Our Mission
- We are growing the bikepacking community by welcoming, engaging, and connecting people of all races, sexual orientations, backgrounds, and skill levels.
- We create and sustain intentional, enjoyable, and accessible bikepacking routes and route networks throughout North America for beginner to expert riders.
- We advocate for public access to and increased protections of public lands.
- We connect bikepackers with landscapes, inspiring riders to become public lands and conservation advocates who follow a “positive impact ethos.”
- We provide and promote visibility and access for bikepackers by fostering positive, long-term relationships with public land managers, private landowners, and the small communities through which we ride.
Our Team
Kurt (he/him, Prescott, Arizona) has been riding and racing bikes since his early teenage years and began bikepacking more than a decade ago. Since then, he has bikepacked throughout the world and co-developed Prescott College’s Geology through Bikepacking course. But he’s most at ease when immersed on the wild public lands of the American West. Kurt has now chosen to direct his energy toward co-founding and developing Bikepacking Roots to grow and advocate for the bikepacking community. He has a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences and is particularly fascinated by the evolution of Arctic, alpine, and glaciated landscapes. Beyond Bikepacking Roots, Kurt is an endurance cycling coach, one of the winningest ultraendurance mountain bikers, and was a college professor for 6 years before moving beyond academia.
Kaitlyn (she/her, Victor, Idaho) loves wild places and believes the opportunity to travel in, experience, and connect to landscapes is critical in inspiring a conservation ethos. She has been a professional adventurer and educator for a decade, teaching Adventure Education for Prescott College, NOLS and Outward Bound. Since adding the mountain bike to her repertoire of avenues for exploration, Kaitlyn has bikepacked extensively in the western U.S. and abroad. She co-developed Prescott College’s Geology through Bikepacking and co-authored the first instructional book on bikepacking, The Bikepacker’s Guide. Kaitlyn has a M.A. in Environmental Education and brings expertise to Bikepacking Roots in adventure-inspired conservation education efforts.
Noelle (she/her, Baltimore, MD) has built her life and community around bikes adventures and is thrilled to be able to channel that energy full-time leading Bikepacking Roots. She put her amateur route building skills to the test on a 4,200 mile solo bike trip from Baltimore through the Northeast and Maritime Canada. In recent years, she has immersed herself into bikepacking and is eager to support the creation of more opportunities for folks of all identities and skill levels to get out on bikes in wild places. Noelle’s diverse career has ranged from running a small medical non-profit in Guatemala to most recently providing programmatic and operational leadership for a national advocacy initiative at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Noelle has a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University.
Jan (they/them, Cerrillos, NM) developed a keen interest in the great outdoors at a young age, attending three wilderness trips with Outward Bound before the 10th grade. After a back injury sidelined them from road and crit racing they developed a deep appreciation for bikepacking. Their personal experiences while scouting the Pony Express route moved them so deeply that they decided to commit themselves towards helping others to experience the route. You can find them outside of Cerrillos, New Mexico when they’re not out exploring gravel roads across the country.
Gabriel (he/him, Mill City, OR) is the founder and former executive director of the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance. He helped co-found the Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition and is now finding a new way on old ground with Orogenesis. He’s passionate about backcountry trails and long-distance connectivity, and is a staunch believer that outdoor experiences have the power to transform people’s lives.
Danielle’s (she/her, Los Angeles, CA) interest in bikepacking started with transit accessible solo weekend trips from Philadelphia, and eventually built up her off-road skills and confidence – and found the importance of community – with support from groups like Women Bike PHL and Radical Adventure Riders. Committed to gender and racial access to the outdoors, Danielle was co-founder of WTF Bike Explorers’ (precursor to RAR) Mid-Atlantic chapter and is now active with the Wild Wolf Cycling Collective. Her professional experience includes developing bike and pedestrian infrastructure as a transportation planner, advocating for safe streets across Baltimore, and providing pro-bono architecture and planning services for community organizations. Danielle has a BFA in Industrial Design from Carnegie Mellon and a masters in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA.
Grant (he/him, Lopez Island, WA) has a passion for protecting the western landscape and connecting people to the natural environment in a meaningful and sustainable way. As a conservationist and attorney, he has worked at the nexus of conservation and public access project management and policy development for and with local land trusts, non-profits, and municipalities in the West. Grant has practiced land use and property law, led the open space and conservation program in Missoula, Montana, and now works to develop and promote climate change and sustainable transportation policy on the San Juan archipelago of western Washington. He finds solitude and inspiration in pedaling through remote and challenging landscapes, paddling wild rivers, skiing deep powder, and sleeping under the stars.
Mike Teachey (he/him, Simpsonville, South Carolina) is the co-owner of Noble Aim Consulting focused on helping communities and non-profit organizations achieve challenging goals. Mike learned the value of pushing past one’s own perceived limitations as an Outward Bound student and later as an Outward Bound instructor. This lesson helped Mike complete a full Ironman in 2017 and the Great Divide Classic, riding from Rooseville, Montana to Antelope Wells, New Mexico in 2021. Mike enjoys all form of cycling; however, he has a passion for bikepacking claiming that he feels like he is his best self when traveling by bike.
Karey (She/Her, Phoenix, AZ) brings a deep-rooted passion for outdoor adventure to the board. Born and raised in Idaho, Karey’s love affair with the outdoors began early, nurtured by family camping trips. Karey embraces the call of the outdoors in her love for bikepacking, ultra-trail running, backpacking, and more.
Chris Case (Niwot, CO) is a journalist, writer, and founder of Alter Exploration, which creates challenging cycling and bikepacking adventures in the Dolomites, Iceland, the Piedmont Alps, Colorado, and beyond. He is a lifelong endurance athlete with a diverse academic and professional background, with degrees and research experience in neuroscience and clinical psychology, and a master’s degree in journalism. Chris served as managing editor of VeloNews magazine for eight years before co-founding Fast Talk Labs, an endurance sports training community and knowledge base. He served as operations director for DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co. before founding Alter Exploration in 2023. He is also the author of The Haywire Heart, the first book to delve into the relationship between long-term endurance athletics and heart health.
Loren was born in rural Southern Oregon and learned to ride a bike on the dirt roads, irrigation ditches and driveways of the Siskiyou Cascades. He’s been exploring the world (and himself) on a bike longer than he can remember.
Matt (he/him, Las Cruces, NM) has always sought out the wild and natural spaces in the world and encouraged others to do the same. His passion for sharing the outdoors started by leading the neighborhood kids off the playground and into the creeks of southern Iowa. After college, the kids and creeks got bigger as he lead volunteer groups into the Grand Canyon to remove invasive plant species. Currently residing in southern New Mexico, he created the Monumental Loop and a series of group rides designed to connect locals to the newly established Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.
Frances Hacker (they/she, Flagstaff, AZ) is a public lands advocate and avid bikepacker. They have worked as a park ranger for the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, while spending their weekends adventuring by bicycle.
Cricket (she/her, Kalispell, Montana) began bikepacking before it was really even a term and has seen it grow and develop into what it is today.
David Tucker (he/him, Bozeman, Montana) has been advocating for bike access since moving west from New York City in 2013.
Brian Bonham (He/Him, Missoula, MT) is a lifelong cyclist who has spent his career working in the bike industry, generating revenue and fostering strong business relationships both on the product side, as well as within the nonprofit space.
Bryan Vogel (He/Him Denver, CO) has lived a life dedicated to the outdoors and the transformative experiences that comes from it. This pursuit has led to a 20+ year career in the outdoor industry, helping both businesses and non-profit organizations expand their presence and impact.
Ben Hall (he/him, Contoocook, NH) has been dedicated to sharing the joys of riding bikes since childhood. Raised in the hills of Vermont, Ben was always convincing his friends to go explore the extensive network of double track, snowmobile trails, and single track that throughout their town.
Now a father of three and husband of one, Ben has continued that passion through hosting his own podcast, New England Dirt, formerly part of the Mountain Bike Radio Network. His dedication to bringing attention to the cycling community in New England expands to ATB, gravel, mountain biking, and of course bikepacking.
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(he/him) A self-ascribed enigma of the bicycle industry, for almost two decades Aaron blends a passion for educating and promoting an active lifestyle on two wheels with a drive to see his community thrive and businesses creatively serve others. Nineteen of the last twenty years, Aaron has called the Flint Hills of Kansas home; owning and operating small brick and mortar bicycle shops with a flair for off-road adventure. As part of the entrepreneurial spirit from the get-go, Aaron found cultivating (designing and constructing natural surface trail, exploring roads, mapping and promoting road and gravel routes, partnering with land managers, running local recreation funding political campaigns, linking state parks and resupplies for multi-day trips) both relationships and resources helped others in enjoying immersive outdoor experiences.
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I have 5+ years of route developing experience, mostly for customers of a bike shop, specifically for events like the Fitz-Barn, Around the Rock, Togwotee Winter Classic, Wydaho One Hundred, etc. I have worked with Kurt to help develop some routes Bikepacking Roots has already used, including the Maah Daah Hey and Intermountain Connectors from the WWR to GDMR. I’ve recently begun sharing more routes openly and publicly as a Ride With GPS Area Ambassador. These routes include Wydaho One Hundred, North Valley Agriramble, and the Great Rift Dirt Tour.
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Adam (he/him, Gonzales, LA) was raised showing horses and riding bikes, and has always been drawn to adventure, fitness, and the great outdoors. Time spent camping, stargazing, kayaking, going to Cardinal’s baseball games, and fun family vacations with his wife and daughters is important to him, as is biking. A proud ambassador for Pactimo, Picky Bars, and Bike Law, Adam is also the creator of @AdventurePacking on Instagram and Facebook, and the current Vice President of NOMAMBO, the New Orleans area mountain biking group that build and maintain the trails in the Mississippi River’s Bonnet Carré Spillway. He likes to work hard, play hard, and spread the joy of bikepacking by bringing fellow cyclists together.
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AJ DeLauder (they/them) grew up and still resides amongst the pastoral beauty of Aurora, West Virginia, deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. In the summer months, they can be found bikepacking local West Virginia routes or working at their small bike shop in Oakland, MD. During the rest of the year, AJ works as an English professor at Garrett College, in McHenry, MD, where they try valiantly to make their community college students believe that writing essays and reading literature is a worthwhile endeavor. AJ began seriously bikepacking in 2018 and founded the Snallygaster 200 route in 2021. Since then, they have consulted with multiple route planners across the Mid-Atlantic.
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(he/him Middlebury, VT) I grew up in the Adirondacks enjoying the plethora of public forested land available. My interest in Bikepacking didn’t start until 2018 when I moved to VT. The large network of dirt roads, class 4 roads, and trails available was wildly fascinating to me and soon led me down the rabbit hole of multi day bike trips with a goal of seeing as little pavement as possible. I am a strong believer that the outdoors is for everyone, and that open and supportive communities are essential to help remove barriers of entry for anyone interested in exploring. Additionally, I believe community building is important for the advocacy and education of proper stewardship of the land. I volunteer with the non-profit, VT Bikepackers, which hosts the VT Super 8, a 655-mile figured 8 shaped race through the state, and is actively planning other community bikepacking events.
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Ally (she/her, Missoula, Montana) has been tending to her love affair with bikepacking for many years — what started as diving head first into her first big tour down the Baja Divide in 2017 has blossomed into a decade of community organizing and working to make the bike industry a more welcoming, inclusive world. Previously the Art Director of Adventure Cyclist magazine, Ally now works as the Graphic Designer for The League of American Bicyclists. She is a co-founder and organizer of Slow Spokes, a bikepacking club that has hosted workshops, overnights, and community events for gender-expansive and women riders in Missoula since Spring 2024.
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Alyssa (she/they, Portland, OR) grew up in Maryland, just outside Washington, DC, but now calls Portland home. After moving to Portland in 2021, she found a sense of embodiment and community through riding with BIPOC cycling groups like BikePOC PNW and Friends on Bikes. She now organizes for both and finds deep joy in fostering community rides. Her favorites to facilitate are intro to gravel rides, as well as supporting BikePOC’s beginner cyclocross clinics and bikepacking bag library. She looks forward to learning and growing as a community steward in 2024!
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Ana (Asheville, NC) is all about finding joy and connection with others on two wheels. She started bike commuting while going to college in Gainesville, FL, and has dabbled in bike racing, ultra-endurance riding, and bikepacking since then. Her favorite kind of riding, however, is a galavant around town on mixed surfaces to get a pastry or coffee. She fell in love with the way that cycling transformed her experience of the outdoors and the people that surround it. Ana works as a bike mechanic at a community-focused shop called Gravelo Workshop in Asheville, NC and is involved with the local Radical Adventure Riders chapter. She is passionate about the southeast cycling community, long and short adventures on bicycles, and creating space for marginalized folks in the industry. She also loves making food, playing in dirt, and lounging with furry friends.
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Andrea (she/her, San Antonio, TX) is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan and living in Texas nearly 10 years. A love of the outdoors, including riding a bike and camping, was fostered from a young age. In 2018, she organized and attended her first bikepacking trip. Andrea has learned a lot since that first trip. She is endlessly grateful for the community teachers along the way and is passionate about passing it forward. Andrea has organized and lead many local overnight trips. Over 95% of land in Texas is privately owned and shapes the type of trips in the south/ central Texas region. She is a co-leader of Mujeres Cycling and the unofficial #SABikePack group. Her other passion hobby is sewing! She often rides with bags she created packed with clothing she made.
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Ariel Marlowe is based in Austin, TX and dove headfirst into bikepacking in 2022. He is a co-leader and board member of Black History Bike Ride, a ride leader and safety officer at Bikes or Death, and spends his time collaborating with non profits and other BIPOC organizations around the country to provide leadership and community organizing experience. Ariel was a 2024 BIPOC Grant recipient who has used his grant to initiate a gear library in Austin, while hosting a range of beginner to intermediate trips locally. A collaborator to the core, he loves sharing his knowledge and experience with others, so that more leaders can be empowered to create spaces for people to learn about and experience bikepacking.
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Ashley (she/her) originally hails from Pittsburgh, PA, but has proudly called Waterbury, VT home for over a decade, driven by her passion for snowboarding, photography, and the great outdoors. Cycling has been a lifelong love for Ashley, fueled by her curiosity about what lies beyond each corner or in the next town. It was in the endless trails and forest roads of New England that she discovered her deep affection and obsession for mountain biking and bikepacking. In 2019, Ashley took the initiative to organize and create the route for her inaugural multi-day bikepacking adventure, choosing the comfort of friends’ backyards as overnight stops. As an ambassador for Ranch Camp in Stowe, VT, she actively develops routes and coordinates group rides, both for the local community and her circle of friends seeking weekend adventures. Her biking escapades often begin right outside her doorstep, and she has successfully bikepacked across the entire state of Vermont in 2022, from Vermont to Portland, ME in the previous summer, and participated in the Super 8 bikepacking race in both 2021 and 2023. Beyond her personal pursuits, Ashley plays a vital role on the board of Vermont Bikepackers, where she manages the organization’s social media, showcasing her dedication to building a community around bikepacking. She is community-oriented and driven by a passion to introduce more individuals to the joys of bikepacking.
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Brendan Collier (he/him) lives in Idyllwild, California. Originally from Chicago, Brendan is a long-time veteran of the bike industry and the creator of the popular Stagecoach 400 bikepacking route. Brendan has partnered with Bikepacking Roots on a new series of bikepacking routes that he is creating called The Desert Collective.
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Cedar (he/him, Zigzag, Oregon) has been Bikepacking for well over a decade with inspiration and mentorship from Brendan Collier (the original creator of the Stagecoach400 Route). He is also involved in advocacy and trail building locally as a board member of the newly formed “Hoodland Trails Collective”. He works with HTC as well as NWTA, 44 Road Trails, and The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance to help build and maintain trails all over the Mt Hood National Forest.
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(he/him, Iowa City, IA) I am the leader/organizer of a local community cycling club called The Gravel Scouts. We go on a handful of overnight trips annually, and all of those routes are curated by me. In addition to overnights, we have shorter weekly rides and longer weekend rides. I have lived in Iowa City for 19 years and in Eastern Iowa for nearly 35 years. Most of my riding is out my back door. My brother Matt Mason gave me the encouragement to put Iowa on the Bikepacking map, and my good friend and photographer David Greedy is always willing to scout the route with me.
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Chris (he/him, Idaho) is a long time Mountain Guide with decades of experience in trip planning, remote expeditions, and a general desire to move through terrain with elegance. Chris has experience planning long, backcountry day rides linking together terrain and trails. He has been riding for nearly 20 years in Central Idaho and continues to be amazed that there is more to explore. Chris likes thinking about how to connect terrain elegantly.
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Christy (she/her) grew up in the beautiful southern Indiana town of Bloomington, with small stints in Estes Park, Colorado while her folks worked at a summer camp. She has lived in Colorado most of her adult life, now calling Golden home. Although she took to mountain biking and bikepacking later in life, they were fast friends. With her love of camping and riding her bike, bikepacking was the perfect combo. Since her first bikepacking trip several years ago, she has thoroughly enjoyed a variety of rides, including 9-day trips and local overnights. She spends her days guiding young children at a public Montessori school, encouraging them to find the peace and joy and wonder that she finds in the outdoors.
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Corey (he/him, Bozeman, MT) bought his first bike in the mid 1980s – a Shogun Prairie Breaker. He grew up in a logging family in Idaho and got into cycling because asthma kept him from riding horses. Later in life, Corey ventured into advocacy in the early 2000s as he saw groups successfully convincing land managers to ban mountain bikes from some backcountry trails. Since then, he has helped found the Montana Mountain Bike Alliance and has been heavily engaged in mountain bike access issues throughout the northern Rockies. He’s also spent countless hours clearing and maintaining trails in the Caribou Targhee National Forest.
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I’ve been developing hiking and cycling routes for over 15 years, a passion and career path that I fell into while living in the Middle East after an extended period of international travel. After a decade overseas, I returned to my hometown in Virginia and began exploring the area by bicycle, seeking roads that stretched farther into the vast public lands and forests in the region. In 2017, I toured the Great Divide, which sparked the idea to start mapping a similar route across Virginia to highlight the great riding in my backyard and create an experience that would connect diverse communities across the state.
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Don (he/him, Hailey, ID) started his bike adventures on a green Huffy Cheater Slick outfitted with a cotton sleeping bag, fishing pole and Green Hornet lunch box, Twinkies included. “I have been described as a little crazy, with an inordinate amount of exuberance. I’ve ridden and raced many places, guided many rivers, fought many fires, built many trails, crashed and burned many times and can’t wait to explore today. I hope to meet you out there somewhere.” Don is the creator of Dark Sky Bikepacking, a bike packing adventure hub based in Hailey, Idaho next to Central Idaho’s Dark Sky Reserve
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Emily Elliott (she/her) hails from Redlands, California. A community planning consultant by profession and a geographer by education, Emily has an affinity for route making, advocating for active transportation, and sharing the stoke of bikes. In partnership with community stakeholders, she established and stewards the Ranchita Rambler, a route and annual event for cyclists to cut their teeth on bikepacking and self-sufficiency while simultaneously promoting low-impact tourism and economic development in rural communities. Nestled at the foot of the San Bernardino mountains and within easy reach of the Mojave and Colorado deserts, Emily enjoys scouting and documenting routes from Sunday-funday rides to ‘more than you can chew’ adventures. Emily has dabbled in ultra-endurance, xc, and road racing, but has found the most joy and fulfillment in simply sharing the trail with friends (or her dog) and riding for the sake of fun. Having enjoyed the support of others in cycling, she’s excited to pay it forward by joining Bikepacking Roots to showcase inland southern California and welcome newcomers of all identities.
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Erin (he/him, Santa Barbara, CA) is an avid mountain biker and backpacker and got into bikepacking to blend the best of both worlds. A landscape architect by profession, Erin has always been fascinated by maps and trying new bikepacking and backpacking routes. Erin’s other passions include surfing, botany, volunteer trail work, dogs, studying maps, exploring new trails, and just getting outside in general. Erin is the creator of the Tour de Los Padres, which was first released in 2014 and is now the 2nd oldest annual bikepacking event in California.
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Everett Ó Cillín (they/them, Eugene, OR) is a curator, organizer, and adventure cyclist that sees bikepacking as an immersive platform for creating conversations and collaborative projects that explore our relationships with social and physical landscapes. A co-founder of the Radical Adventure Riders, Board Member with the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance, and WeGotNext Ambassador, Everett seeks to foster community and connection through bike travel and stewardship. They seek out the narrative in the landscape, routing exhibitions and expeditions that connect people, places, and ideas. You can find their essays on art and cycling in Adventure Cyclist Magazine and The Bikepacking Journal.
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Forrest (he/him, Grand Canyon, AZ) is a high school science teacher at the only pre-K-12 public school located in a National Park at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. He is passionate about (a) education and teaching, (b) biodiversity, environmental science, and evolution, and (c) outdoor adventuring. Forrest is devoted to getting students into the outdoors and helping them learn science deeply. He’s built a strong love for Arizona – a topophilia enriched by bikepacking and backpacking around the state. He’s created and published the Capes of the Canyon (South and North Rims), El Lobo Lupus, Gold to Grand Loop, and House Rock Wrap bikepacking routes.
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(he/him, Washington, DC) As a child, learning to ride a bicycle meant freedom to explore my surroundings. As an adult, pedaling through a forest is a great way to recapture this feeling. Plus, it’s just fun! I created and maintain C&O Canal Byways (https://canalbyways.com/), a collection of routes ranging from a few miles to 500+ miles that intersect the C&O Canal but primarily feature more adventurous terrain. For the last few years, I have been specializing in routes that are possible without car for riders who can get to Amtrak or other regional transit. I enjoy all aspects of creating routes, including poring over maps, scouting and refining a route, seeing a place in different seasons of the year, hearing feedback from other riders, and spending hours thinking about each little choice that defines the route. Route creation is both a rewarding personal experience and a way to share that experience with riders who might otherwise stick to the comfort of the most well-traveled roads and trails.
I enjoy all aspects of creating routes, including poring over maps, scouting and refining a route, seeing a place in different seasons of the year, hearing feedback from other riders, and spending hours thinking about each little choice that defines the route. Route creation is both a rewarding personal experience and a way to share that experience with riders who might otherwise stick to the comfort of the most well-traveled roads and trails.
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Greg Hardy (he/him, Asheville, NC) is the owner of Rockgeist (rockgeist.com), a small business dedicated to manufacturing bikepacking gear and expanding the boundaries of your bicycle travel. In addition to selling great gear, Rockgeist has curated a route library (https://rockgeist.com/routes/) that focuses on short and accessible East Coast bikepacking routes. They also have a Bikepacking Rental Gear Library to support new bikepackers in the Southeast.
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Gregg (he/him, Thousand Oaks, CA) is an ITT holder for the Tour de Los Padres and 2021 winner of Stagecoach 400. He’s also the first finisher & current FKT holder of the New Colo route. Greg is a co-creator and Steward of the Escape LA bikepacking route, along with Justin Shafer. The route was inspired by tens of thousands of miles logged while training for bikepacking adventures in other locales.
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Helena (she/her, Warriors Mark, PA) is a central Pennsylvania native who is happiest traversing landscapes by bike, boat, foot, or ski and makes moving outside daily a non-negotiable part of her lifestyle. She believes that backyard adventures are just as important as the epic ones, and is passionate about getting more people outdoors in whatever way they can. Helena has worked for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council for the past six years, where she does GIS and map-making in addition to managing a variety of projects related to trails and outdoor recreation. She is also a writer and previously, she worked at Dirt Rag Magazine and still does some freelance work on occasion.
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Jacob (he/him, Morgantown, WV) is a native Appalachian, hailing from the Great Smokey Mountains. Bikes began shaping Jacob in college, starting as a means of cheap transportation before eventually becoming the inspiration for his philosophy in everyday life today. Jacob has worked as a professional backcountry guide, bike mechanic, and is currently an outdoor educator and instructor based in the heart of Appalachia, passionate about bringing bikes and their philosophy to the region. While relatively new to bikepacking, Jacob is the founder of West Virginia’s only bikepacking group, Hellbender Bikepacking, and hopes to bring attention to the sport in the Mountain State.
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Jason (he/him, Pasadena, CA) is a recent bikepacker, starting in 2020. He has multiple finishes in the top 10 of Stagecoach 400, and before that, an ultra endurance athlete in Ironman & marathon.
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Jody (she/her) is a long-time resident of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She moved there after college with the intent to play and ski for a winter season, but she couldn’t resist the lure of the Yampa Valley. She stayed for that next summer, bought a mountain bike, and decades passed. She grew up in a family of cyclists, and riding has always been a part of her life. After her first trip in 2016, bikepacking quickly became one of her passions. When she’s not on a bikepacking trip, she’s probably planning the next one or helping friends plan theirs. Jody has a strong focus on backcountry safety and volunteers with her local search and rescue team.
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Joe (he/him, Missoula, MT) was raised in Minnesota and followed his call to the mountains in his early 20s. The endless trails and forest roads in western Montana is where he found love and obsession for mountain biking and bikepacking. Joe is the founder of Spotted Dog Cycles, a dirt-minded, Missoula-based bicycle touring and outfitting company. By offering backcountry cycling tours Joe hopes to help others learn to appreciate and respect our wild lands and the opportunities they provide. When he is not on two wheels he is usually in the woods with his dogs or trying not to crash at the skatepark.
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John (he/him, Butte, MT) started bike travel with a few simple road and gravel tours in his 20s, but picked up bike travel again in his 40s. Though John works full-time, he is still able to manage several tours per year ranging from overnight to several weeks, mainly in the western US (MT, ID, AZ) and Mexico (Oaxaca, Yucatán, Huasteca). John is also a Warmshowers host along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route in Butte, MT, and has hosted over 450 guests throughout the years.
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John (he/him, Phoenix, AZ) is originally from Allentown, PA and developed his love for bikes riding BMX Freestyle Flatland. He moved west to Arizona to attend college and never looked back. He took up mountain biking in 1994 as a way to stay in shape for alpine skiing, now it’s his passion. His bikepacking adventures began about 5 years ago, and he loved the freedom it brought to explore new places I otherwise would not be able to get to. He also organizes multi-day rides to introduce newcomers to the realm of bikepacking. He also has a reputation for loving good hike-a-bike!
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Julian Bender (he/him) lives in Philadelphia, where the Pine Barrens are the biggest, closest wilderness to the city. I currently have an extremely indoor job, but worked for several years developing and mapping hiking trails across the Middle East, including the Jordan Trail (https://www.jordantrail.org/) and Sinai Trail. My first ever bike camping trip was to the Pine Barrens in 2011, and since then I’ve been exploring the area by bike on a regular basis. After years of thinking the Pinelands needed a proper bikepacking route, I decided in 2024 to go out and create one. The Pines are a truly special place, especially given how close they are to the most populated parts of the US. I hope the Jersey Devil Hunt will offer a way to discover this unique ecoregion, and expose more people to bikepacking in general!
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Kayla Layng (she/her, Lancaster, PA) is an anti-elitist cyclist who believes that cycling must be accessible to everyone, and that means cultivating a community with the same values. This is also what she chants under her breath when she’s fighting for her life, trying to catch up with people on climbs. She co-leads a gender-diverse adventure cycling collective called “Hellbenders Adventure Collective” with her friend Maggie Livelsberger. Kayla has worked as an engineering manager, a bike mechanic, a part-time TV scriptwriter, and a rock climbing guide. Currently, she is a Programs Manager for a non-profit bicycle shop, The Common Wheel, in Lancaster, PA. Her favorite bike-packing trip she has done was a route called “The Pictish Trail,” which follows the eastern coast of Scotland, featuring rolling hills of sheep, seclusion, ice cream called lollies, abandoned whiskey towns, and many-a pubs. Despite that being her favorite trip so far, her love for Pennsylvania riding cannot be compared.
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Kirsten (she/her, Colorado) grew up in Washington state, riding bikes around her neighborhood and camping in the rainy old growth forests near Mt. St. Helens. After several years of residing in Colorado, she eventually put the two – biking and camping – together. Her first bikepacking trip was from Durango, CO to Moab, UT via the San Juan huts, a life-changing experience that developed her deep love for challenge and adventure. Fully unsupported trips followed, solo and with friends. She now spends most of her time exploring the roads and trails of northwest Colorado and the vast deserts of Utah, while also dreaming of exploring far off places. She currently works at a small bike outfitter and shop in Steamboat Springs, CO where she leads guided rides, hosts clinics, and assists bikepackers with routes and equipment. She is excited to work with Bikepacking Roots to develop community and camaraderie, as well as educate others how to enjoy and respect the outdoors.
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I have been riding and documenting backroad routes in Northern Nevada for the past 9+ years. Over the last 3 years I have been hosting overnights open to all interested, first timers to highly experienced. These events have been year-round, one or more a month. The last two years I have hosted Rides with Friends, a collaboration with Friends of Black Rock High Rock, to inspire stewardship of Black Rock Country through non-motorized recreation. All of these routes are curated by me.
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I started the Missouri Bikepacking Facebook Group in May 2022, shortly after my first multi-day bikepacking trip on the Katy Trail.
I am a US Army Reserve Veteran. I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
I met my wife in the Army, and we have two sons that are 7 and 9.
I raced BMX when I was younger, and I sent my BMX bike to Iraq and Afghanistan to get around base.
I feel more comfortable on a mountain bike, but will often hop on my gravel bike when our local trail conditions are poor.
I love creating new routes, exploring new areas, and I am anxious to get more local group rides and events together.
Community
Kyle (he/him, Los Angeles, CA) found cycling in grad school at UC Davis, where is it often said there are more bikes than students. After moving to Los Angeles, he started riding the many fire roads through LA’s mountain ranges. Cycling became his primary hobby and way to connect with other people and with nature. Kyle is passionate about getting more people on bikes, and more bikes loaded up with bags to go camping.
Community
Originally from Colorado, Laura Kelly (she/her, Yorktown Heights, NY) planned her first bikepacking trip with a friend to a campground at a state park in 2016. The trip was transformative, and she’s probably explored more of the Northeast by bike than by car. Laura honed her skills by tagging along with more-experienced bikepacking friends, and enjoys helping others find what works best for them. Her bikepacking philosophy is to be safe, eat snacks, take photos, and have fun. When she’s not out bikepacking or working, you can find Laura spending time with her family and dogs.
Community
(She/her; Erie, PA) I have been cycling more seriously for the last five year and have fallen deeply in love with single speeding, ultra endurance racing, riding and bikepacking. I have been creating routes over the past few years as a way to explore new places and am excited to get to share more of what makes Pennsylvania a beautiful place to ride and enjoy. I primarily explore the western and central parts of the state and co-maintain a community cycling group called the Hellbenders Adventure Collective, encouraging women and non-binary cyclists to explore new types of cycling and new routes to enjoy.
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Community
(he/him) I am a proud husband, father to two young children, and an active member of the Carbondale, Colorado community. I went on my first bikepacking tour in 2019 and was immediately hooked. Since then, I have explored many published and unpublished multi-day routes in the Rocky Mountains and desert southwest. The Colorado Trail is my favorite so far. In 2022, at the youthful age of 47, I discovered my passion for ultra-endurance bikepack racing, which I have pursued wholeheartedly ever since. Friendships, inspiration, and lessons learned from others along the way have had a seismic impact on my life. I often write about these experiences at my personal blog site mofogo.org. I am currently documenting a number of routes in Northwest Colorado that I hope to publish in the near future. My family is also in the midst of planning our first bikepacking adventure, together as a whole. We look forward to learning and growing alongside many new friends.
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Community
Matt McCourtney (he/him, Johnsville, CA) is an adventure enthusiast. From quick backyard blasts to deep dives into multi-day human powered travel, each adventures seems to inspire the next. With a background in cycling, commercial photography and backcountry fly-fishing guiding, Matt truly enjoys emerging himself in wild places and getting off the beaten track. If he is not in the backcountry, you can bet he is dreaming of his next adventure that will get him right back out there again. See you out in the wild…
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Matthew Kadey lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Matthew has decades of experience cycle touring and bikepacking around the globe, including Myanmar, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, and Portugal. He has developed several bikepacking routes in Ontario and abroad. His biggest industry achievement is the development and publication of the cross-country Great Northern Bikepacking Route. Professionally, Matthew is a nutrition journalist and professional recipe developer.
Community
Mick (he/him, Big Spring, TX) is co-founder Trail Warrior, a 501c3 non-profit providing guided Veteran expeditions in the form of adventure cycling and bikepacking trips. “While living near Reno/Tahoe and then Boise for years, I loved to take opportunities to go explore local trails by bike. I personally discovered bikepacking in 2014 and have never looked back. I’m either on a ride, telling stories about the last one, or planning the next one. Sharing the adventure of exploration by bike with those who served our country is a great way to give back.”
Community
A Latine cyclist who grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Mike is passionate about getting other BIPOC folks on bikes to experience the freedom and community that it brings. Even though Mike is new to the outdoor industry, he has organized community events and Bikepacking trips including co-organizing a BIPOC specific Bikepacking trip in Vermont.
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Nathan (he/him, Frankfort, KY) is the owner and content creator of Kentucky Cycling, a passion project aimed at promoting cycling resources in Kentucky and the surrounding region. Nathan sees the bicycle as the ideal exploration tool and especially loves multi-day adventures by bike and actively encourages others to “get out there”. To that end, he has worked with area partners to develop multiple bikepacking routes in Kentucky, as well as led group trips through the Central Kentucky Bikepackers Facebook group. Be sure to check out the Bikepacking playlist on the Kentucky Cycling YouTube channel to follow Nathan’s adventures.
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Pat Boyle (he/him, Seattle, WA) have been bikepacking for 5 years on various routes, including the parts of the Cross Washington, the Baja Divide, the European Divide Trail, La Ruta Mala (Cuba), Holyland Challenge Route (Israel), New Mexico Off Road Runner, Oregon Big Country, The Highland Trail 550 (Scotland) and Tour Aotearoa (New Zealand). I help maintain the Baja Divide Facebook group and route guide.
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Patrick (he/him) has 4 years of experience creating the routes, leading rides on, and organizing bikepacking races as a part of his Texas SHOWDOWN series. Patrick is the host and creator of the Bikes or Death podcast, “At its heart, Bikes or Death is more than just a podcast. Bikes or Death is a lifestyle. It’s the idea that a life without bikes is a life not worth living.”
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(he/him, Park City, UT). My love for bikepacking boils down to the love of solitude on long and isolated dirt roads. After a self-supported bike tour across the USA in 2009, and two larger bike tours with my pup in tow – adding up to roughly 11k miles, my yearning for less pavement turned to dirt and the bike setup followed suit. Bikpacking revolutionized my life and I still live by the notion that “the road will always provide.” My main focus for the bikepacking community is route development, website development – including the new Bikepacking Roots site, Utah Bikepackers Facebook group administrator, The Bikeraft Guide contributor, and open source creative commons photography on Unsplash. Stoked to be apart of the community! Throw me an email anytime you’re looking for a dirt partner. Cheers!
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Shane (he/him, Wausau, WI) grew up in rural Eastern Marathon County, right on the Mountain-Bay Trail before it was a bike trail. Growing up in the 80s there weren’t designated areas to ride other than the rural roads. Shane always had the urge to explore and used his bike as a means to do so, whether winter or summer. The opening of the Mountain-Bay Trail was really exciting to Shane, and he decided to buy his first real decent bike and set out a goal to ride the entire length. Doing that really fueled his true passion today, which is bikepacking. A self-proclaimed adventure cyclist, Shane loves the process of making a route with route planning tools and apps and then going out with only the things a person needs to survive for a few days and riding it. Most recently Shane has bikepacked a Shane-modified version Sky Island Odyssey loop in southern Arizona featuring close to 30 miles of added singletrack to the existing route. He plans on using his love of adventure riding and knowledge of the area to help promote the sport to the area through IRONBULL as both a race director and board member.
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Spencer (he/him, Tucson, AZ) was southern California raised and is currently nesting in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. “Ever since someone informed me I could strap camping gear to a mountain bike I have never looked back on my backpacking days. I just want to spread stoke and ride bikes with all the rad humans.”
Community
Susie (she/they, Los Angeles, California) is a designer and artist based in LA. For over a decade, they have been actively organizing within the LA bike scene, with a focus on fostering community for gender-expansive and women riders. Growing up in Idaho sparked Susie’s passion for the outdoors, while attending school in Washington reintroduced her to bikes. Their love for bikepacking emerged from a series of memorable misadventures, igniting a passion for camping by bike that she eagerly shares with others.
In 2021, Susie co-founded Wild Wolf Cycling Collective, where they developed a bike campouts program and a gear library aimed at making overnight bike trips more accessible for first timers.
In 2022 she led monthly trips for the collective and created a zine featuring all 12 routes. Each year, the program and gear library have continued to grow, further expanding opportunities for new bike campers.
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Will Kessler (he/him, Massachusetts) is a Geographer by training with a passion for all kinds of recreation on public lands. I’m a big fan of under-biking and love finding out whether a proposed route “will go” the hard way. My interests in maps and bikes means I’m constantly pouring over new areas, devising trips for some day down the road. My first bike touring experience was in 2017 on a self-devised route multi-month tour through Colombia and Ecuador. Since then, I’ve taken every opportunity to get out and ride somewhere new. In 2022, after several years living in Helena, MT and watching divide riders pass through town, my partner and I toured the route before ending up in Cambridge, MA. Now we’re having fun exploring the class 4 roads of New England!
Community
Zoey (she/her, Winthrop, WA) developed a strong aversion to biking as a child as she was dragged on a tag-a-long behind her parents on the White Rim and on a variety of other heinous family biking adventures. After swearing off the stuff in her youth, Zoey began a cautious re-exploration of mountain biking as an adult, which unexpectedly turned into a love for two wheeled adventure. Her bikepacking story began with strapping homemade bags to an old school 90’s Fuji Tahoe and heading into the mountains of Idaho. It evolved into strapping much improved homemade bags to the same bike and touring a loop of the Western Wildlands and the Great Divide Mountain Bike routes in 2023. Post loop, Zoey relocated from Salt Lake City to the North-Central region of Washington. She hopes to dive deep into the existing community in her new home, and contribute to the creation and expansion of an open, inclusive group of excited biker people!
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