While active year-round, summer is our busiest season, especially between June and September.

• Trail work is every other Thursday or Saturday

• Group rides are every Wednesday

• A ladies specific event at least once per month

The Events Calendar or Instagram is the best way to get the most up-to-date info.

The Dirt Concern MERCH:

TDC Trucker Hats

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.

drew.m@southwestmontanamba.org

Chris Morrison

Chris came to Bozeman in 2019 for a change of pace and a life closer to the mountains in the Gallatin Valley. Mountain biking has been part of Chris’s life since his freshman year of college and he’s been booked on riding dirt ever since. He loves riding across the Northern Rockies, from big backcountry days deep in the mountains to bike park laps. Chris first connected with TDC after unexpectedly riding through a trail work day at Leverich and realizing that the trails he enjoyed depended almost entirely on volunteers and those willing to give their time and energy. He now serves on the board, bringing experience in strategic planning, finance, and governance while working to help maintain and expand Bozeman’s trail systems and encourage more riders to support the trails that make this place special.

chris.morrison@southwestmontanamba.org

MIKE STEM

Originally from rural farmland New Jersey (yes, that exists) Mike started to ride mountain bikes in middle school and spent many years in Colorado chasing powder. It wasn't until a return to the east coast that his passion for mountain bikes was renewed through a family member who entered him in local cross country races. He loves all types of riding on gravel bikes and trails, but his focus has been enduro racing for the past decade. When he's not selling real estate he can be found tinkering in his shop or out on the trails riding with his partner Emily and their two dogs Bug and Gizmo.

In Bozeman since 2017, he has wondered how he could help SW MT increase its relatively low number of bike specific trail systems. So, he figured he'd better get involved with The Dirt Concern and see if he could help. Without community financial support none of the amazing work from TDC/SWMMBA is possible. He's stoked to use his past and current work experience to help with the development and fundraising needs of the organization!

mike.stem@southwestmontanamba.org

Hilary Byrne

Hilary hails from the Green Mountains of Vermont where her altitude addiction was born. Although she often spends more time cleaning out cuts and tracking down bandaids than actually biking, she spends the majority of her free time seeking out the steeps. When she’s not cutting up her limbs on rocks, you can find her running, skiing, playing with her Boston Terrier, Doug, or pushing pixels and creating content for the MeatEater production team.

Hilary is passionate about trail advocacy, community connection, and sense of place. She’s thrilled to plan events for the Dirt Concern and  motivate community members to meaningfully engage with the Bozeman bike scene. 

h.byrne@southwestmontanamba.org

Mikaela Balkind

Mikaela started mountain biking at a young age in the mountains of southwest Colorado, but after one too many OTB incidents, she decided the sport wasn’t for her. Luckily, she gave it another shot while living in the Pacific Northwest during undergrad and has been hooked ever since. Her love for Montana grew from long days spent pedaling in the mountains and convincing herself that climbs are actually fun.

After a few years in Missoula, where she was surrounded by an incredible trail system and bike community, Mikaela is returning to the Bozeman area and bringing the stoke with her. She joins The Dirt Concern as an Event Coordinator, where she focuses on organizing group rides and trail work days that elevate women+ and non-binary riders while building connection and confidence in the outdoors.

DaN Sandberg

Dan has been joining The Dirt Concern on group rides for years as a way to get outside, ride some new trails, and meet some new riding buddies! Last year he began helping to coordinate the group ride program and is now serving as the Outreach and Engagement Director. Dan sees the group rides as a great way to help build an inclusive and welcoming mountain bike community in Bozeman, to bring in new members to the organization, and to encourage folks to get involved as a donor or volunteer at one of the weekly trail work nights. Dan is also a proud Dirt Hero, donating monthly to support SWMMBA build and maintain the trails throughout southwest Montana.

dan.s@southwestmontanamba.org

Pam Sponholtz

Pam moved to Bozeman from the mountains of Colorado in January of 2023 for work. Her work passions are aquatic conservation and helping people better understand the benefit of healthy rivers and streams. When not at work, Pam enjoys anything outside but can be found doing her favorite things, skate skiing in the winter and exploring new trails by bike. She feels blessed to live in such a special and beautiful place.

Pam is excited to be part of the Dirt Concern and help contribute to making our trails better.

pam@southwestmontanamba.org

Hayden Fonnesbeck

Hayden grew up in Boise, Idaho, where he spent his youth competing in freeride skiing and racing mountain bikes. Those early years in the mountains shaped both his love for the outdoors and his passion as a photographer and marketer. He moved to Bozeman to attend Montana State University, and never really left. Since Hayden moved to Bozeman, he has been a part of the trail community. He joins The Dirt Concern's board as Marketing and Communications Director, where he focuses on social media, raising awareness, and helping tell the story of what trail stewardship looks like on the ground.

hayden.fonnesbeck@southwestmontanamba.org

Chris Petry

Chris grew up eating dirt and smelling farm animals outside of Ithaca, NY.  After a stint as a bad student and competing as a decathlete at Penn State, he made his pilgrimage west to the mighty Cascade Mountains.  Landing there, he found a career as an alpine and backcountry cat ski guide.  For years he spent his summers dragging clients up Cascadian glaciers, his falls climbing big walls in Yosemite, his winters cat ski guiding near Stevens Pass, and springs slaying Alaskan spines in Valdez.  It wasn't until the crash of 2008 that he found mountain biking.  

He quit his life as a summer guide, started a 7 acre organic farm in Leavenworth, WA and went mountain biking every chance he could.  For 15 years Chris farmed, biked and skied his brains out in WA, until one fateful 5’ overnight winter storm crushed all of his greenhouses.  With a heavy heart and dirty fingernails, he decided to retire as a farmer and move to Bozeman with a good friend to start a welding business.  Not knowing anyone here, he rode every trail he could find on Trailforks by himself.  Wondering why there weren't more bike specific trails in Southwest Montana and wanting to meet likeminded mountain bikers, he just started showing up to The Dirt Concern Board meetings.  One year later, he was asked to be the Trails Director for the chapter!  Chris is psyched to be a part of the growing mountain bike community here and can’t wait to eat even more dirt with all our local trail builders and trail work volunteers!

Chris.petry@southwestmontanamba.org