Born in San Diego, Patchen grew up in the Bay Area, living in San Francisco, Mill Valley, and Oakland. After he graduated from Cal State East Bay with a mass communication degree with an emphasis in broadcasting and marketing/promotions, he worked at KFRC radio in San Francisco. He also had a passion for backpacking and downhill skiing, and so he traded a career in radio for one at REI, the outdoor gear chain, moving from Berkeley to the New York area after landing a promotion. 

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While working for REI, Patchen explored more outdoor sports: rock climbing, mountain bike racing, cross country skiing, snow camping, triathlons and duathlons, and sea kayaking. After three years working for REI in New York, he then moved to San Diego to pursue an English teaching credential at San Diego State University. 

 

After earning his teaching credential, Patchen returned to the Bay Area where he taught high school for two years, worked at Trips for Kids, and continued to work part time for REI. Working three jobs each, he and his partner saved enough to embark on a two-year bike touring expedition clockwise around the Pacific Rim through 23 countries. This was Patchen’s first international travel, and a few of his highlights were: climbing Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador, riding his bike in the national parks in Patagonia, kayak camping in New Zealand, trekking in the Annapurna range of Nepal, rock climbing in Thailand, and pedaling near grizzly bears in Denali National Park in Alaska. 

 

After this two-year trip Patchen returned to the Bay Area, teaching and living in Marin County for the next 25 years. There he continued to ride and race mountain bikes, worked again for Trips for Kids, and coached high school mountain bike teams that competed in the Norcal league. He also worked for almost a decade in an outdoor education program called Team, taking high school juniors on extended outdoor adventures in Northern California. 

 

Patchen met his wife, Nikole Denton, 16 years ago through high school mountain bike coaching, and they have raised an 11 year-old daughter, Amelia, who is also an outdoor lover and adventurer. As a family they have racked up thousands of road trip miles, traveling through most of the western states in the U.S. Together they have backpacked, skied, climbed, swam, rafted, kayaked, biked, and camped in the mountains, beaches, and rivers in dozens of state and national parks. These three adventurers have also traveled to Bali, Lombok, Vietnam, and Costa Rica.