Dennis Coello

Former Expert Biker Dennis Coello took his first cross-country tour in 1965—aboard a three-speed and with most of his gear on his back. Over one-hundred-thousand pedaled miles later, he's ridden around the world, retraced many historic trails (Lewis and Clark, the Natchez Trace, Santa Fe, Gila, Sherman's March to the Sea...), ridden the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and most of the Appalachians, and pedaled the length of the American Rockies on a cold fall/winter tour—to avoid the crowds, he says.

Dennis has photographed cyclists in more than thirty countries and forty states, many while shooting catalogues for bicycle touring companies and manufacturers. His pictures have appeared as Cannondale posters, in Cycling Magazine Xmas cards, on the covers of Outside and Backpacker and scores of bike magazines, and on some 45 books.

He has served as acquisitions and series editor for the"America by Mountain Bike" guidebooks published by Menasha Ridge Press and Falcon Press, and works in that same capacity for the "Bicycling America's National Parks" series published by Backcountry and The Countryman Press. These duties keep him on the road for six full months each year. Or perhaps they're just his excuse for not staying home.

Check out Dennis' The New Complete Mountain Biker

Dennis is the author of eleven books and co-author of two more. Some of his mountain bike titles are: The New Complete Mountain Biker (Lyons & Burford; 1997); Mountain Bike Rides of the West: Twenty Classic Tours (Northland Publishing; 1989); The Mountain Bike Repair Handbook (Lyons & Burford; 1990); and Mountain Bike Techniques: An Illustrated Guide (Lyons & Burford; 1992).

His thin-tire books include Touring on Two Wheels: The Bicycle Traveler's Handbook (Lyons & Burford; 1988), a three-book Bicycle Touring... series on Utah, Colorado, and Arizona (Northland Publishing), and Roadside Guide to Bike Repair (Warner Books; 1983).

Dennis teamed up with three co-authors to write Making Camp: A Complete Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, Paddlers & Skiers (The Mountaineers Books; 1997). He's also written cycling columns for both biking and general outdoor magazines, scripts for instructional bike videos by Olympic riders, and was the on-camera instructor in L.L.Bean's award-winning "Guide to Bicycle Touring" video.

Read Dennis' articles on GORP.com.

Meet the other former and current Chain Gang experts:
Expert Mountain Biker Steve Jones
Former Expert Cyclist Ethan Gelber