Welcome Brock Howell and David Lee!

We’re excited to introduce you all to our new staff members, Brock Howell and David Lee.

Brock Howell was hired at the end of June as Cascade’s Policy & Government Affairs Manager – the position vacated by Craig Benjamin.

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Brock has a J.D. from the Vermont Law School and comes to us from Futurewise, where he had worked as King County Program Director since 2011. Brock previously served as Futurewise’s interim legal director in 2008, and spent two years working as a state policy advocate for Environment Oregon.

Brock was born and raised on a small cherry orchard in Prosser, Wash. with four siblings. Growing up, bicycling meant having the freedom to ride into town to visit parks and friends whenever he wanted. But with fast cars and loose gravel, Brock saw that big improvements needed to be made so more people could be safe and feel comfortable riding a bike.

After breaking his leg in college, Brock bought a road bike to speed up his recovery and quickly fell in love with 50 to 80 mile rides through the Palouse Hills of Eastern Washington.

Beyond his passion for better communities through transportation and land use decisions, Brock tries to find time to run, bike, hike and drink microbrews. Most mornings you can find him sipping a doppio at his neighborhood coffee shop, and pedaling around town on stylish Linus Gaston 5 while wearing a suit.

Welcome, Brock!

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 David Lee has been hired as our new rides director.  In this new position, David will oversee, manage and promote Cascade Bicycle Club’s rides program, including daily rides, tours, training series and other rides.

David comes to us with years of program management and legal experience in a range of industries. He worked as a director and field instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), managed field programs and campus facilities in Baja California, worked as Corporate Counsel for Wizard of the Coast Inc, and served as Corporate Counsel for Delta Dental Plan of California.

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His love for bicycling however, is more of a recent development.  It wasn’t long ago that David himself was a new rider and student of Cascade’s bicycle education program.

David bought his first bicycle as an adult in August 2009.

“I rode mostly on the sidewalks because I was uncomfortable riding in traffic. Along with the bicycle, I purchased a tube, pump and tire irons but had no idea how to actually fix a flat,” recalled David. “After an Internet search, I signed up for Bike Ed 101 at an organization I had never heard of at the time called Cascade Bicycle Club.

“After two days of classroom instruction and riding on streets, I received my diploma on August 23, 2009. I know this date well because the diploma hangs prominently on the wall of my home and has changed my life.”

Next, David dove into Cascade’s free daily ride program and grew more and more confident with each ride.

“If it were not for the class and Cascade’s daily ride program, I do not believe I would be a recreational cyclist today,” said David. “In all likelihood, my bicycle would be collecting dust in the garage.”

Over the past four years, David has found joy in bike touring and rode his loaded touring bike from Colorado to Virginia. He has also become a Cascade volunteer, offering up his time and bike mechanic skills to rebuild donated children's bikes for Cascade’s Major Taylor and Earn-a-Bike programs.

“I have made countless friends through cycling with the Cascade daily rides program as well as club tours. I look forward to sharing my passion for cycling as recreation and as a way to build community,” said David.

Welcome, David!