Coaching Staff

Coach Armstrong has been mountain biking on and off for over 20 years. He has served as a PE teacher at Granby Elementary School since 2003, and before that at Kilbourne Middle School. Over his 20 years of teaching, he has also served as a head middle school football coach, head freshman football coach, head middle school track & field coach, and middle school wrestling coach.  With his love of mountain biking, teaching, and coaching – creating Gators Bike Park and developing the bike team was a natural fit for Coach A! He seems to be in his element surrounded by helmeted kids perched on bike seats!

Meet Coach Robenstine. A father of three & electrical engineer, who loves the freedom and adventure bikes have to offer. Although bikes have been a part his life since preschool, he was introduced to mountain biking 20 years ago in Athens, OH. It is the combination of nature, wellness, grit, & the sense of accomplishment that draws him into the sport. He has raced off & on since 2007 with zero expectations of winning. Having volunteered to coach almost every sport his kids have attempted, he can say without question that Gator’s has been the best experience. To him, Gators is the opportunity to share the joy experienced through riding with friends, overcoming fear & gaining confidence in low pressure environment.

Coach Rog is a father of three with four grandchildren and retired from high school teaching after 36 years. He loves teaching and anything about two wheels. A self-professed bicycle adventure rider, he has ridden self-contained across the United States four times (twice east to west, twice north to south) including the world’s longest mounting bike route, The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route and the Grand Escalante in Southern Utah. He coaches by dangling “challenge carrots” in front of children and then encourages them to accept those challenges by choice when they are ready. His desire is to be part of a child’s personal growth and to help them develop a cooperative Gator team consciousness.  

Coach B has been mountain biking on and off for the past 16 years. He was one of the original coaches to help form the GBP Race Team 4 years ago. He has enjoyed watching his own kids mature in the sport and loves spending time on the trails with them. When Coach B is not on the trail or spending time behind the desk, he enjoys being outside, running and riding his road bike.

Coach Laura has been mountain biking for 15 years. She developed this passion as she began in the sport of Adventure Racing, a multi-disciplinary sport including navigation, mountain biking, running, and paddling. A physical therapist since 2002, her love of endurance sports fueled her desire to specialize her practice to treat runners and active people alike. She also became certified in bike fitting in 2010. She has 2 active boys as well, and is always happy when they are out on the trails with her. As a Gator coach, she enjoys spreading this love for the sport, while watching confidence grow with the kids through each practice and race. 

Coach A-aron has been riding some form of two-wheeled transportation for over 30 years, including mountain biking for over 20. He has worked as an educator for 19 years as a math teacher, principal, director of curriculum, and currently serves the Delaware community in this latter capacity. Additionally, he has had the pleasure to get back to his youth teaching/coaching roots the last two summers with Gators Bike Park and is looking forward to a gnarly summer of adventure by bike. When he is not juggling work, raising two rippers with his wife, or herding three dogs; he enjoys a good book, some tunes, and adventuring outside.

Heidi Coulter is a mother of three and grandmother of 2 that fell in love with mountain biking over 18 years ago. She has been playing in the woods and racing ever since. She is an avid racer that has traveled all over the United States competing in 100 mile races, stage races and won the womens pro/expert Ohio Mountain Bike Series in 2019. She loves sharing her knowledge, experience and passion for mountain biking through instructing and mentoring kids. This is her third year as a coach for the Gators Mountain Bike Team. She is the President of COMBO (Central Ohio Mountain Bike Organization), Lead Instructor for Dirt School by COMBO and is a BICP-Certified Level 2 Intermediate Skills Instructor.

Coach Downs, formerly a bike-to-work kind of guy, is just getting started with mountain biking but is loving it nonetheless. He's been riding the trails for about three years, ever since his two boys joined the Gators team. He enjoys taking the family on outdoor adventures, which recently have featured tons of new biking experiences. When he's not coaching for Gators, you can find him on the ice – coaching hockey or playing broomball – or in the garage building bike features for the neighborhood kids to ride.

Dan is a lawyer by trade, but dreams of mountain biking all day. Dan is an accomplished racer, who has completed the National Ultra Endurance Series 100-mile category twice, and took second place in the 100k series on singlespeed in 2019. Dan is also a finisher of the Leadville 100 and the Singlespeed World Championship races. But his favorite races are local. Additionally, Dan is a past President of the Central Ohio Mountain Biking Organization and the Chair of the Ohio Region Mountain Biking Advisory Counsel.  Dan’s current volunteering is focused on youth involvement in mountain biking. Dan is the founder of Trailer Park Racing, an Ohio mountain bike team, which sponsors the Gators Race Team. Trailer Park Racing also accepts Gators “graduates” when they’re ready to move into the next stage of racing. Coaching for the Gators Race Team has been the highlight of Dan’s volunteer work – “there’s something about those Tuesday night rides with the kids that reminds you why you started riding in the first place.”

Coach Chris got his start with cycling back in the 1970s - riding a BMX bike he built with his dad around his hometown of Marietta. A relative newcomer to mountain biking, Chris has only been riding the singletrack for about the last 10 years - prior to that he was an avid runner, road cyclist, skier and backpacker.

Jim is faculty at Ohio State University where he studies lakes and rivers and is the father of two girls at Worthington Estates. As a teenager, he raced road bikes and also got his first exposure to mountain biking in the rolling fields of Iowa. Jim took a couple of decades off from biking to play ultimate frisbee and then started mountain biking in earnest after moving to Montana a decade ago. He loves riding up long, steep hills and is confused why no one else seems to enjoy that. Jim is excited to share his love of mountain biking, team sports, and outside activities with kids.

The training wheels were off at the age of 4 and many hills have been climbed since. At 6 yrs old my dad would ride with us 6 miles to town to go to the Dairy Queen. EVERY Saturday. That was 12 miles on a banana seat for a banana split. Those banana splits turned into 50 mile rides by the third grade.....still on the banana seat. In HS, I got to do 300 mile camping tours each summer. We toured the Finger Lakes, the Upper Peninsula of MI, and most of Ohio. In college I started riding mountain bikes.......I just realized that this is going to take a long time. Perhaps I'll just summarize. Coach Huey lives to ride.

Coach Hull is excited to be a coach this season. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University, a stay at home dad, and has two daughters on the team. He has coached soccer and lacrosse for many seasons. His reason for coaching is about growth, not wins and losses. Growth not only in skill sets and development as players, but more importantly their growth into strong, kind, and confident young people. This team really supports and rallies around that concept in a fun, safe, and positive way. 

Coach Kurt Koelling grew up racing BMX bikes in northern New Mexico in the 1970s. Bike riding opened up a world of adventure, allowing Kurt and his friends to experience the thrill of freedom as they explored the terrain near the Rio Grande for an entire day at a time. Kurt stopped biking for many years but continued with other competitive activities, including 4 years of NCAA swimming and 20 years of remote control airplane competitions. He is an eight-time national and one-time world RC aerobatic airplane champion. Kurt returned to biking when Kaden, his son, showed an interest in riding bikes at a very young age. Mountain biking became an ideal activity for Kurt and Kaden to pursue together as Kaden grew older, combining the enjoyment of the outdoors with the thrill of competition. Kurt and Kaden have enjoyed traveling to and participating in various OMBC races throughout Ohio. Kurt’s profession as a college professor and years of experience teaching students makes the transition to coaching with Gators a natural step. Kurt looks forward to contributing to this amazingly dedicated group of coaches, parents, and riders.

Growing up, I biked with my best friend to 7-11 for Slurpees. My time biking took a long pause...until I married Coach Huey. His love for all kinds of biking adventures opened my eyes to the fun and freedom bikes bring. And, now, I’d like to share that with the Gators!

Coach Nicky started mountain biking when he was 14 years old growing up in California. After moving to Ohio for optometry school, getting married and having kids, he started riding road and mountain bikes more seriously as a way to get in shape. He currently works as clinical faculty at OSU College of Optometry. He has two boys on the Gator team and enjoys watching them become more confident mountain bikers, learn to be good teammates and grow to love being outside. In his free time, he likes going on adventures with his family, tinkering with his bikes and playing the guitar. He is excited to work with the team to share his love of bikes and the great outdoors.

Coach Wes Lewis is a participant of all things outdoors. He got a taste of mountain biking when a friend invited him along and rediscovered it in 2017 during a trip to Asheville, NC. Coach Lewis is a firefighter/paramedic for the City of Westerville and teaches firefighter training at Delaware Area Career Center. When not mountain biking, hiking, or firefighting, he will be found on his motorcycle subscribing to the mantra Two Wheels Good.

Coach Amy is new to coaching the Gators. She's had 2 kids on the team for the past 3 years and has coached soccer for over 5 years. She played soccer at Capital University for 4 years and thrives on competition and fun! She participated in the Gators Adult mountain bike class last year and is excited to be able to build excitement and provide encouragement for young bikers on the team! Amy and her family love camping with the GBP Team too!!

Coach Miles has been mountain biking on and off for 20 plus years. He is a Hospital Pharmacist who has been practicing professionally as well as training professionals since 2006. He enjoys coaching, learning and helping others develop skills in all aspects of life. With two children on the Gators team, he was excited to have the opportunity to join other coaches to inspire and support kids riding bikes, challenging themselves and encouraging them toward a healthy outlet.

Dave Moriarty has taken up a love for mountain biking since his daughters joined Gators.  Dave enjoys getting outdoors whether riding trails or just hanging out by a campfire. Dave has 2 daughters that attend Granby Elementary. Dave graduated from Franklin University and works locally in the mortgage industry for a national company.  Dave serves on the Trailgators Board and is always willing to help serve the Mission of Gators Bike Team.    

Scott Reeves is in his third year coaching with the GBPark MTB Team. After multiple years coaching youth basketball, Scott found the GBPark MTB Team presented an exciting and unique opportunity. Coach Reeves is passionate about motivating kids to be active and to challenge themselves. 

Coach Rizek has been riding on and off since purchasing his first mountain bike in 1998. He owns Rizek Construction and Butch Bando Concrete, because you have to try to make money so you can buy mountain bikes and road bikes and bmx bikes and beach cruisers and unicycles or whatever gets your wheels turning. He has competed in lots of running races, triathlons, cycling, and most recently mountain biking. It’s possible that he started biking to release some energy that would otherwise get him into trouble. He wants other kids to take the same (or maybe just similar) approach. Get outside. Create positive energy. And get involved in a community that does the same.  

Madi Sayre is brand new to the sport of MTB but loves being outside, staying active, helping kids, and has some road bike experience! She is the school counselor at Granby Elementary where she works to make the students feel empowered, loved, and supported. When she is not at school, she loves spending quality time with her husband and soon-to-be one year old son! She is looking forward to engaging with her students and other bikers in a new way while also challenging herself to try something new.

Jeff is a Level 2 MTB certified instructor, and committed to coaching new riders with Rick and the rest of his awesome coaching team. Some call me Papa Gnome, so grateful for the privilege to work with youth here in Central Ohio.

Coach Tamerlano is new to the team this year, but has helped with volunteer work the past several seasons. He has coached youth soccer and basketball and excited about helping with Gators. This will be the 3rd season for his son and daughter. With some experience with road riding, he is excited to train for mountain bike races in the future.

Coach Paul is a dedicated endurance athlete having completed several long distance endurance events such as Dirty Kanza (2019), Ironman Louisville (2016), Espcape from Alcatraz (2017) and countless other marathons and triathlon events – including off road triathlons! Paul also enjoys participating in the OMBC MTB races during the summer. Paul has three kids and has helped coach basketball, baseball and was a Cub Scout den leader for 5 years. Paul is a pilot for Southwest Airlines and actively engages in the Adopt-a-Pilot program which places Southwest pilots in 5th grade classrooms and helps lead aviation centered curriculum activities. Two of Paul's sons are on the Gator team and nothing makes Paul happier than ripping through the woods trailing right behind his boys! 

 Coach Logan grew up outdoors. In his youth you could find him in the woods, on 2 wheels riding all over his hometown, or swiping his dad's tools to fix bikes. He was introduced to mountain biking as a college student and has casually enjoyed the sport ever since. When he's not being dad to 3 boys, coaching soccer, or riding; he fixes cool things that shoot x-rays! Don't worry if you find his bike abandoned along the trail... He's probably just off in the woods foraging for pawpaws or morel mushrooms. He's also full of dad jokes and has been described as a real fungi.

Coach Brittany is a newbie to mountain biking. She enjoys taking long bikes rides around town with her family that usually involve stopping for ice cream. Trail riding has been added to the mix since discovering the Gators. She has 4 kids on the team and is looking forward to growing her love and knowledge for the sport as she coaches this year. As a former elementary teacher and now homeschool mom, she is excited to be coaching such an awesome sport and hopes it becomes a lifelong love for all of the riders.

Coach Nate has been mountain biking since he saved enough for a Schwinn Moab in the 90's! He started mountain biking recreationally before taking up racing downhill, dual slalom, and cross country while studying at Ohio State University. Fast forward a number of years and he now rides trails and gravel recreationally, but really enjoys taking his son, Max, and other kids to the trails to give them the STOKE!

Coach Ashley has been shuttling kids to Gators Bike Park since 2017 and is known on her street for getting kids on two wheels. She has two boys on the team and is married to the coach in the bunny suit.  Her favorite things about biking are watching her kids ride, being surrounded by nature, and all the cool places you can go. Ashley is very involved in the youth sports scene in Worthington and has been coaching field hockey since 2014.  Now she's taking her love for coaching to the trails!