Regional Teams & Leaders

Kris Rowell

colorado@afcycling.com

Kris has served as a Space Operator for 14 years, performing missions including Missile Warning, Electronic Warfare, Space Domain Awareness and Rendezvous Proximity Operations. Kris enjoys cycling, running, hiking, hunting and skydiving, and he hopes to earn his paragliding certification in the near future. He has been a member of the Air Force Cycling Team since 2013.

Casey Lynch

lynch.troop (at) gmail.com

Major Casey Lynch is currently assigned to Ellsworth, AFB in South Dakota. She is the Flight Commander of the Primary Care Clinic and continues to practice as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. She is an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast. After joining the Air Force in 2018, she found a new passion in triathlon having now completed two IM 70.3 which then led to her joining the Ohio Region AFCT in 2021. Not knowing anything about RAGBRAI, she went all in, unbeknownst to her what she was getting in to. As it turned out, it is way more than cycling across Iowa. It’s camaraderie, challenging, amazing, networking, stewardship, community service and exhausting. The mission far outweighs the inconveniences.

Upon moving to South Dakota and realizing they did not have a regional team, Casey wrangled in 5 additional RAGBRAI riders and 4 local riders putting South Dakota back on the map. She was truly humbled to be the Dakotas regional team lead in 2023 and has high hopes to grow the team over the next couple of years.

Vince Zabala

illinois@afcycling.com

vincent_zabala (at) yahoo.com

Lt Col Vince Zabala is honored to lead the AF Cycling Team – Illinois Region again for his fifth year at RAGBRAI’s annual adventure. Always looking for a challenge, Vince rides competitively and for fun both on the road and on trails through mud, snow and extreme weather. Hard at work, Vince brings his positive attitude to the 618 Air Operations Center at Scott Air Force Base, where he manages the successful completion of numerous airlift missions across the globe. Also, his expertise at the helm of the mighty C-130 Hercules helped him master energy management, which proved useful across the rolling hills of Iowa. Finally, he is excited and proud to lead a mix of new and veteran team members through another successful mission in Iowa. Let’s ride!

Marcus Nieto

idaho@afcycling.com

Marcus Nieto is a 11-year active-duty Technical Sergeant and serves as an air traffic controller at Mountain Home AFB, ID. He has served at Cannon AFB, Osan AB, Moody AFB, Lajes Field and Mountain Home AFB. A longtime triathlete, Marcus has participated in cycling events all over the world. He had the rare opportunity to race along the DMZ while stationed in Korea in 2019 with other US and Korean military members. This is Marcus’s first year with the AF cycling team. After participating in M2M, he is both excited and humbled by the opportunity to lead a new Chapter in Idaho!

Steven Orwig

saorwig (at sign) gmail.com

Steven is a retired Chief Master Sergeant with 25 years of combined service. He served in the Active Duty Air Force, Air National Guard, and as a Reservist. His specialty was Logistics, and also as a First Sergeant. In 2012 he retired from the 934th Airlift Wing, Minneapolis/St. Paul. Steven has been an avid cyclist for many years, and enjoys road riding, gravel, fat biking, and mountain biking. His main passion for many years has been mountain biking. He has participated in the Minnesota Mountain Bike Race Series, and has won overall for his division and class when he raced. He joined and raced for the Peace Coffee Race team in Minnesota for a few years, and has been an ambassador for Michael’s Cycles – MN as well for years. His interests in riding have slowly gravitated more to road cycling, and the need for speed. Steven has volunteered to lead the MN region for the AFCT, and for 2024 he will be joining the coaching staff for the Shakopee MTB Team. Besides riding you will find Steven regularly in the gym lifting. While on active duty he even competed as a bodybuilder. He is very active in many outdoor activities, and he loves to travel. Join Steven and the MN AFCT as they participate in monthly group rides, monthly ride events, and don’t forget RAGBRAI or M2M. 

Dan Smith

ncr@afcycling.com

Col Dan Smith is honored to lead the NCR Region team for his first full year. Dan assumed the region’s leadership position one week prior to the 2022 RAGBRAI. Dan is currently serving as the Senior Materiel Leader for the F-35 Maintenance Systems in the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office in Arlington, VA. He entered the Air force in 1997 through the ROTC at Louisiana State University. He is a career acquisition professional and has served in numerous program management and senior leader positions including program manager supporting missile defense, production program manager for the RQ-4 Global Hawk, and materiel leader for the Long Range Strike Bomber program, now known as the B-21 Raider, where he was part of the initial cadre that started the program. Dan has been an avid cyclist throughout his AF career and enjoys working on his and others bicycles. Finally, he is thrilled and humbled to lead a mix of new and veteran team members through another successful RAGBRAI. Let’s ride!

Ryan Kort

ne-ia@afcycling.com

Ryan Kort is a Department of the Air Force Civilian currently serving as a program analyst and futurist at United States Strategic Command. Ryan retired from the U.S. Army in 2022, where he served in Armor/Cavalry formations to include the 1st Armored and 101st Airborne Divisions, and later as a strategic planner. Ryan has been riding since 2008, but it was a tour to Vicenza, Italy from 2015-2018 that truly grew his love for the sport due to the cycling culture and easy access to the challenging Italian Alps.

As a rookie team lead in 2024, Ryan seeks to continue to grow the team by incorporating more U.S. Air Force personnel (Active, Guard, Reserve, Civilians, and Dependents) not just from the Omaha area but across both the states of Nebraska and Iowa. The team also draws on the unique blend of joint personnel from USSTRATCOM, making the team one of the most diverse with current and former personnel from just about every service as active riders. The Nebraska/Iowa team welcomes riders of all ability groups and backgrounds. Please reach out to Ryan if you are interested in learning more!

Soren Hoffman

sorenhoffman (at) gmail

Soren Hoffman is an active-duty Air Force officer at Nellis Air Force Base. Graduating from the Air Force Academy in 2019, he initially served at RAF Lakenheath before joining the 820th RED HORSE Squadron as a civil engineer. Soren plays a vital role in providing rapid heavy construction capabilities to combatant commanders. Beyond his military commitments, Soren has passion for cycling, a pursuit he has enjoyed for over a decade. Originally from Reedley, CA, he looks forward to RAGBRAI this year!

Kevin Bishop

newmexico@afcycling.com

Kevin is a career special operations aviator. He entered active duty in May 2001, with much of his time spent flying—or instructing others to fly—the MC-130. He joined AFCT in 2018 and has been the New Mexico Team Lead since 2019. He has completed six RAGBRAIs to date, along with the 2024 M2M. He enjoys all manner of outdoor activities, goofing around, a good laugh and welcoming others to cycling!

Ron Phipps

ndhog@aol.com

Coming soon

Kevin Dwyer

oklahoma@afcycling.com

K. Dwyer is currently serving as the LNO and Boom Operator at Altus AFB in his 26th year in the Air Force. As a Rookie Team Lead, he opened the Oklahoma chapter back up, organized an 18 member and growing team comprised of Current RegAF, Guard, Reserve, Dependents, and Civ Employees from Vance, Tinker, Altus, Forbes, and Ramstein AFBs to a cohesive group that have become more than just teammates. Life long friendships are forged in the Oklahoma Chapter. Ok Members participated in 14 State events and 2 National events this year exceeding all expectations!!! This team has a WhatsApp they circulate local group ride info for all AORs on and also have growing Facebook, Instagram, and Google accounts. Dwyer is never afraid to take on the challenge of the most gifted rider nor an absolute beginner’s needs! He will find your next level if you are interested. Come ride with us!

Caroline Brooks

pacaf@afcycling.com

Caroline Brooks is currently serving as the PACAF entomologist at Kadena AFB in her second tour of the Pacific AOR. She initiated the first OCONUS AFCT Chapter in PACAF comprised of members from Kadena AFB, Yokota AFB, Okuma AFB, and Altus AFB including active duty members, retired, and civilians. She started cycling on the AFCT Oklahoma chapter during December 2021 and was inspired to start the PACAF chapter to continue the AFCT overseas. The team has already participated in races at the Torii Army base in Okinawa, Japan and practices around the flightline at Kadena AFB. The team looks forward to participating in events in the AOR and increasing recruitment and retention for the AFCT and a growing a social media presence. The PACAF AFCT accepts riders of all levels and you’re welcome to join our team and ride in Asia! We look forward to collaborating events with our host nations and DoD bases.

Charles ‘Chuck’ McCowan

cpmccowan (at sign) outlook.com

Charles McCowan is the Chief of Protocol for Air Force Recruiting Service and the Air Force Accessions Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. He is responsible to the Commander for planning, coordination and execution of command hosted events, distinguished visits, ceremonies and civic outreach for a command of 5k plus personnel. Charles also served 21 years in the United States Air Force as a member of Security Forces, Phoenix Raven Instructor, Regional Training Center Instructor, and finished his career as a Air Force Basic Military Training Instructor. Charles found his passion for cycling in 2017 and joined the Air Force Cycling Team in 2019. This will be his sixth year on the team and has attended RAGBRAI the past two years.

Christine Valliant

utah@afcycling.com

Christine is a Foreign Affairs Specialist at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. Christine took up cycling to incorporate cross training for soccer and rugby. After a string of injuries requiring surgery, Christine and her very patient husband, decided it was time to transition full-time to cycling. She has ridden in cycling events across the nation and around the world and regularly competes with Rhino Racing on the virtual biking platform Zwift. Christine’s been on the Air Force Cycling Team since 2020 and has completed RAGBRAI with the team every year.

Lester Moes

southeast@afcycling.com

Lester took over the SE Region AFCT at the end of 2019 and in 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis with the entire cycling season wiped out, he tried to salvage the year to no avail. But with 2021 in his sights, he looked forward to creating an exciting ride calendar with new events added to include the RAFB Museum of Aviation Hand Cyclist race to support disabled veteran hand cyclists during a 25 mile course. He also added Pedal Hilton Head as well as The Tour De Melon in FL. He is constantly looking to add more rides to the calendar with the focus of getting the Team more involved. Currently he serves part time as an E8 Weapons Systems Maintenance controller with the 116 th ANG, GA and full time with the 402 nd  Maintenance Group supporting depot level inspection, maintenance, overhaul, and modifications to the C-5; C-130; F-15; C-17; and RQ-4 Weapon Systems at Robins AFB. In his 33 year (and counting) career, 10 of which were active duty, he has always had a passion for cycling. Whether cycling in Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Greece, or the US, he has always found a reason to ride and share his passion with others. His motivation for cycling comes from his own words, “Let’s see what God wants us to see from two wheels today”. Lester has high hopes for the SE Team for the future and beyond.

Carlo Narvasa

wyoming@afcycling.com

Carlo is currently serving as Chief of Operations Engineering at the Civil Engineer Squadron, at FE Warren Air Force Base located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Carlo has been part of the Air Force Cycling Team since 2014 while stationed at Holloman AFB, New Mexico and has participated in RAGBRAI multiple times. He was born in the Philippines but calls his home town Pensacola Florida. Carlo enjoys outdoor activities like mountain biking, snowboarding and skydiving. His favorite hobby is scuba diving. Finally, he is very excited and honored to lead a cycling team from the Wyoming area.