Our Team

As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, MTB Missoula is run by a whole lot of volunteers and two staff. We have an all-volunteer Board of Directors that oversees the direction of the organization, and seven volunteer committees that detail and assist with operations.

If you're interested in getting involved, please contact Ben here.

Committees

Administration Committee

The Admin committee does the unglamourous but necessary behind-the-scenes work to keep MTBM's wheels rolling. From budgeting to tax filing to HR, the Admin committee makes sure it happens, and we can't thank them enough for it.

Fundraising Committee

Trails Committee

Advocacy Committee

Events Committee

PR Committee

Board of Directors

MTB Missoula is steered by a working Board of Directors. These volunteers dedicate a huge amount of time each year to protect and develop opportunities for mountain bikers across Western Montana. Thanks, team!

Trent Baker, Board Chair

Trent grew up in Pocatello, Idaho, attended college in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has lived in Missoula, Montana since 1994, where he attended graduate and law school.  A former swim coach, ski bum and river guide, Trent is now a shareholder in the Missoula law firm of Datsopoulos, MacDonald & Lind. ...

Eric Melson, Vice Chair

Eric is a descender by birth and an ascender by choice. Born and raised in the Rocky Mountains,  his love for mountain biking started early as a way to explore his backyard and escape doing chores. He's dabbled in trail work, the ski bum lifestyle, convincing people that one idea is better than anot...

Cory Sobin, Treasurer

Cory Sobin grew up in New Jersey and headed out west as quick as possible, chasing a snowboarding and mountain biking dream life. He found it in Missoula, MT where he has lived since 2001. He has ridden the trails around the state for years, and was looking for a way to give back to help grow and su...

Matthew McQuilkin, Secretary

Matthew moved to Missoula, MT in 1997, and has been riding mountain bikes here ever since. Once he considered himself a guy who could really send it, and even though the years seemed to have caught up with him, his wheels do still leave the ground a little bit. Often people will hear him muttering the words: "I don't race, bro." The trails of Missoula have given him so much peace, so many wide grins and a few scars. So thankful for everything that the Missoula trails have given him, Matthew had been looking for years for a way to get involved and help shape the future of mountain biking in Missoula, and help evolve an already great trail system into something even more amazing. A trail system that offers something for every type of rider. MTB Missoula is the perfect avenue, and he could not be happier to be a part of it.

Eric Anderson, Board Member

Eric hails from the east and started riding on the root infested trails near Nashville, TN. His passion for backcountry riding was ignited by weekend explorations deep into the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia during college. Eric thought he had won the mtb lotto when he and his wife moved to Hamilton, MT in 2009 with trails seemingly everywhere on the map. He soon discovered that trail miles outnumber maintenance dollars in the Bitterroot Valley and he started carrying a handsaw to do his own volunteer maintenance. Eric's activism heightened when the Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan revision closed nearly 200 miles of his backyard trails. These trail closures, among other numerous recent trail closures all over Montana, motivated him to join the MTB Missoula board after he and his family moved to Missoula in 2013. He currently serves as chair of the MTBM's Advocacy Committee and tries hard to preserve and expand mtb access in the region. His favorite frontcountry trail is Bjorn Again and his favorite backcountry ride is the Heart Lake loop (now partially closed to bikes).

Amanda Duley, Board Member

Amanda is a self-proclaimed chocoholic, transplant from Virginia and has lived in Montana since 2009—first in the Bitterroot Valley where her technical riding skills were sharpened and now in Missoula since 2013. After falling in love with long, high alpine rides in MT and experienced having them taken away and turned into wilderness areas, she decided to get involved to keep access to trails for future generations and joined MTB Missoula board in 2014.  She was part of the process of MTB Missoula merger and loves the fact that we have full time employees to devote to TRAILS! If you find a MTB Missoula Flyer stuck on your windshield then Amanda’s been your way. She champions the Local Love Bike Shop program where bike shops provide new bike owners with a free MTB Missoula Membership. Her other roles include daughter, sister, wife, mother and staff scientist at the local science museum.

Phil Gardner, Board Member

Phil is from Indiana. As a young lad, he started riding a Schwinn Apple Crate Sting Ray and channeled Evil Kneivel. Later he picked up a Trek 520 road bike and got wonderfully lost in  the maze of paved roads of Southern Indiana where “Breaking Away” was filmed. He then headed out on a self contained trip with his brother from Mount Rainer to Santa Barbara, a trip which cemented his love affair with bikes.  He bought a Trek Antelope Mountain bike in 1988 and spent a month camping in Moab exploring slick rock. He moved to Missoula in 1997 to practice ENT medicine. Phil has served on the non profit boards of Missoula Medical Aid, Missoula Youth Homes and Friends of Missoula Parks (FOMP). He is one of the founders of RATPOD for Camp Mak A Dream and continues to serve on its Board. He also led  efforts through FOMP to build a pedestrian bridge across Rattlesnake Creek at the end of Duncan Drive and the RUX project at the western end of Pine St. Phil is passionate about open spaces and sauntering through wild places. He is married to Julie and they have raised three daughters.

Peter Lambros, Board Member

Peter clearly has Missoula DNA: his life is spread across a variety of careers, and trails! He spends working hours across real-estate development, tech, and hospitality.
Together with his wife and three daughters, he one of the luckiest guys on the planet.  Beyond family, trails and the outdoor community are central to his definition of quality of life. On Missoula’s local trails, he stays connected with the outdoors where he’s also found solace and grounded-ness, and the space to push mental and physical limits while building friendship and community. Beyond trails, for Peter the sweetness of life starts with a really good cup of coffee in the morning, and sunsets with a bottle of wine on a patio.

Solon Linton, Board Member

An avid outdoorsman and a passionate mountain bike advocate, Solon fell in love with the West when he moved to Montana twenty years ago.  He spent his early adulthood climbing, biking, and skiing around the world and is now a Wealth Management Advisor with Merrill Lynch. Solon currently lives in Missoula with his wife, Emily, and two young bike loving daughters.

Karl Westenfelder, Board Member

Karl has been an avid cyclist his entire life.  He moved to Missoula in 1998 to establish his medical practice. He was drawn to this area due to our outdoor recreational amenities and the Missoula community in general. He continues to enjoy and advocate for most all types of cycling, be it racing, touring, adventure riding or simply exploring with family and friends. He is passionate for advocacy, education, preservation and expansion of multi use trail access throughout our region. He enjoys spending time on and off the bike outdoors with his wife, Lori and 2 children, Elsa and Land.

Staff

Ben Horan

Executive Director

Ben starting riding bikes after he proved to be much too uncoordinated for ball sports. He’s been mixed up in the Montana bike racing community for about ten years, and promoting races since 2010. He directs the prestigious Missoula XC and the Western Montana Trail Series, and credits strong relationships with land managers and local partners for the success of these events. This role expanded to overseeing MTB Missoula as the Executive Director in 2017. Ben is pro-trail and pro-doughnut, and feels strongly that a winning recipe for open space protection lies at the intersection of conservation and recreation.

Brian Williams

Trails Director

Brian first became involved with MTB Missoula as volunteer-with-chainsaw in 2012, and soon after began organizing trail days and designing bike-optimized trail re-routes. Hired on in 2017 as Trails Director, he continues to build our volunteer and trail construction programs, looking for ways to integrate erosion control, weeds management, and low maintenance design into trails that are fun to use and retain character. Brian is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to Missoula's conservation and recreation legacy, and answers the age-old question of tech vs. flow with “tech and flow are not mutually exclusive”.