robert martens - president

Robert and his family moved to Cochrane in 2004 after visiting the area several years before that and for its opportunities and great outdoors. Robert has been a competitive road and cyclo cross cyclist since 1984 and raced in Europe from 1984 till 1996.

He is currently working in the sports clothing industry with Rogelli Sportwear and continues to enjoy the great outdoors and is always trying to find new gravel roads in the area. Working with the other members of Bike Cochrane, Robert’s passion lies in sharing his experiences pursuing a culture of cycling and safe cycling community with the objective to increase the connectivity in and around Cochrane in collaboration with all stakeholders.

Robert is also our gravel group rides leader.

Robert can be reached at robert@bikecochrane.com

ryan hopping - vice president

Ryan started racing mountain bikes and working in bike shops at 13 years old and that experience shaped the rest of his life. Since then he has spent time racing every discipline possible on two wheels.

When Ryan and his wife Tanya started a family he began coaching youth mountain bike programs. "I want to do this now so when my kids are old enough someone cool will help coach them too." This passion is what ultimately led to the first Bike Cochrane Kids mountain bike camp in 2021.

Ryan and his family moved to Cochrane in 2015 and saw a huge potential for cycling culture. Ryan is proud to call Cochrane home, raise his family here, and excited to be part of Bike Cochrane to make our beautiful town a better place to ride a bicycle.

Ryan is also the Trail Steward for the Buffalo Bean trails.

Ryan can be reached at ryan@bikecochrane.com

JIM ROONEY - Treasurer

Jim has always loved being in the outdoors and the freedom that biking brings from a young age, when he saved up for and bought his own first bike. He moved to the Cochrane area over 20 years ago and has set down roots as one of the founders and now Managing Director of Garmin Canada. He has built his life around making products and then getting out and using them. You might see him around town swimming, running or riding.

As part of Bike Cochrane, Jim wants to be part of a team that helps build a bike friendly community that encourages people of all ages to get out on their bikes and help facilitate a network of multi-use pathways, trails in our amazing surrounding terrain and safe connectivity to get out and explore our amazing surrounding areas – all without getting in a car.

Jim can be reached at jim@bikecochrane.com

paul perrault - director of operations

Paul and his young family moved to the Cochrane area 7 years ago for the proximity to the mountains and the outdoors, along with all of the services available here. Through mountain biking, road biking, scrambling, hiking, back-country skiing, resort skiing, and pretty much anything else outside, Paul values being able to recreate close to home and wants to bring more possibilities to Cochranites for bike-mounted adventures. Through Bike Cochrane, Paul is passionate about being able to connect safely within Cochrane using two wheels and is committed to using data-driven decision-making to prioritize, plan, fund, maintain, and implement cycling infrastructure in our town and area. Our community only gets better when passionate, energetic people decide to invest themselves in the community, and Paul looks forward to all that Bike Cochrane and our community can produce! Volunteer with us and help improve cycling for all of Cochrane!

Paul can be reached at paul@bikecochrane.com.

ERIN VANDERMAREL - secretary

Erin first moved to Cochrane in 2011 for work and instantly fell in love with the town vibe, pathways and proximity to the mountains and the adventures that awaited. After living 'out of town' for a few years and having two kids, she moved back to town in 2020 so she could swap out her car for her bike. Being able to commute by bike to school and work was a priority when choosing where she wanted to live in town. What drew her to support Bike Cochrane? Besides the amazing merch, the passion of its members and great initiatives to make Cochrane a safe biking community jives with what she wants for her kids growing up here. She looks forward to being part of the future of Bike Cochrane!

Erin can be reached at erin@bikecochrane.com

ed bernard - Director at large

Ed recently retired to Cochrane in 2022 and joined Bike Cochrane that spring to meet local cyclists and learn their way around town. He joined as a volunteer on the trail crew that summer. In 2023, he signed up to be a trail crew leader. He's super keen on what the group has accomplished, especially the kid programs!

He has a background of volunteering on the board for the Guelph Kayak Club in southern Ontario for approximately 15 years and is hoping that his years of experience can be helpful to Bike Cochrane. He's looking forward to being part of what Bike Cochrane has planned in the future.

Ed can be reached at ed@bikecochrane.com

shanna cremers - director at large

Shanna has been a recreational cyclist for as long as she can remember. With a passion for trail riding, gravel and cycle commuting, as well as Fat biking and riding BMX casually with her kids at Cochrane BMX.

Having lived in Canmore for 13 years, becoming a Cochrane resident in 2015, Shanna found the lack of cycle culture in Cochrane made it hard to adapt to a new town, she’s with Bike Cochrane to help see our cycling culture and infrastructure grow to create a lively cycling community that her family, neighbours and visitors can enjoy for decades. Shanna is passionate about encouraging more women to join the sport in a welcoming and supportive way. Shanna has owned and operated a Graphic Design studio since 2009, and is the voice behind our Social Media.

Shanna can be reached at shanna@bikecochrane.com

Kendra Gowdy - Book Keeper

Evan Brydges - Sponsorship Coordinator

Shane Hudson - Group Ride Coordinator

Bri Sharpe and Eric Howey - Grant Coordinators

Jennifer Bouwsema - AT Lead Data Scientist

Jennifer Rooney - Bike Shop Liaison & AT Committee

David Lamb - AT Committee Member

Devin Lafleche - AT Committee Member

Amit Dutta - XC Race Coordinator & Trail Crew Leader

Sylvain Vanier - Bow Ridge Trail Steward

Chris Coyles - Sunset Ridge Trail Steward

Eric Perrault - Cochrane Ranch Trail Steward

Ryan Sheehan - Mt St Francis Trail Steward

Chris Girard - Sunterra Trail Steward

Kelly Bell - Bow Meadows Trail Steward

Shayne Beattie - Rivercrest Trail Steward

Graham Torrie - Trail Crew Leader

Cindy Tester - Ladies MTB rides Leader