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…
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.”
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.
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.
(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!
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.”
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.
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…
(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.
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.
