Meet our bike education team!
Dan Hernandez : Lead Instructor
Dan is spending much of his adult life confirming what he learned as child. Playing is great and the bicycle is our species’ finest invention.
This ‘testing’ involved bike commuting to schools in the east and central US, and culminated in a Masters in ecology. After working ten years domestically and internationally in conservation, often choosing jobs based on their bike commute and quitting car travel for years at a time, he began teaching recreation.
Now ten years into his second career he’s convinced of the power of recreation to change lives, communities, and ecosystems. After certifications in sea kayaking and rock climbing, his favorite ‘work’ still involves cycling. He’s been a cycling instructor since 2008 and loves working with the Bike East Bay cycling instructors and East Bay community. Dan now coaches and manages Bike East Bay’s large group of bike education instructors.
Bonnie Wehmann : Bike Education Instructor
“I’m a mom of two teen boys and started Easy Street Cycling camps after teaching my sons and their friends how to safely and legally bike to middle school. I’ve been teaching kids how to communicate with all road users so they feel prepared and confident to bike by themselves. I love coaching kids and seeing the pride and excitement in their faces when they work hard to learn a new traffic skill and then successfully nail it! I have lots of experience teaching the Urban Cycling class to audiences of all ages and challenge myself each time to make it as fun, entertaining and informative as I can for class attendees!”
Binky Brown : Bike Education Instructor
“I have been volunteering or working with bike safety and mechanics in Oakland for over a decade. I am a certified mechanic and safety instructor with an emphasis on representing and supporting people from underrepresented groups learn in comfortable environments, especially BIPOC, queer, trans/non-binary/gender variant and low-income families with children. Adult Learn to Ride and Basic mechanics are some of my favorite topics to instruct. I love hands on learning!”
Carolyn Richardson : Bike Education Instructor
“I enjoy building confidence in students and helping them discover the joy of biking.”
Chris Auriemma : Bike Education Instructor
“I have been teaching classes with Bike East Bay for about 6 years. I have mostly taught Urban Cycling 101, both in the classroom and road sections, and Adult Learn to Ride classes. It is wonderful to help people enjoy riding bikes!”
Anthony DiSalvo : Bike Education Instructor
“I am a lifelong cyclist! I was one of the founding members of my bike club in high school, my bicycle was with me onboard ship in the Navy, and I have ridden my bicycle in many countries. As a League Certified Instructor, I have been teaching cycling safety in the Bay Area since 2009 for Bike East Bay and the San Francisco Bike Coalition. My teaching experience includes all levels of bicycle education in the classroom, on the road, and consulting with local cycling clubs safety programs. I instruct all age groups, from middle school to adults, to ride for the first time. I enjoy local cycling daily and wide-ranging weekend recreational riding. When people ask me why I ride my bicycle, I respond, “Because its fun!””
Malay “Taco” Khamsyvoravong : Bike Education Instructor
“I’ve been a bike educator for 8 years and have been teaching with Bike East Bay since 2015! I love hearing about what brings folks to BEB’s classes- especially for the Adult Learn to Ride classes. Students’ stories are often humbling and inspiring; some folks are overcoming fear or other challenging emotions around biking, while others are just elated to practice and ride bikes together. I believe that learning to ride a bike is a way to connect people to the joy of moving their bodies, and I think that biking can be a tool for people—especially women, nonbinary folks, youth, and people of color—to claim their right to public spaces.”
Jennifer Holmes-Ledet : Bike Education Instructor
“I’ve been a bike educator for 8 years and have been teaching with Bike East Bay since 2015! I love hearing about what brings folks to BEB’s classes- especially for the Adult Learn to Ride classes. Students’ stories are often humbling and inspiring; some folks are overcoming fear or other challenging emotions around biking, while others are just elated to practice and ride bikes together. I believe that learning to ride a bike is a way to connect people to the joy of moving their bodies, and I think that biking can be a tool for people—especially women, nonbinary folks,
Maya Carson : Bike Education Instructor
Maya loves teaching youth and families, as well as adults who are getting on a bike for the first time, or are getting back on a bike after many years. She was raised in the sunny and foggy city of Berkeley where she was able to ride a bike to high school everyday, and never stopped riding. Inspired by programs like the Institute for Sustainable Transport, Transportation Alternatives, Bikes Not Bombs and Trips for Kids, she is a co-founder and collective member of Cycles of Change, and enjoys working with adults and families as an instructor with Bike East Bay.
Dartian Fierce Kaufman : Bike Education Instructor
“I teach Road classes, Learn to Rides, Family Cycling Workshops and love helping riders of all ages gain confidence and skills. I became an LCI in 2019 and am a collective member and Bike Educator at Cycles of Change. My favorite Bike Education settings are going on adventurous and character building rides with the youth and teaching Bike Mechanics!”
Melanie Curry : Bike Education Instructor
Melanie Curry has been riding her bike since she was six, tagging along after her faster and more adventurous older siblings. But it was a bicycle trip down highway 1 on the California coast in college that made her realize how well suited bicycles are for moving the human body. Since then, she’s always tried to live where she could ride a bike to work and to play. She wants everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy the same sense of freedom and joy she gets when she rides.
Diana Serafini : Bike Education Instructor
“I love the process of guiding and empowering a person through their experience of learning to ride and becoming a safer and happier rider. Focusing on each individual, listening to their concerns, and finding the best way to communicate the instructions to them helps them have success at every step of the way. The smiles that light up their faces as they master each new skill is very rewarding. I enjoy teaching people of all ages and levels. I became an LCI in 2006 to get more people to ride bikes and to ride safely as my contribution to reduce green house gas emissions from transportation and to create a positive impact on people’s lives.”
Sean Delizo : Bike Education Instructor
“I view bicycles as a transformative vehicle for independence and radical empowerment. I have taught bike education in Alameda County for over 7 years through Bike East Bay and the Safe Routes to Schools program with an emphasis on working with young people. Outside of bike education, I am a credentialed, multiple-subject teacher with experience teaching Kindergarten, 3rd, and 5th grade students and is currently the Lead Educator for the California Museum. On my free time, I enjoy rock climbing, bike camping, and making and eating delicious foods!”\
Kelly Dunlap : Bike Education Instructor
“In 2009, I took one of BEB’s bike classes with my mother in law as a way to help her be a safer rider. I was already pretty experienced, and wasn’t expecting to learn much. I was so wrong! I was shocked at how much information I just hadn’t known, so when I was looking for a way to work with people more, getting my LCI just made sense. I absolutely love sharing what I know to help people not only feel safer, but to actually become safer bicyclists.”
Jason Serafino-Agar : Bike Education Instructor
Jason has been involved in bicycle education since 1995 and believes that our communities become better places to work, shop, and live as we bike more everday. Before becoming a Stay-at-Home Dad, he helped expand the Bike East Bay Education Program and create the San Francisco Safe Routes to School Program. He believes that bicycles can add joy and resilience to our lives and looks forward to seeing you make your bike dreams come true.
Bruce Wolff : Bike Education Instructor
“As an instructor for Bike East Bay for nine years, I’ve really enjoyed teaching people of all ages how to ride a bike. From toddlers riding on balance bikes, to adults learning to ride on two wheels for the first time, I feel I have helped provide more joy and freedom to their lives. Bike East Bay is truly a special organization that allows me to continue this passion that never gets old.”
Jianhan Wang : Bike Education Instructor
“Learning to ride a bicycle was one of the most painful and difficult things I have done in my life. It took a long time with repeated scrapes on my legs. However, once I did, it became a great moment of joy and pride that inspired me to ride for transportation. After completing the Urban Cycling 101 class series and receiving encouragement from a Bike East Bay Instructor, I eventually decided to become one too. I have taught with Bike East Bay for over 3 years, with other bicycle education programs in other parts of the Bay Area, and have also taught private lessons. I like helping people overcome fears, become more confident, and enjoy biking more. My favorite moments are when I see people get something challenging to click for them and swell with joy and pride, especially in the Learn-To-Ride classes— in a much shorter time than it took me and without the physical injuries.”
Kristin Maravilla : Bike Education Instructor
“I took my first bike education class after years of biking for fun and bike commuting. The instructors make it educational and fun, so I signed up for more classes and eventually became an instructor. Now, I prefer teaching on-bike classes, such as Adult Learn-to-Rides, bike rodeos, and road skills classes. I enjoy sharing biking tips and best practices with class participants and find it rewarding to see their bike handling skills and confidence on the bike improve.”
Nick Marti : Bike Education Instructor
“I have worked in the bike education space since 2015, starting out as a volunteer for Freedom from Training Wheels with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. I then worked for SFBC as a bike valet, interim program coordinator, and bike education outreach specialist between 2015 and 2019. I developed as a bike instructor with YBike in the Presidio and have taught classes with Bike East Bay since 2016. I love empowering folks to get on bikes and ride with traffic, especially beginners!”
DC Carr : Bike Education Instructor
“I’ve been teaching with Bike East Bay since 2015 and I have been a bike commuter since 2010. I like talking with people who are just getting started bike commuting or who are thinking about making the switch to discuss the simple things, and who ask questions like, “How do you lock your bike?”, “What do you do when you get a flat?” or “What’s the safest way across this intersection?” I’ve made a lot of mistakes as a cyclist over the years, and hope that I’ve learned from them. I’m always happy share what I’ve learned and what I’ve tried!”
Nancy Hernandez: Bike Education Instructor
“I love to share the magic of bikes and have been teaching classes with Bike East Bay since 2019. I also teach classes across the Bay with the SF Bike Coalition. My favorite things about teaching are connecting with others through bikes and getting to see students experience joy and become more confident on bikes.”
Reginald “RB” Burnette Jr: Bike Education Instructor
“I enjoy anything that involves a hands-on approach to biking: Repairs, group riding, family cycling, and youth art bike decorating!”
Rose Slam! Johnson: Bike Education Instructor
“I left the environmental education field to I live in San Francisco and ride bikes with middler schoolers. It was so fun to ride throughout the city and help them prepare to ride to school. I love working with adults who are learning how to ride for the first time. It is truly amazing to watch someone go from never riding a bike (or not having ridden a bike in 20+ years) to coasting along with confidence and joy. It is as if their inner child is finally back at the wheel. Currently, I work as a small business coach and practice the same strategy; small sweet steps, intentional skill building, and lots of fun.”
Sam Gross: Bike Education Instructor
“I have been an LCI for over 5 years and enjoy teaching children and adults at all levels-from those who have never been on a bike to advanced riders. One of my biggest strengths as an instructor is being able to meet people where they are and helping them achieve their goals with off bike training and instruction. I strongly believe the freedom and joy that so many of us gain when we first learn to ride a bike can be achieved no matter what age we start at or what point in our lives we approach cycling as a means of transportation or recreation. Sharing that experience and knowledge with people of all ages is something I truly enjoy. My teaching experience has lead me to teach classes and develop programing throughout Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Luis Obispo Counties. I have also helped design courses in most of these counties. In my career, I have run county wide Safe Routes to School programs and designed programing and infrastructure to promote safe walking and biking as an engineer and planner for many years. However, now I currently run a camping outfitter that specializes in manufacturing kitchenettes for overlanding and vanlife.”
Smitty : Bike Education Instructor
Robert Prinz: Education Director
Robert manages Bike East Bay’s education program, coordinating and promoting up to 150 free classes to thousands of adults, youth, and families all over Alameda and Contra Costa Counties each year, made possible by the amazing work of up to two dozen certified bike instructors.
Robert is himself a League of American Bicyclists-certified instructor, was chair of the Emeryville bike/walk committee (2011-12), and a founding member of the Oakland bike/walk commission (2014-18). You can find him on Twitter posting new bikeway construction and paving updates via the hashtag #TheSmoothening.
Learn more or take a class yourself via our education page here. Contact Robert by phone at (510) 845-7433 ext 2, or by email at Robert (at) BikeEastBay (dot) org.
Dani Solis: Education Coordinator
Dani is excited to help connect people as the Education Coordinator: particularly to a love of joyful movement with bicycling. After moving to Berkeley from San Jose for college, she noticed a difference in how people engaged with the street and was inspired to get her own bike and take public transit whenever possible. Dani holds a BA in Urban Studies with a minor in Food Systems and comes to the Bicycle advocacy space with a background in food studies. She was formerly a fellow at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in Washington, DC.
Contact Dani at Dani (at) BikeEastBay (dot) org.
Join Our Team!
We are always looking for more talented and passionate instructors to join our team, and be paid to teach evening, weekend, or daytime classes in English, Spanish, or Cantonese. The first step is to attend our free Urban Cycling 101 class series, for which the full schedule of East Bay sessions can be found at BikeEastBay.org/education.
Learn more about how to get involved by contacting Education Director Robert Prinz at robert@bikeeastbay.org.
