Kirt Voreis has long been a leader in the Mountain bike industry. Call him a legend, a hero, an ambassador or a mentor, he has helped the mountain bike industry evolve over the past 2 decades with his colorful personality and unequivocal talent and style. He is known to be one of the best all around riders in the world and continues to be a true ambassador for the entire sport.

Kirt grew up in Fontana, California. When Kirt was 5, his 24-year-old dad died after doing cocaine and crashing his motorcycle. His resilient mother worked nights and raised him amongst meth cookers, meth addicts, abuse and violence.

Skateboarding, BMX and Mountain Biking saved his life, kept him out of trouble and led him to be driven by his passions.

He began his career as a skateboarder from ages 15-18. After hurting his back in competition he began racing cross-country mountain bikes. Kirt became a professional downhill racer in 1994 after sending a tape of himself doing back flips on his BMX to Yeti bicycles owner John Parker.

In 1996 Kirt became a top American World Cup Downhill and Dual Slalom Racer.

He has raced and stood atop podiums at countless World Cup and National downhill, dual slalom and 4x races across the globe. He is a Dual Slalom National Champion and has been sponsored by some of the largest factory teams in the bicycle industry during their most prominent years: Yeti (94-98), Specialized (98-2000), Haro (00-02), the Santa Cruz Syndicate (05-09) and once again Specialized (2010-) with his Specialized AllRide Tour and Kid's Academy.

From 1998-2000 his dreams came true when he raced for Factory Mountain Dew/Specialized alongside legend, teammate and friend, Shaun Palmer. They created quite a scene and a following with their colorful personalities.

In 2001, when Mountain Dew pulled out of factory Specialized, the downhill program was laid to rest. Shaun Palmer quit mountain biking.

Kirt signed on to race for Haro Bikes and even won a national dual slalom title, but he felt lost and stale. He reinvented himself by making a video called Evolution featuring him World Cup racing AND doing freeride tricks. He released it before many other freeride videos were available. 

Around 2002, when mountain biking began to shift towards "freestyle" riding, Kirt successfully competed in and won some freestyle/dirt jump events and filmed for many cutting edge videos like the New World Disorder and Kranked Series. He understood the need to evolve with the sport, so he "rebranded" himself as a Freerider while he continued to race World Cups.

In 2003, AllRide was born. Kirt decided it was time to shift away from full-time racing and promote the products he believes in directly to the consumers. Fox Head supplied Kirt with a 34 foot RV and he traveled the country promoting and allowing people the opportunity to try the products he believes in.

2004-2009 Kirt rode for the Santa Cruz Syndicate, and in 2005 the Fox AllRide Tour became The Santa Cruz AllRide Tour. Kirt drove 35,000 miles, raced world cups, did well in freeride competitions, filmed for multiple movies and did demos with 30 dealers. He was 12th overall in the world cup series.

And Dreams came true, again...

In 2010, Specialized, The King of bikes, invited Kirt and AllRide back to join forces and spread some mountain bike love.

Kirt's future goals are to generate more interest in the sport of mountain biking through creative and innovative avenues. He is respected at the highest levels yet makes the effort to connect with everyone who rides. He wrote a monthly column in Decline magazine for three years, giving him a platform to reach fans on a personal level. He will continue to sponsor kids and give them the opportunities he was fortunate enough to get from people who believed in him and he will make it his life's work to get more kids riding bikes.

During the off-season Kirt speaks to kids at schools about bikes, helmet safety and the importance of hard work and determination. He was raised in a volatile environment with drugs surrounding him and very little money so he has an appreciation for encouraging kids to look beyond their surroundings, develop passions, set goals and work hard to achieve them.

Kirt lives in Bend, Oregon and enjoys all of the passions that drive him: Riding amazing cross country and DH trails all over Oregon, Building and riding trails and dirt jumps with the kids in town, Snowboarding, Kayaking, Skate Skiing, Skateboarding and riding his personal ramps at his home.   

Check out other sick Specialized riders: http://iamspecialized.com/gravity/riders

And check out Specialized's effort to get more kids on bikes! http://firstgear.specialized.com/