2024 Squad Members
We are The Philly Bike Expo Squad. We are NOT just another racing team. We are a community of cyclists who are passionate about riding bikes, spreading our passion for cycling, and engaging with everyone and their mother to spread the PBE love far and wide. The Squad has done road, gravel, mountain bike, and triathlon races and events - so whatever you do, you'll fit right in. Randonneur? Mhmm. Cross junkie? Saddle up. Unicyclist? We want you. We really (really) want you. Born in 2018, we are looking for more riders who value community, just can't wait to get out on two wheels whenever possible, and want to be an ambassador for inclusivity in cycling. It doesn’t matter how fast you are, what you ride, how far you ride, even where you ride - the mission is the love of the ride and to spread that love to others.
Bina Bilenky
Bina is the Owner and Director of Operations for the Philly Bike Expo. Bina was always surrounded by bikes growing up, but started cycling after her father, Stephen Bilenky made her an S&S coupled touring bike. Bina took a leap into bike touring as the assistant tour director of the 4 month Tour d’Afrique. She lives in Lewisburg PA and has a deep love for Central PA gravel roads.
Mark Yanagisawa
Mark Yanagisawa rides out of Philly. At a young age, Mark could be found in his backyard, launching his bike off of anything that resembled a jump. After nearly two decades of swimming, Mark started cycling and racing triathlons to feed his competitiveness. Today, Mark can be found in his PBE kit, pink helmet and Goodr sunnies leading group rides, shredding trails, or racing gravel events.
Mark came on board in 2017 and is our fearless and inclusive Squad leader. Mark is a phenomenal athlete, hype man and go to guy for anything from graphics to marketing to logistics.
Miko Quisumbing
“I’m pumped to be back for 2024 and for the opportunity to continue to spread the PBE stoke! I love my family, Philly, riding my bike, and representing an awesome group of people. I am looking forward to tackling all roads on my @prattframeworks frame, and riding with the PBE family. This crew and kit represents love, good vibes and unity.
I believe that everyone should feel comfortable and safe on a bike, and will do my best to always be a welcome and smiling face on the road. I can’t wait for what 2024 has in store for us!”
Trong Nguyen
“Greetings! I am a supply chain/logistics professional by day and full time cycling enthusiast by night. As someone who was not introduced to the bicycle world at a young age, I’m very grateful to have found the Philly local cycling community in 2020. It was not until last year when the Philly Bike Expo Squad welcomed me with opened arms. I am extremely happy to be part of such a wonderful group of people. The incredible positivity just flows so naturally amongst everyone especially my squad members. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to be apart of it once again this year. There is much more joy and good vibes to be shared while I’m outside riding my bikes. I look forward to spreading those feelings with you all on the road as well as the gravel trails this incoming season. Be sure to wave if you catch me out there in my amazing PBE kit! Ride on!!”
Mike Bentz
“Hey, it’s Mike back for my 3rd season with the squad! It’s an honor and privilege to once again be able to represent the Philly Bike Expo for another season. PBE means a lot to me because of how it empowers everyone to share and grow their experiences with bicycles or anything you can pedal for that matter.
Cycling is full of really good people and different perspectives – one of the things I find most fascinating about cycling is how well you can represent yourself in a bike build! No one i know has the exact same bike, the bike is a unique a the person riding it. Ask me about my funky builds and the many transformations my bikes have made over the years, I love to talk about it!
Catch me out usually out on a trail somewhere riding on one of my adventure bikes that I constantly rotate but I’ll also zip around on the road at times as well. A cruise around the Farm Park in Norristown is my usual stomping ground, hit me up for a tour of the secret spots; I hope to ride with so many of yall at some point this year!”
Carrie Greif
Giant hills, long chats, dirt roads, peanut butter snacks, the occasional QOM, and building meaningful connections are a few of the reasons why I am in love with cycling. I’ve lived in 4 countries and 8 cities and bikes have always felt like home. When I discovered gravel and mountain bikes it was like meeting my soul mate. Always excited to encourage others to ride their ride and find flow on and off the bike.
Photo Credit: Dan Powers
Dan Powers
“Ahoy! I am excited to join the PBE Squad this year and ride with old friends and new friends on adventures big and small. I use bikes for transportation, recreation, fitness, travel, and to get my mind right. My mission is to help make cycling a safe, convenient, and fun activity for all people.
I’m a navy veteran and a grad student advocating for sustainable transportation. Aside from bikes, my daily joys are my wife, a good cup of coffee, some groovy percussion, and cuddling with my cats.
Let’s shred!”
Ello Shertzer
“Hello! My name is Ello and I’m a Philly area native. I ride road, gravel, mtb, and general rough stuff, and I absolutely love spending a full day in the saddle with my friends, going bike camping, and exploring new areas. My enthusiasm for long rides has led me to randonneuring in recent years, and I am excited to try the SR series for the first time in 2023. I am a proud card-carrying member of the Philadelphia Dynamo Headlight Society and I always choose to shred instead. In addition to riding bikes, I am a musician and play in a variety of ensembles. Also of note, I am vegan and have two bunnies. I am so excited to join the Squad this year and give back to a community that has given me so much!”
Bobby Graham
“Hi everyone, I am super excited to join the PBE squad this year and looking forward to more time on two wheels with awesome people! I go by Bobby and have been riding a bike my whole life, spending the last 12-ish years on my road bike and breaking into the gravel scene recently. Currently riding out of Delaware, I’m an educator by day and carry a passion for learning and sharing knowledge into everything I do. I love big rides, coffee, dogs, and anything outdoors. Where are we going next?”
Joey Wendel
Hey everyone! My name is Joey and I’ve been a lifelong cyclist and outdoors enthusiast. I love cycling because it’s an awesome way to get around, get outside, feel good, and make new friends. You can find me on gravel and road group rides out of center city throughout the week, and on long rides on the weekend. I’m also a career educator and an active supporter of the Bicycle Coalition’s youth cycling program (BCYC), spreading joy and a love of cycling to youth in our city. I’m stoked to be a part of the PBE squad this year, to continue spending time out on the bike making friends, and to push myself with some new races and long-distance rides during the warmer months. See you out there!
Tyler Cathers
I’m really pumped to be a part of the squad this year. While I’ve been a groupie since 2021 it’s exciting to officially make the cut. The Philly Bike Expo is a group I really believe in and I’m excited for a year of racing and riding ahead.
2016 -> Now: A history of Shrimpy’s racing career with the Philly Bike Expo
Hellloooo Philly Bike Expo Friends! If you have been around for a while, you likely watched this story unfold over the last handful of years. If you are new to the Philly Bike Expo family, I would love to share with you the story of how the Bilenky’s took me under their wing and helped me reach into a cycling multiverse that grew into a career in bike racing.
It all started for me in the fall of 2016. I had gotten a taste of a new side of myself that awakened when the whistle blew, in my handful of bike races the previous season. I dabbled in crits, cross, and heck, even threw in a 100 mile mountain bike race just to really get a taste of the full menu. With swift success and rapid upgrades into the Elite category, I had a strong desire to test myself and see what I was capable of as I progressed, but I was overwhelmed with how one navigates finding a team, mentorship, and support to build on early success in the sport.
It was not too long into these musings that I received a Facebook Message from Stephen Bilenky himself inviting me to be his escort to a gameshow he was due to appear on along with a delightfully wacky set of other invitations to self proclaimed “awkward social events”. As the plot unfolded over proceeding bike-centric hangs, Stephens need for some help with a creative marketing plan for the Philly Bike Expo and my need for a platform to build a bike racing team paired quite well.
From there, the work of building the Philly Bike Expo team became a truly family driven labor of love. Stephen expertly built a one of a kind Cyclocross racin rig’, Aaron thoughtfully designed the Modrian’ beauty that is the evergreen PBE kit design, and Bina lovingly watered and managed the program into maturity.
Philly Bike Expo exhibitors got wind of the project and also pitched in. In its first couple years, Team PBE supported Taylor in moving from Cat 4 to UCI athlete, an age group National Championship Win, and getting that elusive Cat 1 Road Upgrade while representing by Bilenky Cycle Works, Redshift Sports, Velocity, Paul Components, JLVelo, and Dock Street Brewing.
2019 through 2022 saw exciting growth of Team Philly Bike Expo as a womens road racing team – supporting riders in development with ambitions in the pro field and additions of impactful partners Industry Nine and VeloJawn.
When powerhouses Mark Y and Ryan S joined the PBE movement they brought huge community oriented hype and joy. By 2020 we chose to merge the team and the squad to evolve into the community oriented project that it is now, supporting bike passions in a diverse array of forms from Bike Packing to World Cup Racing.
Backed by this incredible history, it has meant the world to me to be able to step back into Philly Bike Expo kit for my 2023 Cyclocross Season. After a full calendar of racing on the road in 23’, I wasn’t sure how prepared I would be to perform in cross. To my surprise, I came into the first domestic UCI weekend in Roanoke, VA to achieve my best domestic UCI results to date, followed up with a pair of top 10’s at Charm City in Baltimore, MD I secured myself a place at the first stop of the 23/24 Cyclocross World Cup Series: Waterloo Wisconsin! Qualifying for and racing a World Cup race with the absolute best athletes in the world on our home turf was a huge accomplishment in my career. Being able to do so in Philly Bike Expo kit, representing proudly the team where I truly got my start, helped me rekindle the motivation of being a scrappy, fierce, untamed NEVER SAY DIE underdog racer. That served me well on the day while I found myself off the back in the starting straight with a mechanical, but after a visit to the pits chasing from DFN up to 16th place – 1 place off from my best World Cup finish.
After taking some rest and recuperation from a long year and sharpening back up with some domestic UCI racing I loaded the cannon again for one last shebang of the 23 CX Season: the Benidorm CX World Cup in Spain. I was tickled to see not only Americans, but Philadelphians come out of the world works in Spain to play a huge role in what ended up being one of the most memorable and fun events of my racing career, even though my results didn’t stand out as a personal best.
Throughout all the years, I owe endless gratitude to the entire Bilenky family and Philly Bike Expo community for the creativity, enthusiasm, and generosity. I can’t think of any other industry event supporting so many riders’ dreams all while bringing these stories into the light to build community and share joy though cycling. Its truly something special that the Bina and the entire Bilenky family has built here, and I feel lucky to be a part of it!