After 5 seasons with Trek Factory Racing DH, Kade is embarking on a grand new adventure
For five seasons, Kade Edwards has been Trek Factory Racing Downhill’s stoke machine. No one sent it harder at every race, or wowed us more both on and off the track.
Now Kade is embarking on a new adventure within the Trek family. In 2024, he’ll be leaving TFR to become the newest member of the C3 Project. He’ll focus on freeriding, both as a competitor and a content creator, and follow his passion of having more fun on two wheels than anyone in the world.
You may see Kade at downhill competitions every now and again. The sport still holds a place in the former junior world champion’s heart. But over the past year, Kade came to the realization that a strict racing regimen no longer suited him best.
Kade Edwards is going to do what he does best: Be the living embodiment of stoke.
“I used to want to win, win, win, and now I’m just like, ‘I want to ride, ride, ride,'” Kade explained in Trek Factory Racing DH’s end of season video. “I think that’s the reason why I can’t do it as well, because I live and breathe biking, not racing. I just enjoy riding my bike. It doesn’t matter if it’s BMX, mountain bike, motor bike, I just want to be riding. It’s hard to be a full time racer. You have to put everything in, every minute of the day.”
Kade is one of the most talented riders in the world. Period. He rides with brazen speed and a rowdy flair that’s all his own. Even when he struggled to garner the results he wanted on the World Cup circuit, he was a crowd and rider favorite, throwing down eye-popping whips off jumps and attacking berms with reckless glee.
Kade is always having more fun than anyone.
With C3, he’ll be able to explore his talent to its full potential. We’ve had glimpses into what he can do over the years. In July 2022 he teamed up with Brandon Semenuk for the jaw-dropping video edit “Parallel II”, which showcased two singular riders in perfect synchronicity. But Kade, more than anything, loves to play. As long as there’s a camera pointed on him, we’re bound to see something incredible.
“I just want to ride my bike,” Kade said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m shooting, or doing a dirt jump comp. I just want to be always riding different stuff because I just love everything so much. All disciplines get me stoked.”
Berms remain unsafe in Kade's presence.
Kade, just 23 years old, has honed his craft through Trek. He came up on the downhill circuit under Atherton Racing, won the Junior World Championship in 2018, then became one of the earliest members of TFR in 2019. In 2022 he earned two of his best elite World Cup results ever, taking 13th in Lourdes and 17th in Leogang.
While Kade’s energy and creativity are certainly going to be missed in the team pits, his new endeavor will allow him to be the best, most joyful version of himself. Silja Stadler, the team physio, said it best in the end of season video:
“He wants to have fun. He needs to have fun,” Silja said. “He cannot train like others train. He needs to play.”
