Big Wheel Tours

Staff Portfolios

Bruce is a professional guide who has led tours throughout the greater Coachella Valley for over 15 years. He has conducted hundreds of tours of the Palm Springs Aerial Tram, the Indian Canyons, Joshua Tree National Park, the Salton Sea, Mecca Hills Wilderness, Santa Rosa Mountain National Monument, Coachella Valley Preserve, Windmills, Celebrity homes, and the San Andreas Fault primarily for Fortune 500 clients.

He has lived in the Coachella Valley for over 30 years and has explored, hiked and studied the Valley during that time as his main hobby.

In addition, Bruce has 20 years experience in Emergency Medical Services as a Fire Department Captain, First Aid and CPR instructor, EMS transport, and as a Desert Survival instructor.

Bruce's tours have been featured on the Travel Channel, BBC 1, BBC 2, TV Tokyo, Palm Springs Life, Men's Journal, Sunset Magazine, the New York Times, The LA Times, Chicago Tribune, and many others.

Bruce is informative, interesting, humorous, and has an excellent rapport with clients. We consider Bruce to be the area's best all around tour guide and are fortunate to have him on our team.


Heidi Schneck

Heidi hiked the Alps while growing up in Switzerland. After graduating from Business and Language Schools, she was admitted to the Swiss Federal Sports and Gymnastic School. After getting her degree in Sports, she immigrated as a young adult to America and taught Sports in Southern Colleges. In the last nine years she has been exploring the desert and has guided jeep, hiking and bicycle tours for eight years.

Heidi has an excellent rapport with clients and is a thoroughly professional tour guide. She is our primary hiking tour guide and has an exhaustive all around knowledge of the Coachella Valley ranging from plants and animals to celebrity and architecture. She is fluent in German, French, Italian and English.

Bill Harris

A former winner of the Baja 1000 and a veteran of many other international off road races Bill was also a national caliber masters mountain bike racer.  He is our lead bike guide.  His strengths are his ability to cater to each group, teaching newer riders mountain bike skills and technique, and making sure each client enjoys their outdoor experience.    His knowledge of local trails is extensive.

Terry Bennett  

A former triathlete and regular club rider Terry is our lead bicycle mechanic who maintains our fleet of over 150 bicycles.  He is a graduate of the Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colordo Springs, Colorado.   Terry is also in charge of our bicycle rentals and will make sure that your bike is working properly and set up for you upon delivery.

Gary Lueders

Gary is a retired American Airlines Captain with 40 years of riding both road and mountain bikes.  He is dedicated to showing off the best of the greater Palm Springs area, enjoys sharing the healthy lifestyle of cycling, and is passionate about making sure our guests have a terrific bicycle tour experience.  As past president of the Desert Bicycle Club, Gary continues to work tirelessly with local governments and and non governmental agencies to ensure that our roadways are safe for cyclists.

Jill Ostland

Jill has worked for Big Wheel Tours for many years on our larger corporate programs and has recently decided to join our staff as a full-time employee.  Originally from Canada, Jill is a well-rounded guide who has studied diligently to maintain the quality of our tours.    She conducts bike, hike and suv tours for Big Wheel Tours. 

Evan Trubee

Evan founded Big Wheel Tours in the summer of 1996 and began organizing multi-day tours bicycle tours along the eastern seabord.  After moving Big Wheel to the Palm Springs area in 1998, Evan expanded his operations to include bicycle rentals, guided hiking and jeep tours of the greater Palm Springs area.

Evan is a USCF racer who stays in shape by riding with the Desert Bicycle Club. While he doesn't get out on tour as often as he used to, Evan's philosophy is to hire the area's best guides to provide clients with a memorable experience during their stay in the Coachella Valley.

Evan lives in Palm Desert with his wife, Kristen, and children Patrick, Cameron and Holly.