Eric Gottlieb, President
Portland
Eric fell in love with cycling in 2009 while recovering from a running injury. He quickly started participating in triathlons and cycling events in addition to becoming a regular bike commuter until he started working from home. Originally from rural upstate NY, Eric moved to Maine in 2021 after having lived (and cycled) in various places around the world. He joined the Bicycle Coalition of Maine to help improve cycling safety and driver awareness in Maine.
Dan Emery, Vice President
North Yarmouth
Dan Emery lives in North Yarmouth and practices disability law in Yarmouth. He is a long time member of the BCM. He currently serves on the Board of Pine Tree Legal Assistance, is past Board Chair, and also is involved with Friends of Casco Bay. Dan bought his first 10 speed in 1972 and has been riding ever since. He enjoys events, having ridden the Dempsey Challenge and Mt. Washington Hill Climb numerous times, and many others rides including BikeMaine and the Lobster Ride. He is a former sponsor of Community Cycling Club of Portland. Dan’s primary advocacy goal is simple: get more people riding bikes. He is particularly interested in cycling and pedestrian strategies as a means of combating climate change.
Byron Bartlett, Secretary
Portland
Byron is the Finance Director for Portland Public Library and also serves on the Executive Committee of the Waterfront Alliance. He shares his life with his best friend, husband Chris, their four daughters and their families, and their two grateful dogs Stella Blue and August West. He’s a proud “Papi” to the most awesome crew of grandkids. Byron is an avid bike-to-work commuter and enjoys road and mountain biking as well. Hiking, camping, music, travel, being in and on the water, Scrabble, hammock reading, and cooking are favorite things to do.
Mike Allen, Treasurer
Yarmouth
Mike and his wife Holly moved to Maine 24 years ago. He began cycling 15 years ago to enjoy the Maine outdoors with their three children, and was introduced to the Bicycle Coalition of Maine through the Maine Bike Rally and the Lobster Ride. Over those 15 years, he has participated in both the Trek Across Maine and the Dempsey Challenge. Now that their children are grown, Mike and Holly plan on traveling and including cycling in their adventures. Mike has worked for the State of Maine for 24 years as an economist specializing in state and local tax issues. During the summers, he often commutes up to Augusta by bike.
Allison Burson
Freeport
Allison has over twenty years of experience making public spaces more accessible, equitable, and enjoyable for people. As National Greenway Director at the East Coast Greenway Alliance, Allison oversees a team of eight who work on trail advocacy and development along the east coast. Prior to joining the Greenway team, Allison worked in the nonprofit, foundation, private, higher education and public sectors in Seattle, Boston and the United Kingdom. Allison is a graduate of Wesleyan University with bachelor’s degrees in American studies and environmental studies. A bike commuter and recreational cyclist, she also enjoys running, hiking, swimming, kayaking, baking, and cooking.
Mark Fochesato
Brunswick
Mark is a Principal Engineer at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, where he provides engineering, design, and program support for U.S. Navy shipbuilding initiatives. A graduate of the University of Maine (1993) with a B.S. in Engineering Physics with a Mechanical Engineering concentration, Mark is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Project Management at Northeastern University’s Roux Institute. Before settling in Maine, Mark enjoyed recreational biking and commuting in the desert southwest and Great Lakes region. As an advocate for sustainable transportation, Mark commutes by bicycle to his Brunswick office several days each week. He is passionate about outdoor recreation and pursues his interests through bikepacking, rock and ice climbing, backpacking, and trail running. Mark resides in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife and has two adult children.
Abe Furth
Orono
Abe is the co-founder of Orono Brewing Company and Wild Maine Hard Seltzer. Since graduating from college, Abe’s businesses have played a crucial role in the revitalization of Orono and the greater Bangor Area. An avid outdoorsman, Abe can be found skiing, biking, and enjoying the best the Maine outdoors has to offer. A passionate cyclist, he has biked across America multiple times, and has used his rides to raise funds for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s Bangor-based “earn-a-bike” program.
Jason Neal
Enfield
Jason is the owner of Slipping Gears Cycling in Bangor Maine. He truly enjoys cycling on the roads in Maine as well as the occasional mountain bike ride or race. He has participated in the Trek Across Maine for the last 22-years and loves to share his experience with friends and customers in an effort to encourage everyone to ride.
Sara Olson
Portland
Sarah is Vice President of Advancement at Avesta Housing, where she leads communications and fundraising efforts to expand access to safe, affordable homes across Maine and New Hampshire. With more than two decades of nonprofit leadership experience, she has built a career around strengthening communities and advancing mission-driven organizations. A Portland resident, Sara is deeply connected to BCM’s mission as both a pedestrian and recreational cyclist, and as the mother of an active family that relies on safe streets, trails, and bike paths. She believes walking and biking are essential to healthy, vibrant neighborhoods and is excited to support BCM’s work to make them more accessible for all.
Norman Patry
Portland
Norman grew up in Lewiston and graduated from Boston College. In the spring of 1995, He decided that spending his days pondering variable annuities was not the fulfillment of his childhood dreams. He decided that he needed a challenge, so he quit his job, and although he had not ridden a bike in over 15 years, he bought a bike and did a solo ride on the TransAmerica Trail from Virginia to Oregon. Several years later, he moved back to Maine and founded Portland-based Summer Feet Cycling. Summer Feet is a twenty-four-year-old bicycle tour company offering guided and self-guided cycling tours in the US, Canada, and Europe. In addition, Summer Feet offers day trips in Portland, white labels tours for both US and European Tour Operators and has a bike rental business on the Portland waterfront. Norman is a passionate cyclist and has ridden in over twenty counties. He has served on the boards of Portland Buy Local and Visit Portland.
Cashel Stewart
Portland
Cashel lives in Portland and is a Transportation Planning Manager for the Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG). He enjoys commuting along Baxter Boulevard with his e-bike and is a proud urban cyclist. Through his work and time on the board, Cashel aims to make Maine a safer, more convenient place to walk, bike, and ride transit. Cashel spends much of his free-time working as owner of Lay Day Roasters, roasting delicious coffee in Bayside, traveling throughout New England and beyond, and enjoying what the extended Portland area has to offer through gravel rides, trail runs, skiing, tennis, basketball, bowling, F & B, and concerts.
Katherine Cusack
Kittery
Katharine lives in Kittery, Maine, and comes to the bike advocacy world after experiencing the lingering impacts of a bike accident. She is the founder and leader of a women’s cycling group on the Seacoast, called Mama Wheelies, where she is passionate about using cycling to build community, confidence, and connection. During her day job, she advocates for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and public transportation at the NH State House with a focus on advancing solutions that combat climate change. She is active in the outdoors community, volunteering for Treeline Outfitters as an ambassador, Chicks on Cliffs as a trip leader, the U.S. Forest Service and the Appalachian Mountain Club as a trail maintainer. Off the bike path, you can find her hiking, skiing, climbing, running, and lifting. Katharine is excited to bring her passion for the outdoors, community building, and helping people get safely and confidently on bikes to BCM.
Erin Palin
Waterville
Erin moved to Maine in 2021 after spending the previous decade riding on and off road in Colorado. She found BCM while looking to learn more about cycling in Maine, and it has given her wonderful events and an outlet for the advocacy that means so much to her: bike and pedestrian safety. Erin is the AVP of Donor Services and Donations Processing at Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), with more than 15 years of operations and nonprofit database experience and an M.S. in Data Analytics. She is also Treasurer for the Waterville Women’s Association, which provides scholarships for higher education, and is glad to use her skills to support organizations whose missions she believes in. Erin lives in Waterville with her five pups and spends her free time cycling, swimming, skiing, running, and stand-up paddle boarding.
Emeritus
Charley LaFlamme
Ogunquit
Charley founded the Bicycle Coalition of Maine along with a handful of other cyclists in 1992. He’s a League Cycling Instructor, the League of American Bicyclists’ regional trainer for the Northeast, and an expert bicycle witness for court cases.
David Lipman
Vassalboro
Born in Bangor, David has lived in Maine his entire life, now splitting his time between Florida & Vassalboro. David is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Columbia University, University of Michigan and Boston University School of Law. He has been practicing law since in 1974 and is a member of the Maine Bar Association. David is involved is many civic organizations including twice being President of Temple Beth El, Treasurer of the Maine Bar Association and numerous positions in local sports groups.
David has three children and three grandchildren and has been married to his wife Laura for over 40 years. He is an avid road biker, downhill skier, and fisherman.
Kierie Piccininni
Bangor
Kierie serves as Chief Marketing Officer for Maine Seacoast Mission, a nonprofit operating in Washington County and on Maine’s outer islands. She has volunteered with City of Bangor’s arts commission and operated the city’s bike/ped committee for seven years. While living in Colorado, San Francisco, and New York City, she cut her cycling teeth on commuting and racing. In NYC, Kierie served as a volunteer bike mechanic for the activist nonprofit Times Up! and made a series of short bike films. In 2010, she moved to Maine to stay close to a friend who suffered a traumatic brain injury due to a bicycle-car collision. That experience, and becoming a Community Spoke in 2014, morphed her sense of activism into advocacy for cyclists and pedestrian equity and accessibility. She bike tours extensively around the world and is a licensed cycling instructor through the League of American Bicyclists.
Fred Robie
Freeport
Fred has been involved in the bicycle community across Maine for more than 20 years as a Board Member of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, Common Ground Fair Valet Bike Parking guru, Gorham Bike & Ski jack-of-all-trades employee, and Coffee Ride Bicycle Ambassador. He was awarded the Jeff Miller Spirit of Cycling Award by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine on February 9, 2019.
Tina West
Yarmouth
Tina is an avid road cyclist, proud retiree of Unum, and dedicated non-profit leader. She served on the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s board from 2014 to 2023, including two years as Board President. She currently serves as Board President of the Friends of Worthley Pond, is a Director for Students Empowered to End Dependency (SEED), and is a Town Trail Builder with the Casco Bay Trail Alliance.
Tina and her husband, Brent, enjoy exploring Maine—and destinations around the world—by bike in just about every season.