I probably really started mountain biking when I was in college when I went to a Fat Tire Festival in southern Illinois with some friends and was hooked.  After that, I started doing adventure races with my sister where we competed in events all over the country.  I joined PAMBA in 2013 and began helping out with trail work at Wildlife Prairie Park the following year.  In 2016, when we were granted access to the Kinsey property, I took on the role as Trail Steward, helping to bring that overgrown blank canvas into what it is today.  I joined PAMBA's Bike Patrol somewhere around 2016 as well and have been actively patrolling at races and beginner rides since.  My home base is definitely Kinsey, where you can find me working on the trails more often than riding them, but I also help out at most of the other parks when needed throughout the year.  You can also find me riding at almost all of the beginner rides and I will be joining as many of the group rides as I can.  My main goal with trail building has always been to get people riding and enjoying the outdoors, and I plan to bring that same enthusiasm to my presidency.  So get out and ride! (Unless it's wet, then don't.)

I have been a life long bicycle enthusiast. I began riding without training wheels at the age of 3. Brick and board ramps were a way of life in the 80's. I have always been a thrill seeker on 2 wheels. By the age of 12 I bought my first freestyle bicycle with a paper route income and began learning new tricks daily. One or my favorite tricks is the "decade" I learned this trick in 1986 and have done that trick every year since then. I purchased my first MTB in 2009 but didn't take trail riding seriously until 2017. After purchasing a couple newer bikes and training indoor during the off seasons. I was completely hooked. I joined PAMBA in 2018 and have gotten several friends to join and become avid mountain bikers. Last year I obtained permission to create a new system at Fort Creve Coeur Park and have assisted at Kinsey Park for the past two years. Although the type of bike riding I have done has changed over the years, my passion for having fun on 2 wheels has not. I look forward to helping PAMBA members and locals to continue enjoying mountain bike riding and trail building throughout the Peoria area

It all started in 2012 when I served as an AmeriCorp Backcountry trail crew member in Shasta-Trinity National Forest (Northern California). After the season ended I returned to the Peoria area and was itching to use my recently acquired trail-building skills. In the summer of 2013. a friend connected me with PAMBA. Everyone was so excited about biking on the trails they built and I picked up an intro MTB in August 2013, I have been building and biking ever since! Over the years, I have put in countless (ok, they were counted, but I am not sure how many) volunteer hours at our local parks, served as Kinsey volunteer coordinator, and added the title of club Treasurer in 2018. You are most likely to find me riding Kinsey, but I take advantage of what we have built by hitting all our wonderful parks throughout the year!