About Us
Hello! We are Jonas and Shelly. We've been friends since we were in high school, and both moved to Philly to attend Temple University in 2000. Jonas is a tour guide and manager for Philly Bike Tour Co., so if you email or call, chances are good that you'll be talking to Jonas. Shelly is the founder of Philly Bike Tour Co. and owner/manager of Fairmount Bicycles, the bike shop we operate our tours out of. You can read more about Jonas in his guide description below, and more about Shelly and the bike shop's history on the Fairmount Bicycles website.
We launched our Classic City Tour in 2013, and have been expanding to offer other tours since then. Jonas's love for Fairmount Park shines through in our tour about The Fairmount Park Story. We partner with Mural Arts to give a Mural & Public Art Tour, and new for 2021 is our beer history & tasting tour entitled How Brewerytown Got Its Name.
Philly Bike Tour Co. will not only show you Philadelphia, but let you experience it. Bicycles allow us to show you many different neighborhoods and see a wide range of sights on a single tour. But navigating the city on a bicycle makes you part of the city, not just a passive observer. We construct safe and pleasant bicycle routes, so that anyone who is comfortable riding a bike can be comfortable on our tours.
Our Guides
All of our guides come to us with years of experience riding a bike in Philadelphia already under their belts. For larger groups, we use a “sweep” who rides in the back of the group, helps to navigate traffic, and keeps the group together.
We’ve all been showing our friends around Philadelphia on bikes long before we thought of doing it professionally. Whether you’re a lifelong resident or a first time visitor, we know we can show you something you’ve never seen before, and most importantly, a good time.
Jonas
Jonas is a musician who loves history, travel, and the outdoors. He has explored most of the cities in the United States and Europe, as well as every nook and cranny of Fairmount Park. He graduated (many years ago) from Temple University with a degree in Political Science and has since been splitting his time between deep thought and haphazard goofing off.
Graham
Graham is a “retired” lawyer who enjoys biking, hiking, gardening and learning anything new. When he is not officiating high school sports he volunteers much of his time with various organizations including Habitat for Humanity for whom he leads teams of volunteers on builds around the world. A life long resident of Philadelphia, Graham is something of a history and genealogy buff – having traced his Philadelphia ancestors back to the 1680s – and loves sharing past and current stories about his favorite city.
Rebecca
Rebecca is a tour professional who also leads walking tours with her own company, Beyond the Bell. She enjoys the outdoors (hiking, biking, and running) as well as the indoors (eating, sleeping, reading, and writing). Even though Rebecca was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, she's constantly discovering new things in the city. She loves Philadelphia and can't wait to tell you all about the city.
Jack
Jack is a Circus Artist and Creator who has always choses biking as his transportation of choice in every city he visits. Before Jack moved to Philadelphia in 2018 he spent five years biking around the city of Montreal QC while getting his undergrad in Contemporary Art at Concordia University, he then spent 18 months at an intensive Circus Training Program in Vermont. Jack also works for the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia where he works in the education and outreach department assisting in making Philadelphia a better place to ride every day. Jacks specialty is seeing the otherwise over looked.
Joe
Joe lives to share his passion for the history of people. He fell in love with biking when he fell off his first banana seat, and after moving to Philly from Brooklyn, NY at age 12 his bike became the best way to learn every corner of his new home. Since then he's been a Yoga instructor, Comic shop manager, Art teacher, podcast host and more. Through his travels and experiences, he's learned to appreciate all the small ways people have shaped history. In Joe's view, nothing is insignificant and the path is more important than the destination.