Meet the Panaracer Ambassador Team!
Mat Stephens
Dallas, Texas
Mat Stephens, cycling coach, bike fitter and bike racer, has a twenty- year history with the sport. He began riding in 2000 for his alma mater, Texas A&M University. He has since raced at the national level in all disciplines, winning the U. S. National Championship in 2004 in the Madison. He raced as a UCI professional for a short time before fully committing to race gravel. The endurance and focus needed to succeed at gravel racing drive him and he has many gravel wins under his belt: DK200/Unbound, Barry- Roubaix, Land Run/Mid South, Texas Chainring Massacre, and Old Man Winter. He is married to professional cyclist Lauren Stephens, of team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank. Together they train and push each other to be their best.
Roy Liu
Miami, Florida
A native costarican, Roy has been based in Miami, Florida for the last 15 years. His relationship with cycling started while heading out up the mountains in Costa Rica, which he later swapped for the eternal flat lands of Florida, inspiring longer distance rides. It's not uncommon to find him on a bike for a 100-, 200- or 300-mile bike ride. After incursions in triathlon, road and gravel cycling have become the go-to's.
He bikepacked from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic across the Pyrenees range, opening a whole range of possibilities for adventure. Events he has completed include 18 half-ironman and 5 ironman triathlons (including World Championships in Kona), SBT Gravel, Dirty Kanza, Leadville 100 and races of the Gran Fondo Series in the USA. A Civil Engineer by trade, when Roy isn't riding his bike, he spends his time as a Research Scientist investigating the effects of hurricanes and wind storms on the built environment at a hurricane research experimental facility.
Tim Heuer
Renton, Washington
After looking for an answer to keeping fit, Tim found cycling and immediately fell in love with the community and adventure. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Tim enjoys the immense amount of beautiful gravel and dirt available to ride and loves to explore and the adventure behind it. With his friends he often challenges himself to ridiculous epic rides and adventures whether it be the Swiss and French Alps, or a casual 400km ride around a few mountain passes with gravel, he's up for the experience!
Troy Hopwood
Newcastle, Washington
Troy is driven by exploration. He’s always asking what’s over the next ridge, around the next corner and how deep is that bog? Whether it’s road, gravel, or singletrack, rides often result in hike-a-bike sections and dead ends but they also yield amazing discoveries.
Troy is the creator of the Cross-Washington Mountain Bike Route but he’s always looking for ways to change it. He likes to load up his bike, pick a direction and venture out for days at a time creating new routes to share with the bikepacking community. The only real rule for Troy is each ride must include something he’s never ridden before.
Niko Skievaski
Boulder, Colorado
Niko gave up his road bike for wider tires upon moving to Boulder, where all roads seem to eventually turn into gravel. You can find him in the mountains most days, exploring dirt roads or singletrack followed by a beer with friends at the trailhead. In his day job, he's a tech entrepreneur trying to make healthcare a little bit better with his startup, Redox.
An-Mei Ellisor
Durango, Colorado
An-Mei is 18 years old and in pursuit of a degree in Adventure education at Fort Lewis College while she continues to challenge the racing scene. Since her battle with cancer in 2016, she has had her heart set on experiencing and living life to its fullest. Biking brought her from Alabama out to Colorado and She never looked back. “Every day is like a present because I am always learning or trying something new.” She is stoked to push the limits while having a blast doing it whether it be on the saddle, on foot, on some skis or everything else in between! “Remember you just need enough money to pay for what you love; the rest will follow.”
Angela Petersen
Columbia, Missouri
Fueled by Casey's pizza and gummy worms, Angela is usually out adventuring by bike for snacks. Endurance rides are her jam and she advocates for cultivating inclusive bike communities. She also spends her days hiking with her aussie pup, reading, coaching NICA student athletes, and strumming her ukulele in the hammock. Though home base is mid-Missouri, Angela is often on the go, stoked to explore and be outside in the dirt.
Maui Carrero
Miami, Florida
After moving from Caracas, Venezuela to Miami, Maui started working doing deliveries on a fixie, that's how she found her passion for cycling, and from there on all she wanted was to go further faster. Her passion was so strong it carried her into the cycling business, where she was able to manage a couple of shops in Miami. Her real passion is design. Currently she works for a Miami-based cycling apparel company where she's been able to bring her creative mind and connect with a community that shares her same passion.
In December 2021 she rode her first gravel ride and because she's always looking for a challenge, she went on a 100-mile ride. It was both the most amazing ride she had ever done and now, the most dreadful one, as it made her fall in love with cycling all over again.
You will see her on two wheels and cranking her pedals every day! Both on the road and the dirt! And always rocking cool kits!
Conor O'Brian
Hawaii and Vermont
Conor is an adventure cyclist, a gravel bike racer, a community builder, and a graphic artist. He grew up a team sports athlete in New England, and only discovered a passion for cycling while working for an outdoor industry company that facilitated adventurous trips for kids. Since 2019, Conor has cumulatively bikepacked almost 10,000 miles throughout the US before turning his focus to racing and long-distance riding. Conor now spends his winters working at a bike shop in Hawaii, facilitating and guiding bike tours while focusing on his own training. He also has his own graphic art and design business to keep him busy. Through the summers, Conor is back on the mainland chasing the next big ride. Coming off the heels of his first structured race season in which he placed in the top 10 in five of nine races, he's excited to push the envelope in 2023 - both in the pursuit of building his own cycling fitness and the adventure cycling community.
Hunter Williams
Overland Park, Kansas
Hunter Williams is a young talented and dedicated cyclist with a passion for competition. He has been riding and racing bikes since he was 13 years old and has a good amount of success with 4 unbound Gravel 200 finishes and the first being at 15 years old. Hunter is known for his strong work ethic and his ability to push himself to the limit, and he is always looking for new challenges and opportunities to test his skills on the bike. When he's not training or racing, Hunter enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and pets.
Nick Croken
Alberta, Canada
There is no such thing as too many bikes, no matter what they tell you. Nick loves everything to do with two wheels, from fast-paced road rides to full days on the mountain bike in the Rockies to long, punishing gravel rides. When not pushing the pace on two wheels, Nick is actively engaged in the Alberta cycling community whether it is through group rides, his cycling blog (Riding the Rivet), or his infamous annual gravel race, The Croken Classic.
As important as a good sufferfest ride is to Nick, he finds sustained gratification empowering riders, from novice to seasoned, to reach new potentials and elevate their love for cycling. Nick fuels his two-wheeled addiction through commercial photography. His pursuit of interesting light and compositions while on the bike means that he’ll always have at least one camera on every ride.