Our 2025 Athlete Team
We’re proud to introduce our 2025 athlete team. Each of these riders have a long list of winter-riding accomplishments, and we’re stoked to see what they do this year. Stay tuned for stories from their adventures and tips for staying warm when riding in winter weather. Get to know the team below:
Matt Acker
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
About: I scratch out a living doing all things bikes; professional athlete, event promoter, coach and route creator. I prefer to spend my time outside whether it's biking, hiking, trail building or just doing chores around the property. For downtime I enjoy having beers with friends, sitting around a campfire or just listening to music and petting the dog.
Memorable Ride (or Race): Bikepacking the Baja Divide with my wife Jenny. Doing nothing but pedaling, eating and sleeping for over a month was probably the best experience I’ve ever had on a bike!
Favorite 45NRTH piece: Wölvhammer boots. They're a game changer!
Steve Bate MBE
Location: West Yorkshire, England, Planet Earth
About: I’m 6’ 2” New Zealander based in the UK racing bikes for a living, whose interests are wild bike packing adventures in winter conditions and messing about in my workshop making thing from wood. And messing around with my dog Murphy!
Memorable Ride (or Race): I attempted the Highland Trail 550 a couple of years go in the worst winter in Scotland for 30 years! I ended up having to bail with frost bite, aside from that, it was an amazing time pushing myself to the absolute limit in a beautifully wild place.
Favorite 45NRTH piece: I’ve got far too many to choose from. Maybe my Wölvhammer BOA boots or the Vanhelga tires...it’s tough to call. The gloves are mint as well!
Jalen Bazile
Location: Denver, CO
About: Jalen is a facilitator, organizer, and outdoorsman who is dedicated to creating spaces that welcome and affirm Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. His background is in outdoor education and positive youth development and he supports and mentors young people for a number of youth organizations. Jalen organizes nature-based community events in Colorado and specializes in activities such as climbing, cycling, and overnight trips. In addition, Jalen is the founder of Travel Wide, a bikepacking outfitter that helps people develop their relationships with themselves, their community, and the land around them. He has a love for all things nature-based and is passionate about connecting people with the natural world.
Memorable Ride (or Race): Baja Divide (2018) - What happens in Baja, stays in Baja.
Favorite 45NRTH piece: Naughtvind Bib Knickers
Chelsea Strate
Location: Minneapolis, MN
About: I love bikes. They meant freedom when I wanted to see my friends across town when I was a kid, they meant transportation, fresh air and exercise when I was in high school and college, and now they are also my livelihood and my community. I've been racing bikes for almost 20 years now in various capacities, with a special love of winter fat biking and MTBing. I'm a new mom as of March of 2024, and I am enjoying learning how to be a parent and watching my little nugget grow into her own person. Balancing work, riding, training, family, and breastfeeding has been hard, but very rewarding. In the very little spare time that I have, baking pastries and bread (and eating them) also brings me joy.
Memorable Ride (or Race): Polar Roll in 2018 in the U.P. of Michigan, deemed the "Polar Stroll" that year because of the tough conditions with the amount of snow and ice they got the weeks and days leading up to the race. They groomed it the best they could, but three feet was a lot to wrangle! There was a long line of us hiking our bikes on the trail that had fallen apart due to the sheer amount of snow. With my Flowbeist and Dunderbeist tires and 100mm rims set up paired with super low pressure, I was actually able to ride some of it, so folks let me pass. People were quitting left and right, but I was enjoying the challenging conditions and the beautiful scenery. I love it when it gets weird out there. Temps were perfect, the sky was blue, and everything was covered in a thick layer of snow. The second half of the course was mostly rideable because so many people had quit, and I wasn't mad that the hardy few of us that kept going got to experience that. I think about that day often!
Favorite 45NRTH piece: The Greazy cap used to be my go-to answer for this question, and even though I still love that hat, I have to say that the latest version of the Wölvhammer boot is my new favorite. I love how lightweight yet warm it is, and the removable inner boot is cozy as heck. (Bonus: they are cute too.)
Evan Simula
Location: Marquette, MI
About: I live in Marquette with my wife Grace and two kids, Calvin and Maya. I manage a bike and Nordic ski shop called Sportsrack. Outside of riding and racing, I play music in a few local bands.
Memorable Ride (or Race): Most memorable would have to be the Rovaniemi 150k in the Finland up in the Arctic Circle. My Wife and I spent about a month in January there only on bikes to prepare/train for the race. Got to really explore a whole new landscape and culture.
Favorite 45NRTH piece: Gotta go with the Wrathchild 26 x 4.6" although I will be really bummed when my Redwing Wölvhammers finally wear out...
Jill Martindale
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
About: Eternally optimistic, I find myself unable to pick my favorite type of riding. I love being able to mix up terrain between bike paths, alleyways, singletrack, and the occasional (okay, more often than occasional) bushwhack or water crossing. I enjoy running errands or commuting by bike when I can, squeezing in a ride whenever I can, and sharing snacks at bike events. I love living in Michigan where we get a variety of seasons and weather, so I can ride gravel, dirt, groomed winter trails, and bikepack all year round. If you're my friend, I'm most likely trying to drag you on some sort of adventure or encouraging you to sign up for a race.
Memorable Ride (or Race): The Fargo Sub-48 is one of my favorite events each year because it's a great big slumber party on bikes! The event organizers and volunteers figure out all the logistics for you, so all you have to do is bring yourself and your rolling suitcase (aka your bike + gear). It's perfect for any type of rider and I love the laid-back atmosphere of the weekend! My husband, Dan, and I have been to most of the Fargo Sub-48s and have hilarious memories of getting lost or going on night rides throughout the years. One year we constructed a trailer and brought our 65lb lab mix, Oso! I hadn't realized pulling a dog that hated riding in a trailer would be so hard up the hills, but it was exhausting! By the time we finally made it to camp, a food truck was slinging pizzas and Oso ate his weight in pie. I wouldn't do that again but I'm so glad we have that memory!
Favorite 45NRTH piece: The footwear that 45NRTH makes has been incredibly clutch for my winter riding. Keeping my feet warm in any condition means that I can stay out in the cold longer and my time out in the snow is more enjoyable. I spent 22 days in a row in varying tempera- tures in the Wølfgar boots, as cold as -45 degrees F and as warm as 40 and raining, and my feet were never an issue.
Brian Geshel
Location: Marquette, MI
About: I love riding and racing my bike no matter what time of year, although fat bike and cyclocross are probably my favorite racing disciplines. I also enjoy bikepacking and adventure riding with friends, and I'm always looking for new routes and places to explore on two wheels. With all the incredible trail systems and wilderness that Marquette and the rest of the U.P. have to offer, I definitely feel spoiled sometimes. When I'm not on my bike, I love spending time with my wonderful wife and son and playing guitar in a couple of different bands.
Memorable Ride (or Race): A winter overnight last year with teammates Matt Acker and Evan Simula. It was only 60 miles round trip, but the forecast called for up to three feet of snow overnight. We decided to test fate. We made it to camp, but high winds and a barrage of snowfall set in shortly after and continued until morning. All we could do was laugh as we tried pushing — then carrying — our loaded bikes through the deep snow. We struggled for a half-hour to go one hundred feet, then decided we would walk together for a while to make a path, then walk back to the bikes and push them through the trench we'd made. There were a few low points, but we spent most of the time laughing and recounting stories of past adventures. Eight hours and 2.5 miles later, we found a plowed road that got us to camp, where we devoured burgers, beers, and maybe a little too much bourbon as we recounted our ordeal.
Favorite 45NRTH piece: It's a tie between the Wölvhammer BOA boot and the Greazy cap. I can't think of many rides or races that I haven't worn both.