Eric Lange - Founder
Originally from Wisconsin in the United States, Eric set out on a long awaited adventure in the spring of 2008 and rode across the U.S., down through Mexico and Central America, eventually ending up in South America. Having covered 65,000 miles during this first 2+ year journey and having worked in motorcycle tourism along the way, Eric’s passion for adventure was only fueled by what he saw: The incredible scenery and culture in places like Bolivia, unforgettable rides through the Andes mountains, and of course, the stunning and almost “heart-breaking” natural beauty of Patagonia. All the exploration, discovery, and reactions from touring customers left him with the recurring thought that, "more people need to experience this." That sentiment has propelled RIDE Adventures to become the reputable travel service provider that it is today.
Eric and the Team are busy building the RIDE Adventures YouTube Channel, and always researching more and better journeys that our Customers will enjoy. The history of Eric’s initial travels through North and South America in 2008-2010 can be reviewed on his personal blog at http://travelswitheric.blogspot.com.
Garrett Galván - Digital Content Management & Marketing
Hailing from Oregon, the headquarter state of RIDE Adventures, Garrett joined us back in 2018 after
Now with over 10 years riding, traveling and digital marketing, he's an essential asset to the team.
Both with work and on his free time he continues to push the boundaries of exploration with 2025 plans for scouting trips in Mongolia and Morocco to create new and exciting route options for our Customers.
Garrett is a versatile professional with a primary focus on digital content creation and marketing in the travel industry. He's worked with and/or is featured in Travel + Leisure, Skyscanner, Capital One, Google, Expedia, MSN, Brussel Airlines, Czech tourism, Turismo Espania, 100% Pure New Zealand, and many more.
His absolute favorite RIDE Adventures route is Northern Vietnam, MotoSafari Tanzania & Baja on Down.
Kristen Kaul - Customer Relations & Internal Management
Kristen Kaul (Krissy or Kris)
Originally from Minnesota, Kristen made her way west on a mission to find adventure and escape the negative degree weather. Central Oregon has been her home for the last 5 years.
Her passions lie in building positive relationships with clients, supporting teams through project management, and laughing through life as much as possible.
You can find her mountain biking with her dog Zion, at the coast attempting to surf, or being a homebody making sourdough bread and playing the piano. She is excited to add adventure riding to the list!
Jeff Taylor - eCommerce, SCO, SEO, Webstore, Managment
Jeff’s background in adventure travel is diverse and extensive. He's explored several countries, often staying for months at a time, including a six-month journey in New Zealand where he bought a car for the full experience. An avid cave explorer and cartographer, Jeff also enjoys canyoneering, backcountry skiing, and whitewater packrafting. His core motivation for adventure riding is the freedom to travel quickly while immersing himself in the surroundings, believing motorcycles offer one of the best perspectives on the world.
In his role with RIDE Adventures, Jeff combines his marketing expertise in Search Engine Marketing and copywriting with his well-rounded business acumen. Known for his data-driven approach and strategic vision, he’s dedicated to enhancing RIDE Adventures’ offerings, inspiring riders to reach destinations they may have never considered. Jeff also runs Tinkerlytics, a consulting business dedicated to helping brands maximize their marketing impact through innovation and data tinkerlytics.com.
Andrew Murray - Lead Instructor & PNW Ambassador
Originally from Santa Cruz CA, Andrew grew up sailing, scuba diving, mountain bike racing and motorcycling on California’s Central Coast. After moving to Bend OR in 2017, his passion for motorcycling was rekindled. Moving from sport touring bikes to adventure bikes he figured out quickly the value of proper training and completed several Adventure Bike training clinics, along
with Motorcycle Safety Foundations Professional Adventure Bike coaches clinic.
Besides teaching adventure bike riding, Andrew has taught swimming, marine navigation, sailing, scuba diving, and spent 30 years coaching and training executives and managers in his prior corporate career. He’s always looking for ways to improve the quality of our program and the experience of our students, and he’s passionate about finding the safest, and most effective ways to help riders learn and master the fundamentals of Adventure Bike riding.
When he’s not riding and coaching motorcycles you might find him riding his mountain or gravel bicycles with his wife, or patrolling the Trails of the Three Sisters National Wilderness Areas as a volunteer Wilderness Ranger for the US Forest Service.
Andrew gives talks on and around adventure riding across the PNW. If you're interested in having him speak at your event please reach out.
Keith Riehl - Guiding, Training, Operations, & Mayhem
A guy who could be described as 'part Howard Hughes, and part MacGyver,' we're so glad to have a rider like Keith Riehl on our Team.
If you're lucky enough to have him along as part of an upcoming motorcycle trip, whether it be for mechanical needs, route-related questions, comic relief, or even if you just need some tires burned or fuel wasted, riders will be glad this multi-faceted ace is along for the ride. An Oregon native, Keith can be found ripping trails locally and exploring internationally by every mode of transportation; elephants, UTV's, and tuk tuk's included. He jumps at invites to adventures on a whim and even keeps bikes on a few different continents. When you're with Keith, there's never a dull moment.
Keith is such fun to hang out with, resourceful with our touring, renting, and training operations, and just a great guy all around.
Diego Villalpando - Booking Operations & Baja Extraordinaire
Originally from Mexicali, BC., Diego has been living in the U.S. for almost 20 years. While living in Baja California though, he spent time with his Dad exploring the peninsula with activities like fishing off the coast of the Rio Colorado Delta, and exploring canyons in the middle of the desert.
In Iowa, Diego's adventure spirit may have dwindled a bit, although a few backpacking trips overseas brought that back. Early thoughts of getting into overlanding via a Land Cruiser or Land Rover Defender changed dramatically after watching the "Long way Round" which sparked his passion for the possibilities of traveling by motorcycle.
After researching and eventually buying his first bike, a 2016 BMW R1200GS Adventure, Diego has found his calling in Adventure Motorcycle Travel. Spending the next 2 years going to events all over the U.S., Diego was eventually named the "Rookie of the Year" award by the GS Giants.
After running away from Iowa's extreme 2017 winter, Diego spent a few months living a long-awaited dream by once again traveling and exploring Baja California on his BMW. Now having joined the RIDE Adventures Team, Diego is ready to assist anyone with their travel needs, and who knows, may be the Best Baja Guide yet!
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Kyle J. Quinn - Guide, Instructor, Wildcard
The exact details of Kyle’s history and resume are unknown. Committed to exploring the American West by motorcycle in recent years, Kyle brings his knowledge of the area, passion for adventure, and willingness to share it with others who ride.
Coming from the Gulf Coast of Florida and possessing an engineering degree, it remains a mystery to us how Kyle got into the adventuring business.
What is known is Kyle’s passion for motorcycles, which, by his own account, began when he purchased a Yamaha YZF-R1 at age 19 and taught himself to ride.
After several years of traveling (pedaling a bicycle across China was just one of his exploits), Kyle returned to the USA, settling into the Four Corners area in pursuit of new adventures in mountain biking, rock climbing, mountaineering, and adventure motorcycling.
When RIDE Adventures met Kyle he was living off of his Africa Twin on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Recognizing his unique quality, we welcomed him aboard.
Todd Smith - Guide, Instructor, & Great Guy Who Has Done It All
A true son of the PNW Todd grew up either surfing the cold waters off the Oregon coast or bombing around the endless logging roads on a dirt bike. At 15 he joined a Wild land firefighting crew extinguishing over burns for a local timber company. He kept the good times rolling working as a deck hand on a commercial fishing boat. Ready to stretch his legs and see the world. He joined the U.S. Air Force. While serving he was primarily stationed in Utah and South Korea with deployments to fun places like Las Vegas NV, Alamogordo NM, Guam, and the Philippines. After separating from the Air force he found himself back home in Oregon. So how does he end up Developing and teaching Ride Adventures Training Tours.?
Seems his true passion is working to broaden his own skill sets and then sharing what he has learned with others. Be it’s learning how to divine water in the desert from a weathered old rancher , Becoming an instructor for TEAM OREGON MSF, Off road driving courses with Overland Guru Bill Burke, or even taking an INTRO ADV motorbike course with Ride Adventures. Which turned out to be his way of submitting a very in person version of a resume to us. Well it worked as he is now one of our lead ADV Motorcycle training instructors and course developers.
While he is always working to broaden his own skills, he is also consistently reworking our classes and routes to ensure we are providing proven fundamentals as well as the most updated techniques and confidence inspiring experiences for our students.
Brian Mackenzie - Lead Instructor, Pahrump, Nevada
Originally from Bishop, CA, Brian grew up riding and has been racing off-road motorcycles for over 20 years. After retiring from the California Highway Patrol in 2022, he decided to try Adventure Motorcycling and purchased a KTM 890 Adventure R. Moving to a heavier adventure bike, he quickly found a way to apply those skills learned while racing into a lot of fun adventure riding, completing several sections of the Nevada and California BDR’s, and many local rides in the Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nevada areas. In 2023, he found Ride Adventures and quickly became a lead instructor, wanting to give back to the sport which has given him so much in his life.
Besides teaching adventure bike riding, Brian spent several years as a Motor Officer with the California Highway Patrol and was at the center of several Off-highway Vehicle programs, including the pilot program for Inyo County, California’s Combined Use OHV trail system. He has been heavily involved in a local District-37 racing club, the Viewfinders MC, where he is currently the president of the club. Brian is currently working on ways to improve the quality of our program and the experience of our students, specifically in the Las Vegas/Pahrump Area. He, like all of the team, is passionate about finding the safest and most effective ways to help riders learn and master the fundamentals of Adventure Bike riding.
Patrick Ditson - Lead Instructor
Originally hailing from Encino, CA, Patrick Ditson grew up in the California Desert, where he began riding and racing motorcycles at a young age. A proud member of the Checkers M/C club in D-37, Patrick boasts numerous podium finishes and wins in D-37, 4 NORRA victories, and a total of 7 podium finishes. Notably, he clinched the vet 30 expert class in the renowned Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno race and secured several podium finishes in the SCORE International Off-Road Series.
As a factory-supported Honda rider and Kawasaki Team Green Rider, Patrick's accolades include a vet 30 Pro Outdoor Supercross Championship and a Pro Hare Scrambles Championship. Transitioning to off-road truck racing, he recently triumphed in his class at the SCORE Baja 500.
Patrick's passion for motorcycles remains strong, and he enjoys riding adventure bikes and embarking on multi-day adventure rides with friends. Beyond his motorcycle endeavors, Patrick is a 13-year US Army Veteran, a former police officer and SWAT entry team officer, and an entrepreneur and business owner residing in Dewey, AZ.
Patrick is dedicated to giving back to the adventure and off-road community by enhancing safety and skills. He finds joy in witnessing the smiles of individuals who achieve their dreams and goals through perseverance and determination. Patrick is eager to share his extensive knowledge with those embarking on their own adventures.
Jeff Jones - Instructor & SW Fleet Manager
Jeff Jones (JJ) grew up in South Dakota, riding horses to school. At 10 years old, he started riding a 1974 Honda CB 125 street bike in the dirt on weekends.
JJ is a former U.S. Marine, a retired Deputy U.S. Marshal, and a local volunteer for Search and Rescue. His goals are simple: feeding and sharing the appetite for freedom through riding.
He discovered early on that riding horses and motorcycles offer the same benefits—openness, mental clarity, the pursuit of learning, and experiencing new people and places. Whether riding as a kid, tactically in law enforcement, or now for adventure, the pleasure and rewards continue to grow. The only difference for him now is that his stable doesn't poop in the barn.
Cricket Butler - Training Instructor & ADV Guide
Cricket Butler calls Kalispell, Montana home, but since selling her business, The Whitefish Bike Retreat, and retiring in 2021, she has been in constant motion. Traveling the country in her truck camper, she explores remote landscapes by motorcycle, bicycle, backpack, and fly rod. Her background in ultra-endurance sports is extensive, including three Tour Divide MTB Races, numerous MTB Stage Races, 24-hour MTB competitions, 100-mile NUE MTB Series Races, adventure racing, mountaineering, and canoeing remote rivers in the Yukon and Alaska. The more remote and longer the adventure, the more at home she feels.
Cricket discovered the ADV riding world after encountering an adventure rider on the Great Divide in 2010. The concept of what she calls "Bikepacking with a throttle" captivated her imagination. Retirement has given her the opportunity to refine her motorcycle skills while exploring the country on routes like the TAT, BDRs, and countless dirt roads that lead to new discoveries. Her extensive experience teaching women's MTB and bikepacking clinics, along with guiding and consulting work, has led her to RIDE Adventures where she's passionate about helping women ride and explore the world with greater confidence on their motorcycles. Cricket lives by the belief that anything is possible for anyone who is willing to try.