Farewell, Annette

At the end of August 2025 we say goodbye to the legend, the myth, the only person who can adjust a derailleur faster than you can say "Wait, which cable is that again?"

The soon-to-retire Annette Lein is such a great bike mechanic, Shimano calls HER for tech support. She could take a pile of rusty parts, a bent spoon and some duct tape and hand you back a brand-new carbon road bike. Annette is so good she can true a wheel blindfolded, underwater, during an earthquake, while giving unsolicited advice about cross-chaining.

Annette doesn’t just fix bikes—she intimidates them into working properly, thanks in part to her Quentin Tarantino-sized litany of cuss words. Honestly, if the world ends tomorrow, you want Annette in your bunker, because she could keep a fleet of bikes running forever with nothing but a multi-tool, a shoelace, and the twisted optimism of a Tour de France domestique.

We’ve all learned so much from Annette—like how never to cross-thread a pedal, how a proper torque wrench is not optional, and most importantly, how to make a WomanTours guest or guide believe the repair only took "a couple minutes" when it really took all afternoon plus a QBP (parts) order that put our bean counters over the edge.

But now she’s retiring, which means two things:

1. Repairs will REALLY take twice as long, cost twice as much, and involve three times the zip ties.
2. None of us know where the good hex keys are anymore. (On second thought, did we ever? Annette's organizational style is, how shall we say, disturbingly casual.)

So Annette, thank you for 10 years of impeccably tuned bikes, countless saved rides, and all the times you made the rest of us look bad in the best possible way. We’ll miss you.

Enjoy retirement. You’ve earned it. And remember: if you get bored, our bottom brackets will still be creaking without you.

Annette has been the eye behind the lens for WomanTours' bike tours for years—and let’s just say, she’s too good at her job. She can take a group of sweaty, sunburned, helmet-haired cyclists and somehow make them look like they just stepped out of a Terry catalog. Such enviable witchcraft.

Her photos are so good, they make you question your own memory—because who remembers looking or feeling that happy halfway up a 15% climb? And the videos? She can make a three-hour slog in the rain look like a come-to-Jesus life-changing adventure.

If Annette is not lying in the middle of the road for the perfect shot, she’s dangling off the roof of the van like she’s auditioning for a low-budget action movie (and simultaneously goading our insurance carrier to cancel our policy). And somehow, she always gets our good side. Which is impressive, considering her subjects are usually hunched over their handlebars like Lycra-clad question marks chasing the horizon.

So Annette, thank you for capturing the joy, the grit and the moments we didn’t even know we were having. Without you, our memories would just be blurry, unflattering selfies. You’ve given us proof that we can in fact look like badass adventurers… at least when you're behind the camera.

The New York State Environmental Protection Agency has awarded WomanTours $2 million for the toxic waste and general chaos remediation menacing the former Lein Cycle Cave. Future site plans include a Starbucks pop-up museum fully outfitted with abandoned latte cups and cat photos as well as the Meditation Center for Broken Spokes and Folks.

WomanTours World Headquarters won't be the same without the flash of bright green streaming through the doorway as Annette arrives at work with her Starbucks Venti Matcha Latte. Stores within a 3-mile radius have already reported a precipitous drop in sales since Annette's retirement was announced; closures are imminent.

The World Pickleball Federation has named Annette Lein as Snow Angel of the Year 2025. Lein's duties in this role will include promoting the sport in Norislk, Russia; Nuuk, Greenland; Harbin, China; and Yellowknife, Canada; all cities that are uncoincidentally on the top 10 list of the most dreary, snow-laden places in the world. Annette be chillin'!

Annette Lein will continue R&D for Cats Across America. This 2027 epic adventure will hit every cat cafe in the Lower 48 and offers a "cat in the sack" companionship upgrade, chef-prepared kibble at every dinner and a commemorative "fur-ever" jersey embossed with a special magnetic force that attracts cat hair (and strays) within a 3-mile radius.

Annette was a godsend when she arrived because then I didn’t have to (pretend to) take care of the bikes. It was way over my head and I was doing a lousy job of it.

Even before she came on as a full-time employee, she would shoot tours for WomanTours. From the start, she made the company look bigger and more professional than we were. Her visuals were ahead of her time. When other websites were full of boring, wordy text, ours was full of colorful images of women having fun on bikes. She truly helped make us successful, as no one else could.

She and Karen made an amazing team. They could be super creative together. The April Fools postings were brilliant. 

Seeing her office made me hyperventilate. I don’t know how she accomplished anything in that chaos…but she did.

Jackie Marchand, President

The first time I had extended one-on-one time with Annette was on the Erie Canal tour in 2023. Sharing a hotel room with her, I soon learned that she has strong opinions (and strong language) on just about everything. If the FCC monitored WomanTours staff meetings, Annette's contributions would mostly be bleeped out.

Despite her profanity-enforced manifestos, Annette keeps an open mind. While driving from Sacramento to St. George to work on the West Coast bikes, I made her to listen to Brandi Carlisle for the entire 688-mile drive, knowing she would either kill me or thank me. By the time we got to St. George, she was ready to buy concert tickets. Of course Brandi Carlisle is that good, but I'm sure the gall bladder surgery recovery drugs helped.

There are other things we bonded over too, such as the drudgery of repairing bikes in the Utah January cold and the fantasy of buying new bikes every year.

Thanks, Annette, for all the laughs and good times!

Kristie Hamilton, Managing Director

If I had to make a list of all the things I will never forget about Annette, it would include these things:

1. Annette in her early years answering a phone call from a guest canceling off a cross-country tour and telling her she could 'of course be refunded.' (The deposit was nonrefundable.)

2. Annette's thoughtful side, her periodically leaving peanut M&Ms on my desk, for no particular reason, except that she knew I liked to munch on them.

3. Annette's eternal ability to answer in great detail all bicycle-related questions. 

4. Annette having the perfect pair of sneakers for every single outfit. 

5. Annette dropping the f-bomb, when she deemed it appropriate. 

6. Annette with bright green beverages from Starbucks. 

7. Annette's ability to cover every inch of her desk and somehow it also looked stylish.

Michelle Cooley, Controller/Human Resources

I will never forget the first time I met Annette on the GAP & C&O tour in 2019. She was photographing the trip, but was also a ray of comic relief during a fairly stressful tour. I was a new guide and her encouragement was immense even though I don't think she was trying to be encouraging! For me, she's always been someone that I could go to when things felt stressful, or I felt unsure of my abilities. I will fondly remember the days working in St. George in January, and have always loved having another person on the team who doesn't care about speed as much as comfort, fun, and nerding out on bikes! 

Another funny memory: on that same GAP & C&O tour Annette rode in the SAG a lot because she was sick. We had volunteer SAG drivers for that tour, and one of them in particular was awful. Like, she could never get to a SAG stop on time, could not figure out how to navigate, etc etc. Annette would text me and Emily updates from the SAG vehicle, which were often our only way of knowing where they were. They somehow went back to the starting hotel instead of SAG stop 1 on one of the days, and then got terribly lost on the backroads and Annette texted that she was in "SAG Hell". lol. 

I'll miss Annette a lot and will try to channel her witty comments and "don't give a f***" attitude when things feel too serious. :)

Abby Noon, Tour 

Okay Work Wife, I knew you'd leave me some day, but even though we have had nearly 25 years of the ideal "office marriage," I didn't really think this separation would be so gut-wrenching. Who else is going to tolerate my 11th hour requests for newsletter stock photos? Who else has the chutzpah to ask better questions than I do in an interview? Who else is the human Wikipedia of bike mechanics? Who else knows my one-and-only Starbucks order, and then delivers it to my desk "just because"? Who else makes work trips nearly as fun as real vacations (and still gets the job done)? Who else would take a nap with me on the grass in a public park in Edinburgh on a Sunday morning? Who else will eat my weird dinner leftovers for lunch with such enthusiasm? Who else brightens my Monday mornings with talk about the movies she saw over the weekend? Who else will relieve me of my husband's raggedy old T-shirts so that she can make the rental fleet sparkle brighter than Penelope Cruz's chompers? Who else renders me stupid with laughter when the airport shuttle is so incompetently delayed that we should instead be afraid we will miss our flight?

Who? Who? WHO?

All these questions have no answer except this: I will miss you terribly. And this: Thank you. And finally, this: Have a blast in your next chapter!

Karen Miltner, Tour Specialist

I hope you enjoy your next chapter and launch your new hobby of rescuing kittens! We’ll miss our one and only bike wrangler!

Denise Thompson-Banker, East Coast Operations Manager

Annette-thank you for the laughs, sharing of cat love, and bike knowledge. I can't wait to see what your next adventure is! 

Olivia Kelly-Fagan, Registration Specialist