In August of 2020, Kolten Davis peddled 371 kilometres and raised over $14,000 for kids’ cancer through the Great Cycle Challenge at just three years of age.

Now, a year later, the young Okotokian is at it again, and he’s not alone.

Kolten first had the idea to form a team near the end of his 2020 campaign, coming up with the name “Rip’n Donuts.”

His mother Tasha says his first recruit was his two-year-old brother.

“I asked him, ‘so, who’s going to be on your team?’ He goes ‘well Keegan is.’ I’m like ‘but Keegan doesn’t even know how to ride a bike yet buddy,’ because Keegan, at the time, was a year old… so after that, even in the winter months, Kolten pulled out his old bike, asked dad for the training wheels so that Keegan would be ‘more comfortable,’ and he’d start-up in the house. So you know what? It wasn’t us as parents that taught Keegan how to ride, it was Kolten.”

Keegan’s smaller size has presented some quirks in his training, with his parents having to find him a smaller bike and Kolten having to slow down a little in order for his brother to keep the pace, but according to Tasha, Keegan has been thrilled to join his brother’s cause.

The two can often be seen riding on Okotoks’ pathways and love telling passersby what they’re doing and who they’re doing it for.

A few other local kids have joined the ranks of Rip’n Donuts, as well as Richard Teixeira, an Ontario man who read about Kolten last year and reached out to Tasha.

So far, the team has raised just under $5000, with each member having contributed at least $500 each.

Aside from donations and members having joined the team, Rip’n Donuts has seen support in other ways.

A graphic designer on Instagram heard Kolten’s story and drew up a logo for the team, which can be seen on their Great Cycle Challenge page.

Like last year, they’ll also have support from Bikers are Buddies, who will be joining Kolten on one of his rides.

That event is planned for August 11, starting at the Okotoks Recreation centre at 7 p.m. and ending at The Big Dipper.

Last year’s event had around 20 riders joining Kolten, and Tasha says over 60 have expressed interest this time around.

Tasha has also been in contact with Theo Fleury, and the two are discussing ways in which he can help out with the campaign.

She first became acquainted with him last year.

“Growing up, he was always my idol because I used to play hockey and to be able to call on him and say ‘I need your help,’ him not knowing who I am and me telling him the story of what was going on, why I need his help and for who I need his help, he showed up at my house with a jersey and all this memorabilia from his hockey career within twenty minutes,” says Tasha.

That’s all that has been announced at the moment, though Kolten’s family is keeping an eye out for other events and opportunities.

According to Tasha, this year’s campaign wasn’t going to be quite as big as it’s shaping up to be due to pandemic recovery.

That changed when they received a message from another family.

“We had a family reach out and say thank you for what we did. Their child has beaten leukemia twice... the fact that they reached it, that kinda kickstarted our engines. It only happened a couple of weeks ago, and ever since that day, I have been nose to the ground, and just grinding and going after different events and things we can do.”

While the fundraising element serves as a major motivator, for the Davis family, the joy it brings to Kolten and Keegan, as well as the people they inspire, is what keeps them going.

“It’s not necessarily about the money raised all the time, it’s sometimes just to bring a smile in somebody’s darkness. To be a rainbow in their storm.”

Related: 3-Year-Old Okotokian Cycling for a Cause

3 Year Old Ranks 2nd in Alberta for Great Cycle Challenge

 

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