Doug (he/him): Upon retirement in 2015, I renewed my love affair with bikes following a long climbing addiction. I’ve always had a strong love for adventure and began combining bikes with other forms of adventure, such as hiking and packrafting. I’ve planned and executed such diverse adventures as climbing Mt. Logan in the Yukon, climbing seldom-visited summits in the Waddington Range of British Columbia, and, more recently, canyoneering/bikerafting the Green River, hiking/packrafting various areas of Lake Powell, as well as many self-created bikepacking routes in Nevada. My favorite winter pastime is finding interesting areas on maps and trying to link them all in a bikepacking route. I love Nevada and call Nevada my home.
Tyler (he/him) is a central Pennsylvania native currently living in Hudson, New York, in the upper Hudson Valley. His cycling and camping adventures began early as a scout, twice riding the C&O Canal towpath, and as an adult, he has started to lead bikepacking trips, focusing on the beautiful Catskill Mountains.
Ammen is the Executive Director of studioDRIFT, the non-profit arm of Ecological Design Group, where he spearheads efforts to enhance rural communities and the Arkansas Delta through outdoor recreation and active transportation. A University of Arkansas alumnus, Ammen’s diverse career includes impact investing and directing development for Ruston, Louisiana, where he established 10 miles of multi-use trails. After returning to Fayetteville in 2018, he served as the University of Arkansas’s Active Transportation Coordinator, overseeing major trail and safety projects.
Chris Panasky (Chelsea, QC) has been actively growing the bikepacking community across Canada’s National Capital Region since returning to Canada in 2019. In the spring of 2021, he launched the Canadian Shield 400—a route that has since grown to include a multitude of other routes as well as a full Canadian Shield series, with multiple variations now available through the Bikepack Adventures website. Chris also hosts the annual Canadian Shield Bikepacking Summit, bringing together bikepackers from across the region for shared learning and riding.
Chris’s journey into bikepacking began after a bike tour through Northern Thailand, which inspired him to start the Bikepack Adventures Podcast. Through the podcast, he shares the stories of bikepackers, bike tourers, and endurance racers from around the world. It’s become a platform not only for celebrating others’ adventures but also for sharing his own journey into the world of bikepacking.
In 2022, Jen (she/her) and Eric (he/him) bikepacked almost 8800 km including the Grand Departs on the Tour Divide (33 d) and the Log Driver’s Waltz (3.5 d), and a “pairs” time trial on the North of Seven 770 (5 d). In 2019, they were amongst the first few riders to complete the BT 700 in Southern Ontario, which they did on a whim in lieu of their annual wilderness canoe trip. That trip was their first time following a curated bikepacking route, and the experience of being taken to bits of road, trail, and track that generally only locals know about piqued their interest in the sport.
Dylan Boyle (he/him) is an active member of the local mountain biking community. He sits on the board of the Los Alamos Tuff Riders Mountain Bike Club, and his main role with the club is organizing trail work events.
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.
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.
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.
