Ian Jones

Ian grew up in rural Maine, near Acadia National Park; needless to say he’s been riding a bike in the woods for a long time. He didn’t officially start mountain biking until moving to Montana, where he got his first experience of cross country riding on the Bangtail Divide. Ian has a special place in his heart for high altitude, high difficulty rides which makes the Lionhead region of the Henry’s Mountains an area of special interest for him. Ian is one of the original founders of SWMMBA, and is always looking for ways to improve the nonprofit.

Email: ian@southwestmontanamba.org

Rob Leo

Rob left his Philadelphia roots when he was 18 and headed for the Rocky Mountains in search of education and adventure… but mostly adventure.   A winter sports enthusiast first, his first non-winter mountain activities included a love for trail running and climbing.  A reluctant hold out to the biking scene, Rob eventually had enough nagging climbing and running injuries to push him to try mountain biking in 2017. 

While living in Park City, UT, Rob hopped on a metal steed for the first time.  While it wasn’t love at first ride, he was undeterred by numerous crashes and bruised ribs. By the end of that season, the seed had been planted and mountain biking became his preferred summer activity. Shoulder season and summer trips were focused on hero dirt, brown pow, loam, and sandstone. 

He and his wife have traveled as far south as Guatemala and as far north as British Columbia in search of epic singletrack. Since moving to Bozeman in late 2022 he has enjoyed the fresh and developing mountain bike scene and is looking forward to contributing and making an impact with SWMMBA.

Email: rob.leo@southwestmontanamba.org

Melissa Cronin

Five generations ago Melissa Cronin's family homesteaded between the Conrad and Niehart, MT raising horses and herding sheep. This history coupled with growing up in a passionate skiing family at the base of Bridger Bowl has instilled a love for the outdoors, backcountry places, exploring, solitude and adventure. Melissa lived in Big Sky with her husband and family for 25 years where mountain biking became an important part of their lives. It was riding the backcountry trails in the Big Sky area and being an active participant in the Travel Planning for the Gallatin National Forest that has solidified Melissa's commitment to advocating for mountain bike access, the creation of new trails, land stewardship, trail maintenance, advancing mountain bike culture and community service.

Email: mel@southwestmontanamba.org

Matthew Redmond

After relocating from Boone, North Carolina to Bozeman in 2014 to become a ski bum, Matt quickly learned that summers are his favorite season in Montana. To make the most of the short summers, he took to mountain biking as his preferred sport. 

It wasn't until 2017 that Matt started volunteering and participating in the various SWMMBA events and dig days. Eventually joining the board in fall of 2023 to channel his passion for trails and desire to expand the mountain biking community.  

When he is not biking, he and his wife, Eiils, are typically spending their summer weekends backpacking to remote areas of Montana with their dog Avett.

Email: rob.leo@southwestmontanamba.org

Josh Horstmann

Josh moved to Bozeman from the East Coast for access to the mountains, and all the great outdoor activities Montana has to offer. He has been riding bikes since the mid-80s. when he got his first Specialized hard tail. He was a member and instructor for IMBA’s National Bike Patrol for over 20 years volunteering with clubs around the country.  Since joining SWMMBA, he has been helping build our Bike Ambassador volunteer program.  

He joined the SWMMBA board to not only help build the bike community here in Bozeman, but to help the organization expand trail access and outreach across the state. When he’s not riding, he and his wife travel in their van checking out trails and breweries with their two dogs.

Email: josh@southwestmontanamba.org

Martijn Linden

Originally hailing from the country of all things bike, the Netherlands, Martijn now calls Bozeman Montana his home. And yes, he owns a Dutch cargo bike (you were wondering, weren’t you?) and like a good Dutchie allegedly rode bikes even before he walked around in wooden shoes. His first mountain bike was a GT Zaskar, back in the last century. But his Mountain biking addiction really got out of control after a back injury sidelined his middle-of-the-pack trail running career whilst living in Vermont. After a weekend riding the magical Kingdom Trails on a bike with plush suspension all hope was lost. When not riding the fabulously wild Montana trails, Martijn also loves to coach the rowdy kids at NICA, since his own kids think he is just old and boring.

Trails unite us and bikes are fun. Organizations like SWMMBA are worth all of our collective efforts. Anything to spread the love and continue to grow all things bikes and dirt into an empowering and transformative force!

Email: martijn.linden@southwestmontanamba.org

Nelson Bedient

Nelson grew up mountain biking in the sierras. He and his parents would volunteer building trails on the weekends. Nelson moved to Montana for school and stayed for the community.

Nelson joined SWMMBA in hopes of increasing community engagement/involvement at trailwork days and bike events.

Email: nelson.bedient@southwestmontanamba.org

Lisa Curry

Lisa Curry grew up in Butte where her love of biking started as soon as the training wheels came off. The steep streets were replaced by trails during college at Montana Tech and even more so during grad school in Missoula. She spent over a decade competing in road, mountain, and cyclocross races throughout Montana and a few other states. Lisa's greatest passion has always been riding in the mountains with friends and watching others find joy on two wheels.

Email: lisa.c@southwestmontanamba.org

Emily Mendoza Golz

Emily grew up recreating in the Eastern Sierras before moving to Missoula for college. After graduating, she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, where her love for big adventures intensified. Emily became an avid rock climber, and eventually, she and her husband added mountain biking to their circuit. Since then, mountain biking has become a favorite activity.

Emily is eager to leverage her skills as an attorney to advocate for expanded trail access in the community. For her, there’s nothing better than a day on bikes with friends and family. She hopes to create more spaces where others can share adventures on two wheels.

Email: emily.mendozagolz@southwestmontanamba.org

Dan Bauer

Born and raised in Minnesota in a family passionate about traditional sports, I took a different path when I discovered mountain biking at the age of 17. This newfound passion not only set me apart as the family’s black sheep but also shaped the course of my life. After college, I moved west to Southeast Alaska, where I spent four years as an operations manager for a small mountain guiding company. When I wasn’t mountaineering or climbing, I was exploring the rugged trails of Southeast Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and Northern British Columbia.

I first landed in Bozeman in 2012 and immediately recognized the untapped potential of Southwest Montana as a world-class mountain biking destination. Although I left Bozeman in 2015 to "start a career" in Seattle, the incredible trail systems of the Pacific Northwest further fueled my desire to return and contribute to Bozeman’s mountain biking community. I’m thrilled to be back and eager to help SWMMBA build a thriving mountain biking culture.

When I’m not on two wheels or splitboarding down snowy slopes, I’m sharing my love of the outdoors with my wife, our two young kids, and our dog. Professionally, I bring my expertise as the Head of Talent for a fusion energy startup, helping scale organizations with purpose and impact.

Email: dan.b@southwestmontanamba.org

Julie Hanen

Julie is a Bozeman native that learned to mountain bike on the trails of southwest Montana. She learned to ride bikes in the 90’s and has watched the trails and advocacy in our region evolve over the decades. Julie is the owner and founder of Ride the Earth mountain bike adventures. She is dedicated to creating experiences for mountain bikers to ride in unique destinations. She runs a series of mountain bike skills clinics and retreats, and hosts a variety of multi-day MTB adventures in Montana, Utah, Costa Rica, Peru and Japan. Julie specializes in creating unique and empowering events for all, including special experiences for women⁺ riders. She loves inspiring people to get out of their comfort zone and ride bikes in incredible destinations.  

Julie has come to the SWMMBA team to share her expertise and passion with our local community. She has 20 years experience taking people on adventures in the backcountry (both domestic and international) and has a background in events management, operational logistics, development strategy and marketing. She aims to help foster more events for our biking community, help raise funds for trails, and is driven to facilitate more opportunities for mountain bikers to come together in SW Montana. 

Email: julie.h@southwestmontanamba.org

Kevin Daily

Originally from Buffalo, NY, Kevin saved up for his first mountain bike in 1988, purchasing a Schwinn Sierra with friction thumb shifters and a rigid fork. The neighbor kids made fun of this weird bike with fat tires and a flat handlebar but for Kevin, an obsession was born.

Along with his amazing wife Jodi, Kevin is the owner of Montana Backcountry Adventures, operating the Shedhorn Grill and Montana Dinner Yurt restaurants, and the original founder of the Bell Lake Yurt backcountry ski hut in the Tobacco Root Mountains.

As an active member of the Big Sky community since 2007, Kevin has served in many voluntary roles, including in the BSOA Board, the BSCO Trails Committee, Big Sky Search and Rescue, and the Big Sky Public Education Support Fund.

As a member of The Trail Dogs (Big Sky Chapter), Kevin is passionate about the creation and support of a world class trail network in Big Sky. And, he is absolutely aware that his days of keeping up with his young sons, Frank and Sam, on the ski slope or the bike trail are running out!

Email: kevin.daily@southwestmontanamba.org

Drew Maier

Growing up, you're often told to follow your passions. Well, Drew has always had a thing for playing in the dirt, which seems to have led him here. He moved to Bozeman in the mid-2000s to attend MSU and has been biking, working, and volunteering in the community since. For three years, Drew and his wife Bree moved to Northern Idaho and became deeply involved in the local trail organization there. Hand-building miles of new trail, repairing and caring for even more, and seeing a community come together and show passion for an idea, it changed his perspective.

Now back in Bozeman, Drew is stoked for the chance to push trail advocacy further, expand the existing bike network, and organize our community of bikers! He'd love to bring everyone together, because when we ride and work with each other to pursue a shared passion, great things happen.

Email: drew.m@southwestmontanamba.org