Matt Hunter

Recent Matt Hunter Videos:
Matt Hunter's Gear:
  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkFamily.jsp?sid=12DemoFSR&scid=1100&scname=Mountain

    Demo 8

    When you ride this hard, your bike has to ride harder.

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkFamily.jsp?sid=12EnduroFSR&scid=1100&scname=Mountain

    Enduro

    Attack the big stuff, the small stuff and everything in between....

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkFamily.jsp?sid=12P.Series&scid=1103

    P-3

    Jumps, tricks and berms—as long as you've got the skills.....

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqSCLander.jsp?scid=1008

    Tires

    The product that started it all.....

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=64178

    S-Works MTB Helmet

    The lightest certified helmet in the world, worn by 2008 UCI World XC Champion Christoph Sauser...

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Demo 8

I was born in Kamloops, British Columbia in 1983. Singletrack zigzags through the hills behind my parents' house; bikes were freedom. I explored the hills and trails wherever and whenever I could. I was 12 when I got into XC racing. I was really into it until I was about 15, when I started focusing more on DH riding. Some of my friends who I raced with made the same transition, and we started to learn together. We started building big jumps and aggressive trails. We filmed ourselves riding and I made a short video. I entered the video in an online contest, the "Ultimate Freeride Challenge" and ended up winning. That was the beginning of my sponsored career in 2003. Specialized sponsored me then and I have been with Specialized ever since.

My focus has always been shooting photos and filming video segments, that is what I love to do. I really enjoy finding adventure in the mountains - whether it be challenging moves and airs or maybe it's a multiple day ride.

I like watching big mountain skiers and snowboarders, the way they shred the mountains in the snow inspires me on dirt. Besides riding, I surf, fish, and backcountry ski as much as I can.

Sponsors: Specialized, Shimano, Clif Bar, Chromag, MRP, IXS, Fox Racing Shox, Dakine, Contour

Specialized Days in Spain

September 14, 2010

Specialized Days in Spain has been a really fun time. I have been eating steaks and riding with Christoph, Ned, Burry, and Sam. The event was at a bike park near Madrid, they have a chairlift to access some cool DH trails.

Sam and I did some DH riding together and with the Spanish riders at the event. Everything was going great until I had really quick hard crash, then I had to sit out the rest of the day. It was the kind of crash that comes as a complete surprise, just riding along and then the next second you’re slapped on the ground. I hit my head when I fell so I was feeling quite confused about things, but my head cleared up eventually.

The next day we did a big group road ride and that sure was an experience for me! I haven’t done a road ride before so it was pretty exciting. I borrowed a Tarmac that weighed about the same as a wheel for my mountain bike, the bike was insanely fast. I was kind of nervous because of my inexperience and because of all the other riders; there were probably 300. Alberto Contador was there so there was quite a bit of excitement around him. Ned, Sam, Susi, Burry and I all started right at the front with Contador, the start was so crazy! It was a downhill section for a few km’s and we got going over 80! I was feeling really sketchy with the road bars and everything, but the DH World Champ was right there feeling about the same so I didn’t feel so bad. Sam and I settled into a pack and started to plan our strategy. “I reckon we’ll sit back here in this pack and then overtake Contador in the last climb” was Sam’s idea. I agreed it was a good plan so we held our pace. At one point I pushed ahead for a while to see what Ned, Susi, and Burry were up to, they were near the front having a casual conversation while everyone else was gasping. Pretty funny.

We stopped for a drink and a snack about halfway, and Contador left in a car so Sam and I didn’t get to execute our plan. We were pretty happy though because we were still riding after Alberto was too tired to keep going.

The rest of the ride was pretty challenging, I got really thirsty and tired but managed to finish after a few clif blocks and water from some friends on a motorcycle. It was a big day, we rode 120 km total. Definitely the furthest I have ever ridden in a day, I was happy.

Afterwards we drove to Madrid for a team dinner, where we ate even more steaks. I think that’s all we ate for dinner the whole time. I needed it after the road ride though.

I’m headed home to BC now for some sweet fall riding. Can’t wait.

Matt

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