern Germany in a town very similar in size and demographics to Chapel Hill until relocating to Connecticut in 2002 for his job in software development and moving to Chapel Hill in 2005. For the first 30+ years the bicycle combined with public transit was his main mode of transportation followed by the car as a distant second used mostly for recreation through weekend road trips in his convertible.
Finding himself in an environment that forced a complete flip of these priorities Rainer got involved in the town’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory board (BPAB) for town planning to benefit from his experience as a life long bike commuter and has been the chair of BPAB and it’s successor, the Transportation and Connectivity board, since 2010. Realizing the need for a private advocacy group in Chapel Hill and collaborating closely with other cycling groups like the Carrboro Bicycle Coalition, Recyclery, Matt’s montly cruiser rides, local bike shops, and more Rainer co-founded BACH in October 2013 together with active advocates of those groups.
Eric Hyman
Eric has been a resident of Chapel Hill for thirty years during which he has seen a dramatic increase in automobile traffic in and around Chapel Hill and Carrboro that has increasingly affected bicycling and pedestrian safety, and, ultimately, the quality of life. For this reason, he advocates for safe bicycling connections and access, also participated as a member of the Steering Committee for the Central West Focus Area, and now is an active member of the Bicycle Alliance of Chapel Hill, and the Vice Chair of the Chapel Hill Transportation and Connectivity Board.
Eric has enjoyed many years as a road cyclist riding all around the area, and more recently has become an urban cycle enthusiast as a way to increase his time on two wheels and to learn more about in-town routes, connectors, and the overall conditions encountered by bicyclists. This knowledge has been instrumental in bringing value to the working committees on which he participates. Most of all, he works hard to spread the joy and importance of getting out of the car and riding a bicycle!
Joe Sykora
Dick Sloane