Irina Walker lives in Berkeley, works as a consultant. Originally from Russia, moved to US in 90s. Irina loves California weather, but not so much traffic, the decision was to buy a motorbike, riding since. In 2004 was certified as a MSF rider coach. Went for a few solo and group trips – across US, to South America, Japan, and the most recent trip was to the Himalayas.
Irina heard about the Rally for Rangers from her goddaughter’s coach, and was eager to join the group, to ride a motorcycle in this fantastic new area, and ride for a good cause: provide rangers with the vehicles they need to protect the pristine area.
Ulaan Taiga Protected Areas, Mongolia
Wesley Thornberry, Co-Founder
Wesley is a founding member of the Rally for Rangers Foundation. Since its inception, as an avid motorcyclist, Wesley spearheaded the Rally for Rangers (part of Blue Waves campaign by the Mongol Ecology Center), raised awareness internationally about the National Parks of Mongolia and rides in all rallies. Wesley works with Tom Medema in organizing the rallies.
Wesley is the founder of Trend Digital, www.trend-digital.com, that specializes in post-production imaging services for e-commerce clothing and fashion retailers. Wesley is also a photographer, adventurer and traveler and has documented the tribes of Omo Valley, Ethiopia to the nomadic shamans of Mongolia. His work can be seen at www.wesleythornberry.com. He currently lives in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Tom Medema, Co-Founder
Tom Medema developed a passion for national parks at a young age on family vacations throughout the American west. This passion turned into a career as a park ranger spanning over 25 years. He is equally passionate about national parks and public lands around the world and has worked with parks and monuments in South America and Europe as a subject matter expert in the field of interpretation and education. The opportunity to support the development of relatively new national parks in Mongolia is an opportunity he is excited and humbled to be a part of.
Tom is a sports and outdoor enthusiast, spending much of his free time at his teenage kids volleyball, soccer, and alpine skiing events. Tom also loves two wheeled travel by mountain bike, road bike, and motorbike. Over the past 20 years he has owned Harley-Davidson and BMW bikes and is currently riding a KLX 400 on the back roads of the Sierra Nevada foothills in preparation for this epic and compelling adventure.
Robert McIntosh
Robert retired from the National Park Service as an Associate Regional Director, Northeast Region where he directed planning, natural resource, historic preservation, capital construction and community partnership programs for the region. He has served on international projects in China, India and Mongolia. Robert served as the General Superintendent, Gateway National Recreation Area in New York/New Jersey and held various planning, policy and senior management positions throughout the country in the Department of the Interior – Bureau of Outdoor Recreation and later as the northeast regional director for the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. Robert serves on the Boards of Lowell’s Boat Shop, the Mongol Ecology Center, the New Bedford Whaling History Alliance, and is a member of the Essex National Heritage Area Commission. Bob is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Interior’s Distinguished Service Award.
André Angelantoni
André Angelantoni, a native of Toronto but now living in San Francisco, woke up to the condition of the planet a decade ago and has been supporting environmental initiatives ever since. Though primarily working in the open-source software movement now, one project he’s particularly proud of is designing and running a coaching program that supported businesses in getting their Green Business Certification. He still speaks about and publishes papers on appropriate societal responses to global oil depletion.
Almost every weekend during riding season you’ll find him on his motorcycle enjoying the park system in California and neighboring states (and is a proud member of the National Parks Conservation Association). Experiencing nature and the natural world is how André rejuvenates, reconnects to his commitments and stays focused on his priorities. He is thrilled to be part of a project that supports the park system — and the committed park rangers — of Mongolia.
Batsaikhan Buyandelger
Batsaikhan is a Board Member of Mongol Ecology Center and was one of the riders of Ride for Rangers 2014 Rally. He is a native of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. He is the founder and General Director of Platinum Gate Architecture and Interior Design Corporation. In partnership with the Mongol Ecology Center and experts from the US National Park Service, Batsaikhan is spearheading the signage system and architectural theme project of Lake Hovsgol National Park.
He has been an avid motorcycle rider for the last 17 years and is the Vice President of the Harley Davidson Owners Club in Mongolia. Batsaikhan is riding for Ride for Rangers 2015 Rally again.
Chuck Flinton
Charles “Chuck” Flinton is a forensic psychologist living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Patagonia is his second “Rally for Rangers” outing. Raised in Saratoga Springs, New York, he became an early fan of state parks. Having ridden a motorcycle in every state except Louisiana and Alaska, he became enamored with gifts of nature. Over the years, he became aware of the threats to our environment, and the importance of protecting it. This starts with preserving national parks both locally and around the world.
When the opportunity arose to assist in providing motorcycles to the park rangers in Mongolia in 2015, he signed up immediately. The motorcycles empowered park rangers to access areas of the park more quickly and safely.
Protecting our environment against corporate forces and un-informed individuals is a mountainous obstacle. We can climb it together with education and providing resources to those at the forefront of protecting nature. Specifically, our PARK RANGERS!
On a more personal note, many years ago, Chuck was immobilized with pain due to ankylosing spondylitis (a spine and joint disease) forcing him to give up riding motorcycles. With the help of friends and science, the ride continues. So, in addition to promoting national parks, Chuck promotes the awareness that anyone (or any community) can overcome challenges on any level (personal, local, or global). Let’s save ourselves while we protect our parks.
Elias Bikahi
Elias Bikahi became interested in participating in the Rally for Rangers after assisting with a fundraiser for fellow rider, Tom Medema. Watching the video footage of the rangers in Mongolia moved him to volunteer to ride a bike out to support these rangers who have devoted their lives to protecting the park. Offering the bike to help the rangers better preserve their park and forest and protect the land more efficiently is an important adventure for him.
He started riding in 1986, on beautiful, paved American roads – so the Patagonia landscape will be an exciting off-road challenge. Riding long distances with friends and taking in the scenery in remote areas is his favorite kind of riding.
Hans Kwiotek
Hans Kwiotek is a German born photographer who has settled in San Francisco after having lived and worked in London, Berlin and Toronto.
In his commercial and personal work he is photographing fashion, beauty and people – having worked as a fashion photographer for the GAP for the last 5 years. Being engaged in many outdoor sports it is important to him to preserve nature in its pristine condition. This motorcycle rally is an important contribution to the preservation efforts which will ensure that untouched nature will be protected and available for future generations to enjoy.
Iain Emslie
Iain is a Dairy Farmer milking 800 Jersey Cows in a free range pasture fed farming system, therefore the environment and sustainable farming practices are important to him.
Iain having ridden through parts of South America, Vietnam, his own country and traveled in Europe and experienced farming in USA, Germany and China, has made him aware and given him an appreciation of how important preservation of our environment is.
On hearing about the Blue Wave rally from Mike and supporting the rangers to protect their pristine environment was a must do.
Having ridden motorbikes from a young age he is looking forward to the challenges of delivering the bike.
Irina Walker
Kent De Groot
Having lived in seven countries and traveled extensively on almost every continent, continued learning through exploring the cultures of the world and it’s places of natural beauty has been the driving force behind Kent’s life decisions. Being a rock climber, mountaineer, and avid back country traveler, he’s seen first hand the fragility of nature and understands the immediacy of the need to protect it. Coupling his desire to make a difference in the conservancy of protected areas with his almost three decade love for riding motorcycles made applying to be one of the riders for the 2015 Rally for Rangers an easy choice.
Kent currently lives in San Francisco where after twenty years in international business, he now helps direct a non-profit bringing Asia and the US together through extended projects in the field and educational forums in the US. When not at work or out in nature, he pursues his other passion of the written word and among other projects, is currently working on a novel.
He is overjoyed to have been selected to be one of the riders for the 2015 Rally and is looking forward to working with the teams here in California and around the world, to bring global awareness to the natural beauty of Mongolia and helping equip the rangers of the vast park lands of the Taiga in their ongoing efforts to protect these areas for generations to come.
Kevin Murray
Kevin has ridden in deserts and remote locations all over the world for the last 25 years and has lived in Mongolia with his family since 2003.
I spent my first two years riding around the wilds of Mongolia alone, before finally turning a hobby into a family business in 2005. This has allowed me to spend most of my summers enjoying the breath-taking wilderness that is Mongolia.
In the ten years that Outback Mongolia has been operating we have seen changes that have effected the environment that need to be stopped. On hearing about Blue Wave’s great work supporting the rangers to protect their pristine environment, we knew we had to help.
This will be the second year Kevin and Outback Mongolia will support the Blue wave rally.
Matt Clark
Matt Clark is a contractor/designer who lives in Mill Valley, California, with his supportive wife, feisty 9 year old son and shedding dog.
Matt has been riding bikes since his early teens. At the ripe age of twenty something, he rode his 1979 Vespa scooter from Mill Valley to Louisiana…and back, with the intent to see the country. He successfully accomplished that goal, plus acquired a penchant for long distance riding (this just might come in handy in Mongolia).
Introduced to Rally for Rangers by his good friend Bob Brant, Matt was immediately drawn to both the adventure it would bring and the cause it would support.
Additionally, Matt is proud to set a noble example for his son, teaching the importance of following your passions and nature preservation.
When not riding motor and mountain bikes, Matt also enjoys adventuring in California with his family. Excited to also gain a new family– that of fellow participating motorcyclists—Matt looks forward to new adventures delivering motorcycles and gear to Mongolian Rangers as part of Rally for Rangers 2015.
Mike Kennan
Originally from the east coast, Mike is a freelance engineer based in Oakland, CA. He’s spent his entire career designing, building, and working with machines of all types. He thinks riding a motorcycle is the by far best way to enjoy the beautiful weather and majestic landscapes of California.
Mike Kennan heard about the Rally for Rangers from riders that did it in previous years and he’s extremely excited to be a part of the ride in 2018. In addition to the excitement of having the opportunity to ride a motorcycle across some of the most amazing terrain in the world, it’s a unique opportunity to help protect this same area before it gets developed or otherwise spoiled. As someone from the West, he thinks they have a limited appreciation for how things work in developing nations. While it’s good that a government can make laws, it doesn’t matter if no one is able enforce those laws. This is a chance to give the rangers the tools they need to help protect this ancient landscape.
Mischeal Mccormick
Mischeal McCormick is a registered Nurse and lives on a farm in the South Island of New Zealand. She prefers the outdoors and has a great appreciation of nature and the need to look after what we have.
Mischeal began her motorbike riding on a Honda 90 farm bike at the age of 15. Seven years ago when looking for an excuse to have time off work with her friends she brought a Suzuki Boulavard and has since ridden the roads in the North and South Island of New Zealand and Tasmania Australia.
While on her latest holiday/bike ride in Vietnam with Britton Adventures, Mischeal heard about the Blue Wave Rally and its cause and is thrilled to be part of the 2015 rally. She will ride one of the motorcycles to be donated to the Rangers in July.
Motoki Watanabe
Motoki Watanabe san lives in Shizuoka, Japan. He works as a Group Manager in Sales and Marketing of International Cooperation Group at Yamaha Motor Co.Ltd. Watanabe has been riding motorcycles for 30 years.
Munkh-Orgil Erdenesukh
Munkh-Orgil was one of the Mongolian riders who joined our Rally for Rangers 2014. Before establishing his own businesses in 2011 in Mongolia, Munkh-Orgil was known as one of the famous Sumo wrestlers in Japan. He practiced sumo wrestling for 12 years reaching the maigashira top division. Munkh-Orgil has also been riding motorcycles since he was 8 years old with his father, who is a master athlete of motorsports. He competed in his first motorcycle race when he was 16 and is an experienced motorcycle rally organizer.
Munkh-Orgil is once again going to join the team of international riders for our Rally for Rangers 2015 to deliver motorcycles for the rangers of Ulaan Taiga State Specially Protected Areas.
Peter Nissen
Peter Nissen arrived in the U.S. at age 11 from Denmark, and quickly developed a love for the outdoors, surrounded by the scenic landscapes of the San Francisco Bay Area, with skiing, mountain biking, mountaineering and back packing becoming lifelong passions.
Peter bought his first bike, a Honda CB175, at auction at age 17, and quickly graduated to a Moto Guzzi Ambassador “milk crate project”, where (repeatedly) wrenching that bike back together gave him his love for all things mechanical and especially for Moto Guzzi — to the point of insisting on displaying one in the front hallway of his house!
Peter is occasionally forced to take a break from his outdoor activities to run his Structural Engineering firm, but tries to sneak out to play whenever his three boys, wife, and household chores decide he’s allowed.
Introduced to Rally for Rangers by his friend and fellow rider Matt almost a year ago, the combination of worthy cause and adventure proved irresistible, and Peter is now firmly committed,and looking forward to the trip of a lifetime.
Stuart Cordell
Stuart Cordell lives in Dannevirke a small town in rural New Zealand. As a dairy farmer he learnt to ride a farm bike at an early age, and progressed to riding off road bikes soon after, and while the body doesn’t bounce back quite so fast anymore, the heart is still more than willing. Stuart has ridden many adventure and trail rides in New Zealand and overseas. The bike he loves to have fun on at the moment is a KTM300.
Farming today has a high emphasis on environmental sustainability. Clean water management and erosion control are a high priority for farmers as they maintain a clean green environment for future generations.
Stuart and his wife Sandra have travelled to Mongolia previously and loved the scenery and the friendly hospitable people.
Stuart has owned many Yamaha AG200’s as farm bikes as they are reliable, dependable and with some simple maintenance they just keep on running, so are the ideal choice to assist rangers in their work.
It is a pleasure and an honour to have the opportunity to participate in the 2015 Blue Wave Rallyand help preserve such a beautiful country.
T. J. Tucciarone
T. J. Tucciarone grew up on the east coast of the United States but made his way to California, via his first big cross country motorcycle adventure, soon after college. The beauty of the pacific coast, wonder of its redwood forests and majesty of the Sierra Nevada mountain range have held him in their spell ever since.
After honing his skills on the back roads of California, T. J. went on to enjoy success road racing at various tracks across the U.S.A He has also traveled via motorbike throughout Baja Mexico, Canada and the mountains of Europe.
These days T. J.’s favorite pursuits revolve around the outdoors and include cycling, mountaineering and backpacking. He has a deep love and respect for nature and dedication to its conservation and, along with some of his dearest friends, is a fiercely devoted steward working hard to pass along the joy and wonder of nature to the next generation. T. J.’s wife and two daughters share his love for the natural world.
When he first learned about the Mongol Ecology Center and its efforts to help protect Mongolia’s natural treasures, T. J. was immediately enthralled. Mongolia has a great opportunity to preserve its precious resources now, before it is too late. Raising awareness and taking tangible steps to preserve our planet has never been more crucial.
As much as he is looking forward to experiencing Mongolia’s natural beauty, he is even more excited to meet and get to know its people and learn about their culture firsthand.
Hilary Davis
Hilary Davis lives in Oakland CA. She has been fascinated with motorcycles as long as she can remember. Her first crush was the rider of the first bike she remember seeing. She was raised in the rural South East and has always treasured the pristine areas of the great outdoors, nature, wilderness and wildlife. Hilary has also had wander lust since her first steps. She would go just about anywhere for the sake of a new adventure. June 2009 her close friend offered her his 1966 BMW R69S, now she has a BIKE! This bike and the forever friends Hilary has made because of it has been life changing. She has now several bikes for a variety of riding environments. She loves them all and could not pick a favorite. When her friend Anton told her of this great motorcycle adventure and the incredible cause that it was for she wanted to be a part of it. Hilary wanted to go to Mongolia and deliver a bike to a ranger! A dream come true. Many of Hilary’s favorite things, beautiful pristine great outdoors, motorcycles, amazing people with huge hearts, a lust for adventure, and a tad crazy combined to save some of the great treasures Mother Earth has graced us with. Life doesn’t get better than this!