Meet Our Skills Clinic Coaches!
Melissa Colflesh
Melissa started riding the local south eastern trails of Michigan in 1997. She rode through the spring and summer for 4 or 5 years before she stopped riding. It wasn’t until she was getting closer to finishing her Bachelor’s degree that she started to ride her mountain bike regularly again. A friend convinced her to give a mountain bike race a shot, so she did. Melissa was immediately hooked. She really enjoyed pushing herself and seeing how she could improve her times on the race courses. She raced for about 7 years here in Michigan, but found that moving from Sport to Expert/Elite was difficult. Melissa started to realize that her skills at that level were not quite on par and eventually she backed off from racing and just rode for fun and fitness.
She’s taken some mountain biking skills clinics in Brevard, NC with the Ladies All Ride group. They were a great experience and Melissa found that she had some bad habits she’s had to work through to improve how she rides her bike better. She’s also attended some Women’s Weekend skills clinics at Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Cleveland, OH. These were helpful to learn how to properly pump through a pump track.
Melissa appreciates how lucky we are to have so many wonderful trails in southeastern Michigan. She’s been able to enjoy riding them for many years. Now, she wants to give back to the Michigan Mountain Biking community by hosting beginner trail rides to help people new to the sport ride the local trails with someone who has a great deal of experience riding them. Melissa looks forward to this experience and hopes to be able to make others more comfortable on their bikes riding the trails.
Jamie McKinney-Brown
Jamie, like so many others, didn’t find mountain biking until her 30s. Riding in the back of the pack, she remembers what is like to be a true beginner. After her first year of riding, she became completely obsessed with the community, building skills, and riding any singletrack she could find! In 2022 she got her mountain bike instructor certification though BICP and loves coaching! In 2023, she founded Lady Parts Mountain Bike Team. Jamie loves to race all around the state and travel with her husband, Dave, to all MTB destinations! In addition to biking, she loves gardening, camping and playing with her dog!
Anne Grofvert
Anne Grofvert has a passionate commitment to make cycling fun, safe, and inclusive for everyone. She is a skilled cyclist, certified coach, and accomplished mountain bike and cyclocross racer. Anne has also logged thousands of hours in service to Mid-Michigan trails, working with the Mid-Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMMBA) as a board member and trail coordinator to design, build and maintain challenging and sustainable singletrack. She has also developed maps, signage and wayfinding systems for many trails.
Anne shares her passion for riding and the outdoors by leading frequent group rides and skills clinics. She also led the development of Dirt School at Ingham County’s Burchfield Park – a mountain bike playground and skills area designed to help beginning riders build the skills and confidence to tackle more advanced trails.
Jimmie Colflesh
Jimmie started riding a bike when he was a kid with friends around the neighborhood. They used to set up jumps and rode to other places like gravel pits. When he got a little older, Jimmie started working at a local bike shop and saved money to buy his first mountain bike. At the time, mountain biking, although newer, had become a very popular.
His friend Rick was racing at the time and Jimmie went to one of Rick’s races and participated in a trials competition while there. Later that summer, he participated in his first XC race. After that, Jimmie spent years training and racing mountain bikes in Michigan and many places throughout the US while working a full-time job after graduating high school.
Years ago, Jimmie held two clinics at Stoney Creek Metro Park and Maybury State Park for beginner-level riders. They covered basic bike handling, cornering, and line selection on the trails. Jimmie is excited to be a volunteer and help others new to the sport gain confidence and the necessary skills to ride terrain here in Michigan.
Lisa Flores-Johnson
- BICP certified Level 1 coach
- BA, Wayne State University
- Board member, MCMBA
- Advocate for increasing Diversity in the cycling community
Lisa is an active member of Girlbike Racing of Michigan and a current member of the board of directors for Motor City Mountain Biking Association (MCMBA). She is strong advocate for increasing diviersity in mountian biking, including more females on bikes.
Lisa started road cycling in college. Later, she infused her passion for cycling in her children, coaching her sons to #1 and #2 in the state in the Under-12 MTB category, earning the sponsorship of Cycletherapy Racing. In 2007, she joined Cycletherapy Racing. Today, she rides for Girlbike Racing of Michigan.
Kate McLean
Kate McLean has been mountain biking since 2019 when she walked into a random bike shop on a whim. As a nurse and solo parent of two awesome pre-teens, Kate found herself in search of a new hobby for better work/parenting/life balance, and to say biking has changed her life would be an understatement!
A few months later, Kate began dabbling with racing, originally with XC races and time trials, and has since expanded to include enduro, fat bike, gravel, and ultra-endurance races. Biking events are some of her favorite activities throughout the year, especially for the experiences and camaraderie, but mostly for the shenanigans, and she’s proud to say that she finished the Marji Gesick 50 in 2023.
The clinics she has taken over the years have substantially impacted her biking journey and have led to increased confidence, improved biking skills, and invaluable friendships made. In 2023, Kate became certified through BICP as a Level 1 Fundamental Skills Instructor so she could help more people gain skills and confidence on their bike. She’s also on the board of the Motor City Mountain Biking Association and works at a bike shop (Cycletherapy in Waterford) for fun!
As a middle-aged, mid-size mom from the Midwest (credit to TikTok creator @Laurelladeville for the phrase), Kate is doing things she never could have imagined.
What she enjoys most about mountain biking is that there is no finish line. The mental and physical challenges, opportunities to step outside of her comfort zone, friendships created, and endless adventures keep her coming back for more. Mountain biking is one of the most effective gateways to physical and mental health and wellbeing and should be accessible to all ages, genders, races, body types, and abilities. Kate’s goal as an instructor is to provide a safe and inclusive space for riders to grow, connect with others, and elevate their personal biking journey. Happy trails!
Lynn Wolf
Lynn started riding her bike through the woods of northern Michigan before mountain biking was a thing. Over time her love of bikes and being in the woods grew to the point she decided to get serious about learning technique 10 years ago. That passion turned into Lynn becoming a member of the TOMMBA Board and a BICP Level 1 Coach in 2022. She is excited to teach everything from introductory skills to jumps, drops, and enduro prep while sharing her passion for riding!
