About us
Our Story
We're Jen and Scott Kalbach. We first fell in love with the Sandpoint area in the summer of 1996, spending years camping here on summer vacations before finally buying property of our own. Over ten years ago, we built a home here, spending full summers and part of the winters in North Idaho whenever school schedules allowed.
Our sons were passionate about mountain biking, but at the time, Sandpoint didn't have a high school mountain biking team. Rather than uproot the boys, we split our time between two places so our sons could finish high school with their classmates and still compete at the level offered by their home school's team. Once the boys graduated, we moved to the area full-time.
Panhandle Bike Ranch grew out of that experience. We saw firsthand the impact mountain biking had on our own family and our children, and we wanted to build something that could offer that same impact to others in the community. Sandpoint has a high school mountain biking team now. We hope for the day when a rider who grew up or trained at PBR competes at the Olympics or a World Cup.
Our Nonprofit
Panhandle Bike Ranch Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to fostering community connection with the outdoors through mountain biking. Our work includes trails, education, camps, lessons, and competitions, all while protecting and enhancing our natural spaces for future generations.
Our programs include:
- Honor and Ride Veterans events
- Send It, a youth scholarship program
- Grit & Grace, women's rides
- Access opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth and families
- Riding skills, bike maintenance, and trail etiquette education
- Pathways for youth and adult employment in outdoor recreation
- Conservation and sustainability practices in trail construction and maintenance
Learn more about our nonprofit
Our Path Forward
Panhandle Bike Ranch is fighting to reopen our community bike park. After 10 months operating with Bonner County's approval, the county filed for an injunction, and the judge ruled in their favor, limiting use to family and close friends.
We're pursuing two paths, aiming to reopen for the 2027 season. The first is filing for a Conditional Use Permit, which restores outdoor recreation access for the community. Our CUP was approved twice before, so we're hopeful this time will be no different. The second is appealing the injunction, which could reach the Idaho Supreme Court, because we believe it violates our private property rights.
Legal fees are mounting fast, and they're now one of the biggest costs standing between us and getting the park back open to the public.