JAM Fund

Age: 28

Hometown: Beverly, Massachusetts

Fun fact: Loves racing in the rain.

Tanya Boulanova joined the JAM Fund Team in 2022 and quickly jumped into a dozen cyclocross races that season, including a single-speed race at Minuteman Cx. She has been using her video production skills to cut some great promo content for the Grand Fundo. Check out her videos on the JAM Fund Instagram.

Age: 12

Hometown: Northampton, Massachusetts

Gunther is one of the newest members of the JAM Fund Development Cycling Team. He has been racing cyclocross for two years, and last year he competed in his first-ever cross national championships in Hartford, Connecticut. Gunther is an avid cyclist with a lot of passion and personality to be an excellent ambassador of the sport. He is a two-time recipient of the JAM Fund Grant and raced for the Northampton Cycling Club before coming to the JAM Fund. We are very excited to have Gunther as part of the team.

Age: 17

Hometown: Northampton, Massachusetts

Ari has been riding bikes since he was in first grade and still enjoys burning watts in the sandpit. He joined the JAM Fund Team in the midst of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and hasn’t let the uncertainty of our times stop him from the thing he loves most: riding his bike, putting in up to 100 miles on some weeks. He built a cross course in his local woods to practice his skills. In 2021, he competed with the large field of junior men 15-16 at Northampton International Cyclocross weekend.

Age: 22

Hometown: Burlington, Vermont

Hobbies: Looking for sandpits and watering his plants

This is Patrick’s third season on the JAM Fund Cycling Team, and for even longer he has been racing in the elite field against some of his cyclocross mentors who he has admired since he was a junior.

This summer, Patrick cut his teeth in Belgian kermesse racing and plans to race the full American UCI cyclocross calendar this season. He hopes to travel to Belgium again for more racing experience.

Before joining the JAM Fund, Patrick raced for the collegiate cycling team at the University of Vermont where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Off the bike, he enjoys cross-country skiing, trail running, creek swimming and spending time outdoors with friends, all the perks of living in Vermont.

Age: 34

Mark joined the JAM Fund team in 2017 and has grown to become one of the key mentors of the program. He lives and trains in Boston. He enjoys technical and fast courses that test his technical ability.

Age: 22

Hometown: Shelburne, Vermont

Talia joined the JAM Fund Cycling Team in 2022 and has quickly shown her prowess on the bike. In her first full cyclocross season with the team, she competed in 15 cyclocross races, finishing in the top ten in all but one of them. She competed in three national championships, including cyclocross nats and received medals in two of those races.

Before JAM Fund, Talia raced on the collegiate road team at the University of Vermont, where she graduated in May with a degree in Environmental Science.

Off the bike, Talia’s hobbies are exploring Vermont’s rivers and mountains, nordic and back country skiing, reading, and sketching. Her favorite animal is the raccoon and her favorite post ride treat is ice cream (and maybe because she’s from Vermont, you can guess what brand)!

Her future goal is to continue improving on the cross bike and eventually become a UCI racer for the JAM Fund Cycling Team.

Age: 22

Hometown: Harwinton, Connecticut

Hobbies outside of cycling: hockey and ice cream

Nickname: “The Machine”

Favorite race: Namur World Cup

Favorite ride: Triple Everesting

Lane Maher joined the JAM Fund Cycling Team in 2023 after already racing professionally on the international circuit. His greatest accomplishments include a 5th place podium at 2018 Junior Cyclocross Worlds; completing the 2022 Leadville 100 MTB and Trail Run and finishing as the top overall elite rider in the 2019 NECX Series.

In the summer of 2020, while the country was going through some terrible times, Lane rode his bike for 60 hours, climbing 100,000ft (the equivalent of Mount Everest almost three and a half times), and raised $10,000 for the Black Lives Matter movement. He achieved this amazing feat by riding laps up an extreme Strava segment near the Barkhamsted Reservoir in northern Connecticut. The ascent averaged seven percent grade and topped out at over 40 percent. Our legs burn just thinking of it, but what a wonderful way for Lane to put his cycling talents to the good of the greater community.

As you can imagine, the JAM Fund is very excited to have Lane on the team.

Age 25

Hometown: Windsor, Connecticut

Hobbies: cooking, hiking, salsa dancing

This may be the first time ever that JAM Fund has brothers from the same family riding for the team. Keith Mullaly joined the JAM Fund Cycling Team in 2023, perhaps inspired by his brother Kevin, who has been racing with us for the past two years.

Keith’s idol is three-time world champion Peter Sagan, who he has watched racing in the Tour de France since Keith was a kid. Although Sagan is his idol, Keith’s greatest mentor is his dad because of his father’s dedication and work ethic.

Keith has won several national medals and been on the podium in cyclocross, road and track. He can multitask well and won numerous cyclocross conference championships while earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

We’re happy to support both Mullaly brothers in their cycling adventures this year.

Age: 19

Hometown: Wethersfield, Connecticut

Favorite Race: Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross

Race category: UCI junior men 17-18 and Elite men 1/2/3

Special Skills: Catching grapes and M&Ms in his mouth from out of the air.

Kevin joined the JAM Fund program in 2021 and jumped into ten races his first year with the team including Rochester, Charm City and Kings Cx.

Age: 32

Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Chris Niesen has a long history with JAM Fund, joining the team in 2014. He is a seasoned cyclist with experience racing in Europe and Asia. Chris mentors other riders on the team and has been an important part of the JAM Fund organization’s program. He started riding bikes as a kid in the busy streets of Milwaukee after receiving the gift of a 1970’s Nishiki, which he calls his first “real bike.” A few years later while living in Cincinnati, Niesen learned about cyclocross when a friend told him about a race at Kings Park in Mason, Ohio. From then on, Niesen wanted to be part of the best athletes and teams in the sport. He moved to Western Massachusetts to ride with the JAM Fund and has gone on to be one of the team’s most dedicated racers and community volunteers, helping out with summer training camps for young kids and teaching them how to shred.

Age: 17

Hometown: Chesterfield, Massachusetts

Sophie joined the JAM Fund Development Team in 2020 after being awarded the JAM Fund Grant for three years in a row. She has always been active on the race scene and an active community member. In summer 2023, Sophie traveled to England to study economics and attend debate camp at Cambridge University. She is looking forward to studying abroad for college and this will give her a good taste of what’s in store.

In addition to cycling, Sophie also is a cross country ski racer. And when she’s not competing in either sport, she enjoys working with Highland cows.

Age: 17

Hometown: Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Jack Quinlan is one of the newest members of the JAM Fund Cycling Team. He has been racing cyclocross for the past two years in the junior men’s category and last year competed in his first U.S. National Cyclocross Championships. We are excited to have Jack with us and can’t wait to see what he can do.

Off the bike, Jack works at a bike shop, attends Monument Mountain High School and plans to enlist in the National Guard in the future.

Age: 23

Hometown: Horseheads, New York

Daniel Vaughn moved through the JAM Fund program first being awarded a JAM Fund grant while racing for our partner Northampton Cycling Club and then transitioning to the JAM Fund race team in 2017. That year he suited up for us at Cyclocross National Championships in Hartford, Connecticut— a freezing, icy, super slippery, technical course— that didn’t seem to phase him one bit.

Daniel is a key member of the JAM Fund program, helping out in numerous ways to mentor and organize team events.

In 2021, he competed in 11 races in the elite men’s category including Rochester, Trek CX Cup and Northampton International.

Daniel raced in China in 2019 and had solid races in the pro 1/2 category. We knew we made the right choice in supporting Daniel all these years. He is the consummate volunteer and is always willing to give a helping hand in the community.

Jeremy joined JAM Fund as the team mechanic in 2023. He has experience both as a wrench and racer, giving him a solid understanding of how to take care of our athletes. Jeremy is also a past recipient of the JAM Fund Grant. We are thrilled to have him on board.