Ever wondered how you can do more for public lands but you aren’t sure where to start? Outdoor Alliance’s Outdoor Allies series explores how other outdoor adventurers got their start in advocacy work and their advice for how you can harness your passion for the outdoors into advocacy for the land and water you love. Noelle Battle lives in Baltimore, Maryland and is the Executive Director of Bikepacking Roots. She has built her life and community around bike adventures and is thrilled to be able to channel that energy full-time to support more opportunities for folks of all identities and skill levels to get out on bikes in wild places and to protect the places where we love to ride.

How did you first get into bikepacking, and what other things do you like to do outdoors?

Biking in all forms defines many aspects of my life currently, and though I’ve always loved it, I didn’t grow up with as much exposure to camping and backcountry adventures as many of my current colleagues. I came into bikepacking through a love of travel and experiencing new places. The idea of being able to use the bike as a human-powered tool to experience vast expanses of nature and diverse communities became something I knew I had to do.

I quickly learned that there are a lot of barriers in getting into bikepacking: knowledge, gear, the logistics in planning, etc. It wasn’t until I connected with experienced bikepackers in my community that I was able to realize the dream. It basically took off from there, and now I run a national bikepacking organization that’s helping to break down barriers for others.

I’ve also discovered I’m most at peace near water and am looking forward to integrating more river adventures into my future travels.

Tell us more about your career path, and how it led to your role at Bikepacking Roots?

I’ve had a pretty winding career path but my interest in public health has been a consistent through line. I spent several years in the corporate world in finance and consulting, then I lived abroad for five years, where I started a small medical non-profit. After living in Guatemala for a time, I ended up in Baltimore and got my Masters Degree in Public Health. I then spent years working in global health and then domestic nutrition policy work before the opportunity at Bikepacking Roots came up. I was thrilled to be able to apply all of my non-profit management experience, and my recent exposure in policy and advocacy to such a great organization.

Noelle alongside Bikepacking Roots founders Kait Boyle and Kurt Refsnider

What is Bikepacking Roots’ origin story, and what are the big advocacy issues the organization has worked on?

Kait Boyle and Kurt Refsnider founded the organization at a time when popularity in bikepacking was just starting to explode. They wanted to have a voice for the growing community in land management decisions, while also helping to ensure that bikepackers were responsible stewards of the landscapes through which they rode. We recognize that as bikepackers, wild places enable and shape our adventures, and that we have an interest in and responsibility to help protect them.

Other areas of our advocacy focus on lowering barriers to bikepacking by improving and expanding camping options for cyclists and supporting efforts to make travel to each destination easier. These efforts include participating in the National Amtrak Bike Task Force, and helping to shape policy that benefits bikepackers through our relationships with the International Mountain Bike Coalition (IMBA) and Outdoor Alliance. Finally, we are committed to fostering a supportive, responsible, and inclusive community of bikepackers for people of all identities and experience levels.

What would you tell someone who is looking to get more involved in protecting the places they recreate?

There are many Advocacy 101 resources out there to help get people started. We created the Advocacy Toolbox for Bikepackers to provide support on some of the key ways to make your voice heard. Bikepacking Roots has also developed a Regional Advocacy Stewards network, bringing together passionate advocates from all over the country to support each other on local, regional, and national advocacy issues. We plan to have more opportunities in the future for the broader bikepacking community to connect through these efforts.

Connecting with groups locally is another great place to start. If you are a cyclist, get involved with your local trail stewardship organization. Whatever your outdoor recreation pursuit is there are similar groups, including many connected with Outdoor Alliance, such as Runners for Public Lands, the Access Fund, American Whitewater, and many more. And of course, use the great resources that Outdoor Alliance provides on issues that affect public lands, and protecting access to outdoor recreation.

As Bikepacking Roots has grown, what are some successes you have had as a community, and in helping to move policy forward?

Noelle and Outdoor Alliance meeting with lawmakers in D.C. about the BOLT Act & EXPLORE implementation

Bikepacking Roots was instrumental in helping to pass the Biking on Long Distance Trails (BOLT) Act as part of the EXPLORE Act in 2024. Passing the EXPLORE Act was a huge accomplishment, one that will ultimately benefit the entire outdoor recreation community.

Bikepacking Roots had been working for years alongside IMBA and other organizations to develop the Biking on Long Distance Trails Act. As the leading organization in the country advocating for long-distance backcountry biking, we are excited about its implementation which directs federal land management agencies to identify and develop at least 10 long-distance bike trails and 10 more potential trail areas.

The goal is that this recognition will lead to increased maintenance and restoration of existing long distance bike trails that need resurrection. Completing other trails that are in progress will also increase awareness of where these trails and experiences exist, which will increase ridership and benefit local communities. We are currently working with the BOLT Coalition to publish a comprehensive list of existing and potential “BOLT-worthy” trails to support the agencies work on implementation.

What are some other goals that Bikepacking Roots hopes to accomplish in the near future?

Bikepacking Roots may be a small organization, but we are growing and gaining momentum.

Our three pillars are Routes, Community & Advocacy, so in addition to our advocacy work we develop and steward bikepacking routes across the US and Canada, and lower barriers to bikepacking through events and educational programming. I’ve been focused on deepening our impact across these three pillars.

There is so much we want to do to grow our advocacy work, but I’m especially excited by the model that we have created through our Regional Stewards Program to create an outsized impact with limited resources. Additionally, I’ve been focused on expanding the scope of our work geographically across all regions of the U.S. A lot of our work has been focused in the Mountain West and Southwest, but being based on the East Coast, I’ve been excited to grow our programming across the country, which will reflect the diversity of what bikepacking looks like and the advocacy issues that face bikepackers nationwide.

Lightning round (one or two word answers):

Most used piece of gear: My main bikepacking bike is a Kona Sutra ULTD

A place you want to visit: Bears Ears National Monument

Another advocate you admire: Matt Mason, creator of the Monumental Loop in New Mexico

Favorite close to home spot: Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia

Outdoor Allies: Noelle Battle