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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!