Matt Hunter and Lea Davison Help With Share the Ride At Sea Otter
The Share the Ride legacy has been living on into 2014 with 14 kids from the Monterey Boys and Girls Club receiving brand new Specialized bikes over the Sea Otter Festival. Although locals to the area, none of these kids had had any exposure to mountain biking before so it was a real treat to have the group come and spend the day at the event and get a taste of what our favourite sport is all about.
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 Moments before the maiden voyage, the kids were apprehensive but those feelings soon dissipated once the wheels were turning. |
Share the Ride teamed up with Specialized Bicycles to provide each child with a new bike and helmet. Abus came on board with a lock for everyone and Camelbak provided new hydration packs for all.
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| The girls got awesome purple Specialized Hot Rocks and white helmets. |
It's fair to say these kids were nervous, never having been treated to a new bike in their life but Matt Hunter and Lea Davison were kind enough to donate their time to come down to the Specialized Kids Ride Zone and help everyone get comfortable on their new bikes. Lea, a world class womens elite level XC athlete is not only an incredible bike rider but also an excellent ambassador for girls getting into mountain biking. Lea is one of founding members of Little Bella's a program that helps young women realise their potential through riding bikes. Lea spent a lot of time with the girls in the group making sure they felt confident on the bike and in return the girls were absolutely smitten with her. Matt, a new dad himself, made sure the boys were confident on their bikes and and threw in a couple of Matt Hunter signature cornering lessons for good measure. The boys were amped.
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| Matt Hunter gives the boys a few pointers to get them rolling. |
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| Bike riding and hydrating, this guy has got it! |
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| After a solid morning of riding their new bikes the kids were eager to explore the show. The group spent a good few hours checking out all of the vendors and of course, collecting as many stickers as possible. |
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| Camelbaks are just part and parcel of every day life for a lot of mountain bikers but for these kids the Camelbak's were hands down the biggest novelty of the day. |
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| After a long morning of riding bikes and collecting stickers the kids took five for some pizza and a rest. |
After lunch the kids were posed with a question: "What would you like to do now?" The unanimous answer? "Ride our bikes!"
We're stoked to be able to continue to give kids around the world the opportunity to own their very own bike and potentially open doors to a brighter future. Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far and thanks to the ongoing support of our sponsors at each event.
www.iamspecialized.com
www.camelbak.com
www.abus.com
www.littlebellas.com
www.seaotterclassic.com
pinkbike.com/sharetheride
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34 Comments
- 68 0
bmar
(May 13, 2014 at 14:05)
I hope the kid in the black hoody stayed plenty hydrated. Looks like a great opportunity for those kids. Keep it up!
- 4 30
chyu
(May 13, 2014 at 20:26)
(Below Threshold)
I can see he is filled with water. Bet he can ride Kamloops whole summer without drinking.
- 31 0
Nmie
(May 13, 2014 at 14:22)
Hydration pack guy. Thumbs ups.
- 29 0
riftzonexc8
FL (May 13, 2014 at 14:33)
"hey kids this is how you ride horizontally"
- 27 0
TrinityTest
(May 13, 2014 at 14:39)
Matt Hunter is a rad dude...
- 13 0
livehardrideharder
(May 13, 2014 at 19:05)
Pinkbike refused to publish an article we did on the sea otter speed trap 2 weeks ago because "2 weeks is not acceptable to post news - looks really bad" yet now they post a sea otter article a month later.
- 3 0
woodsroller
(May 14, 2014 at 5:33)
I see your story also highlighted raising money for a good international cause. Another positive aspect of Sea Otter, where Matt Wragg's negative bash of the Sea Otter enduro and seemingly all of America ran on the home page 2 days ago.
- 1 0
livehardrideharder
(May 14, 2014 at 7:39)
We wrote a follow up article giving every rider their speed trap speeds (even those who did not register!) for free, but it was apparently much too late to talk about sea otter.... and then there was this article.
- 1 0
T-Lindz
(May 14, 2014 at 19:38)
Thanks posting the speeds. I signed up and forgot about it (brother broke his hip in practice so I got really drunk for my race run) and am glad I got to see my speed!
- 10 0
j-t-g
FL (May 13, 2014 at 14:15)
Haha that kid sure loves his hydration pack.
- 1 0
GiraffeInPurple
(May 13, 2014 at 20:55)
Haha when I got mine I sure loved the hell out of it too 
- 8 0
preach
(May 13, 2014 at 14:31)
if you don't love stories like this about Pros being the salt of the earth, I got nothing for ya...
- 8 0
Dreamdownhillmax
(May 13, 2014 at 14:44)
Now they'll welcomed to the beautiful side of STICKERS 
!!!
!!!- 14 0
DJBeast
(May 13, 2014 at 15:22)
Mountain bike currency*
- 1 0
largeandfit
(May 13, 2014 at 19:34)
got that right! whenever i get a mbuk with a sticker set i hold on to the ones i don't want so i can trade with other riders hehe
hehe- 2 0
GiraffeInPurple
(May 13, 2014 at 20:59)
I love giving kids pointers on riding bikes, kids ask how I jump far or stuff try and give em some tips then when you watch them clear a jump or a section that they couldn't do before then seeing how happy they are after they ain't gonna forget who you are.
Best feeling ever.
- 3 0
tylerthegiant
(May 13, 2014 at 14:10)
I met Matt hunter Sunday! He's a great dude. Feel lucky to share a shuttle with him and a climb.
- 1 0
wsor1337
(May 13, 2014 at 21:38)
Yeah, on the alpine trail? They took my picture in the parking lot, cool dudes! I'll be interested to see the video they're working on.
- 1 0
tylerthegiant
(May 13, 2014 at 21:45)
I shared a shuttle with them. My buddy was showing them around.
I didn't relize it was him, till I got home. I even flaked on him. They beat to the bottom. Loaded up and were waiting for me. At the shuttle shop. And I didn't know that. And drove home.
- 4 0
cindyhowlovespow
(May 13, 2014 at 14:43)
And this is why Matt Hunter is a dude!
- 3 0
haop
(May 13, 2014 at 15:59)
They probably didn't knwo, whom they were talking to
- 2 0
Skioo
(May 13, 2014 at 16:41)
Matt Hunter is always pushing the boundary in ANY aspect he can.
Kudos to you matt!
- 3 0
vw4ever
(May 13, 2014 at 18:49)
Those kids will never be the same. Good jorb Matt and Lea!
- 2 0
santacruzrider98
(May 13, 2014 at 18:00)
My dad is a tv repairman..... Sea Otter Rocks!
- 1 0
tim-from-pa
FL (May 14, 2014 at 5:57)
It's my dad's birthday today..... Sea Otters Rock!
- 2 0
inabiff68
(May 14, 2014 at 10:16)
Black hoodie kid made my day
- 1 0
inabiff68
(May 14, 2014 at 10:16)
even when he's eating his pizza he's still staring at the straw.
- 2 0
DirtbagMatt
(May 13, 2014 at 15:22)
Heck ya!
- 2 0
merts666
(May 13, 2014 at 19:52)
yes, good jorb!
- 1 0
Dally666
(May 13, 2014 at 20:32)
Plant a seed and grow a tree. Really cool!
- 1 0
Bennyrs
(May 14, 2014 at 12:24)
Free camelbaks and all those stickers...if only
- 1 0
malobalo
(May 15, 2014 at 19:15)
Id refuse those free bikes - they dont have 27.5 wheels...Pff
- 1 0
shawnerv13
(May 14, 2014 at 7:10)
Great job
- 1 0
xasty
(May 14, 2014 at 4:14)
Cool ear-rings Lea!
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