ride concepts’ adaptive mtb team - let’s get to know them
with A number of riders hailing from B.C., we thought we’d take a closer look and make it easy-peasy for you to get to know this pioneering team put together by ride concepts after the brand spent a few years working with the high fives foundation
Nine riders make up this pioneering team of a-MTBers, which will be headed up by the one and only Paul Basagoitia, who broke his own back at Red Bull Rampage in 2015. Images courtesy of Ride Concepts.
Sam Audenino - In July 2017, when he was 15 years old, Sam was paralyzed in a bike park crash. He hadn’t scoped a new jump and landed nose-heavy, crushing and bursting a number of vertebrae.
Sean Kent - Sean became quadriplegic after diving head-first into a sandbar on a Pacific Ocean beach in 2011. Since then he’s moved to Arkansas where he started Ozark Adaptive Sport Association, which supports both hand-cycling and adaptive court sports.
Cole Bernier - In 2015, Kelowna rider Cole Bernier experienced a workplace injury that paralyzed him from the waist down. He says it came when he was in the best shape of his life, changing everything. Now he’s a We Are One and Troy Lee Designs sponsored athlete.
Ethan Krueger - After overshooting a jump on the Sunshine Coast in 2010, Ethan Krueger suffered a major spinal cord injury. In 2021 and 2022, he raced in the adaptive category at the BC Cup Downhill (Dunbar Summer Series). He’s also done some pretty follow-worthy adaptive adventures.
Sierra Roth - Victoria B.C.’s Sierra Roth was a competitive motocross athlete in Alberta in 2013 when a bad crash resulted in a spinal cord injury that paralyzed her from the chest down. She picked up her first adaptive four-wheeler in 2021 and raced the Dunbar Series that season and raced the DH National Adaptive Championship the next year. She’s also a para-rower, a kinesiologist, and an aMTB coach.
Landon McGauley - By now you know Landon too silver at the 2022 Crankworx Whistler Adaptive Dual Slalom, but did you know he was also a recipient of the 2013 Sarah Burke Foundation Scholarship (a memorial fund set up after Sarah’s tragic passing). Landon also raced in the 2021 and 2022 adaptive BC Cup DH Series!
Roy Tuscany - One thing most of these athletes have in common is they have worked with or benefited from the work of the High Fives Foundation, which Roy started after a major ski crash at Mammoth Mountain. Read about his journey here.
Jason Abraham - A ski accident in a gnarly chute at a high speed left Jason with life-changing injuries. He’s a photographer and media producer and works regularly with the High Fives foundation. Check out the video QUADRILIZED to learn more about Trey.
Trey Humphrey - On his third deployment to Afghanistan, Trey stepped on an improvised explosive device while trying to help an injured soldier in battle. He lost his lower right leg completely, his left leg was stripped to the bone, his left arm snapped and his jaw broken. Now he volunteers with other physically and psychologically injured veterans and he can throw a backflip on his sit ski.