Yo check it out! The teaser for Follow Me has just been released. I have ridden for this film in Kamloops, Sun Peaks, and Punta San Carlos, Mexico. It has been super fun, and having been to a lot of these shoots makes seeing the footage very funny and exciting. (If you haven't noticed, I get pretty fired up about bike movies)

Like I said in my last blog, we still have a few special shots we need to get but the premiere is coming up and I am getting stoked!

I think my favourite shot is the corner at 1:47 - front tire roost!

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Follow-Me-Teaser-and-Premier-Tour-Dates-2010.html

Matty

This winter has been amazing for me. December and January are my off-season; I am off my bike for most of the time and it gives me a chance to heal up, spend some time in the gym, ski and surf as much as I can. It started off with an Anthill film trip to Mexico (my last blog entries were about this) and then the mexico trip turned into a family vacation. We surfed, fished and camped our way through the southern Baja. Perfect waves and crispy fish tacos on the beach. I returned home to winter in British Columbia and quickly switched from water to snow. I had many unforgettable days in the snow with my friends backcountry skiing.

I got an email from my team manager at Adidas Eyewear; he was coming to Canada for the Olympics and wanted to get his riders together for some good times and lens testing. A plan was created and before I knew it I was in a helicopter flying to Baldface lodge in the interior of BC. My bike friends Darren Berrecloth, Ryan Berrecloth, Geoff Gulevich, Mike Kinrade and Richie Schley were there. It was really cool to shred powder with the guys I usually shred dirt with.

When I got home from that trip spring had arrived to Kamloops and riding conditions were getting good. I didn't manage to film all the lines I wanted to last fall; it was time to get serious. I spruced up some of my stunts that I had built last year. Fast forward to yesterday....

The Anthill film crew showed up the night before so we could get an early start. Light was just coming over the mountains as we hiked into our filming area. I had built a nice piece of trail that ran along the edge of a cliff. The trail ran for about 80 metres and then ended at the cliff edge. The landing area was about 6 metres below ran out to the valley bottom.

The ground was still frozen hard from last night's frost when we arrived. Frozen ground isn't the best for cornering hard so I waited until the sun had softened it up a bit.

Time for action. I rolled through the corners at the top of the run in and before I knew it I was nearing the take off. The take off for this particular drop was a hard left turn that wrapped around the ridge and then cornered off the cliff edge. I took off to the right of where I had planned. Instantly I spotted my landing. Unfortunately it was about a metre to the right of where I was planning. Time to hold on!

I landed in the rough. The area was not smoothed out into a landing, but fortunately for me it was still quite steep. My Demo 7 took the heavy landing solidly. I held on through the wild runout and arrived unscathed at the bottom. WOOOHOOO!

That was the first thing I filmed for 2010. I went back up and hit the same drop 3 more times until I landed how I wanted, then we went and shot some more of my lines.

I haven't finished up filming for my segment in "Follow Me", I still have a few jumps to film. But I sure had a great first day of filming this year, and I am looking forward to many more.

Below is a photo of the jump I described, my first landing was out of the frame on the left.

Get out and ride!

Matty

Those big dark clouds finally dumped their water and took off. The dirt on my lines got a nice watering, and the light got good. For the riders and film crew of Follow Me, it was time for action.

I have mostly been riding my Demo 7 on this shoot, but today I pulled out my SX trail because I had a scrub jump to shoot that the SX would be better for. It was a technical run in; a tight right corner into a drop, then about 15 metres to pedal before the jump popped me up and over a ridge of dirt. I was hoping to crest the ridge flying very low and flat, but the move proved to be a pretty technical one. It took me about 10 tries before I was able to get the speed I needed. Once I slipped a pedal on the takeoff and lost my bike in the air, I did a couple backwards cartwheels down the landing but I shook the dirt out of my helmet and I was OK.

Eventually I was able to get the motion I wanted. As I was on the jump I would dump my weight to the right and start my corner as I was taking off, then fly over the ridge and land carving down the landing. It sure was fun to do, I don’t know if it showed up well on film- but I definitely had a good time.

That evening I went for a shred on my Enduro. As I was heading back down to the camp where an ice cold Pacifico was waiting, I did a little drift through a soft left turn and the ocean came into view. It sure is sick to be able to go to Mexico and ride.

Stoked!

Hunter

We have all the trails, jumps and features built. We have watered the takeoffs and packed the landings. My bike is ready, the cameras are ready... We should be making movies, but instead... we are surfing.

OK, I know, that doesn't sound so bad. But we have driven over 40 hours to get to this peice of mexican desert to shoot a mountain bike film segment, and while it's great to be getting some waves, we only have a few days left and we need to get the shots in the bag.

We have some really out-of-the-ordinary weather systems rolling through right now. Big, nasty dark rainclouds come and go and there has been an impermeable high ceiling that is making the beautiful baja mountains look kind of plain. So, we wait.

I have been on other film trips where we get skunked by weather, usually there aren't waves nearby. At Punta San Carlos, there are awesome trails to ride and there is a nice point break right out front of our camp! Pretty amazing, that's for sure.

If the sun doesn't poke through that thick layer of water by tomorrow morning we will go film anyways. But I sure hope it does, because it just doesn't look like Mexico without the sun.

Matt

The wind howling across the desert cut coldly through my jersey. Luckily for me, I am warm blooded. The rattlesnake was considerably cooler than me and it was really affecting his ability to move quickly. The cold weather which slowed him down so much allowed the film crew and I to have a nice close look at him and take a few pictures. After we took a few shots of him I thought it would be a good prank to put him in Cam McCaul's backpack which was nearby. I tucked him in there just as Cam was walking over to see what the fuss was all about. He was pretty surprised to see who was his pack's newest resident!

One of the issues that we have been dealing with on this shoot is some serious wind. Since the wind can have a really negative effect on airborne bikes, I have been forced to keep my bike on the ground more than usual. Fortunately, the terrain here has a lot to offer for on-ground riding. I have been having a great time riding the mountains of dirt out here in the desert and I have been able to ride some lines that I usually wouldn't be looking for. I think it's going to be a pretty cool segment, I can't wait to see it at the Sea Otter premiere! Keep an eye here for the lowdown on tomorrow's action.

get out and ride

Matt

Wow. Sometimes we travel to film segments only to find that the terrain isn't as good as we hoped, and we have to struggle to find lines that are fun to ride. Other times... It's like this!

I have been down here at Punta San Carlos on the Baja for 5 days now, and it is insane. The first few days we were here we spent a lot of time finding the zones that we wanted to shoot, then we spent a couple days building the lines to ride, then yesterday was sick! We rode!

I had found 4 lines that I really wanted to ride. The hills out here in the desert are really crazy, some are fully mountain-sized. One in particular had a near vertical peak on it that stayed really super steep for around 100 feet, then it drained out to a super soft dirt scree slope that was just begging for my tires to carve. The evening light was blazing, the cameras were ready, and it was go time.

I hiked up to the top of the peak and almost got blown off! The wind was really howling up there, it was really difficult to even stand up. I had to move a few rocks out of my entrance to the slope but other than that the line was all-natural. Reminded me of skiing.

The drop in was heinous. On my first attempt the wind gusted at the wrong time and I had to lay my bike down just before I went over the crux into the steepness. I hiked back up to the peak and tried again. This time the wind cooperated (barely) but I got into the steeps and had a look at where I wanted to go.

Because of the steepness of the slope I hadn't been able to really check out my line as I usually would. I knew there were a lot of ruts from the water draining down but I couldn't see how big they were.

As I dropped over the rise into the steeps, I was pretty surprised by the size of the ruts. They were a lot bigger than I had expected... The only thing to do in this situation was to get off the brakes and hopefully float over the ruts. I started to bump across the top of the ruts like I had expected, and before I knew it I was into the soft scree slope where I got to crank 2 big turns in the pow before I hit the dried creek bed below. What a rush. It was so amazing to be able to come and feel like that in such an amazing place.

After that we moved the cameras and crew over to a really crazy toilet bowl-like descending wallride. I had never done a wallride like that but it worked perfectly. i had to go really fast so that I stuck to the curved wall but it was a really amazing feeling as i flushed out the bottom. So stoked!

I am off right now to go shred some more mexican soil. Keep an eye here for more stories!

ciao

Matty

I live pretty far North on the 'ol globe. It's not an extreme climate or anything... but Kamloops has decently high latitude numbers. At this time of year we lose a lot of our best trails under a thick white blanket. Ski season is approaching but the the hills are still a bit bony. I don't mind riding the lower elevation trails for a while, but the days get so damn short! There just isn't enough daylight to get it all done! Then when I am stuck in the garage working on some project or other my mind starts to wander to places with longer days and less ice on the trails...

It was at one of these dark times when my phone rang and then Darcy from Anthill called asking me if I want to go do some filming in Mexico. Hmmmm....YEAH!

The Baja is one of my favourite places. A friend and I drove down on an impulsive surf trip when I was 19 and I have been back every chance since then. To me the Baja is a lot like BC. It's easy to get lost, there aren't too many people, there are great trails, great fishing and there can be really great surf. Plus, there's better mexican food!

A plan was developed and I got ready. We are going to film a segment at a place called Punta San Carlos on the Nothern Baja. I have never been out there but the pictures look like a really cool zone to ride. I have packed up my truck with my Demo 7, my SX trail and my S-works Enduro, my surfboards, fishing rod, speargun and snorkeling stuff, canoe, and a ton of camping gear! I am ready for adventure. I am planning to ride and film in Punta San Carlos for a couple weeks and then meet up with my family and friends. We will head South to ride, fish and surf afterwards.

I am leaving tomorrow morning early for this excellent adventure. Man I am stoked. I will try to get to a computer as regularly as I can to update here with the adventures.

peace!

Matt

Filming a segment for a mountain bike film isn't easy. Ideally, a location is selected... then a few weeks are spent preparing the lines, then the film crew shows up and the sun shines and the wind stops blowing and the stars align and BANG! Segment in the bag.

Unfortunately sometimes it doesn't happen that way. This season while filming for Anthill films I have had some tough times. I had a couple crashes that resulted in hospital trips, and while I have been able to recover from them... it ends the shoot until I am healed, and then we have to get the stars to align AGAIN. Not easy.

Anyhow I don't want to dwell on the negative and the challenges but just to make it clear that filming is a tough thing to do well.

I blogged recently about a crash on a wallride that ended a film session. There is a story at this link http://www.nsmb.com/3358-dedication It talks about the way that trip went before I got hurt. I think it is an interesting perspective because Phil, who wrote the story, has never been on a film trip before. Enjoy.

Get out there and shred!

Matty

Well the past week has been pretty boring. I got the flu, not sure if it was the swine variety but I have been man-down for a while trying to get it cleared up.

It's crazy how a bike ride can really get you feeling healthy again (even if you aren't!)

My first bike ride of the week was last night. I met up with 4 of my best riding buddies and we shredded one of our favourite old haunts. At the beginning of the ride I was feeling really sick, all stuffed up and achy...

Then something happened. I hit a couple of corners pretty well, did a couple sprints and all of a sudden I felt like a new man. 5 minutes into the ride I blew my nose a couple times and I was feeling pretty near one hundred percent!

The cold air and the perfect dirt conditions really healed me right up. I really love how a good ride with good friends can heal. Whenever I am feeling stressed out, sick, or unhappy for any reason I know that I can just get on my bike and things will work themselves out.

Riding and crashing my bike has sent me to the hospital many times over the years, but I know for sure that without mountain biking I wouldn't be as healthy - mentally and physically - as I am today.

Get out there and ride!

Matty

Filming can be really challenging. There are all kinds of variables that need to be just right. Light, wind, dirt conditions, trails or jumps, it all has to come together.

I have been trying to finish up filming my segment for "Follow Me" all season. The first time the crew was out to shoot I had a weird crash and hurt my neck.

The filmers have been really busy and they haven't had time to come back till last week. I really wanted to get my segment wrapped up so I worked really hard to get all my stunts and lines ready to shoot. The weather was perfect, cold but clear, and the fall light makes everything look awesome.

I filmed a couple of my trails to get warmed up, then decided to go shoot one of my features I have been working on. Near my house I found a naturally curved cliff face that I wanted to jump onto like a wallride. I built a big wooden jump onto the wall and a run in to get the speed. Everything was looking pretty sweet.

The morning we went to shoot the wallride was pretty windy. When I had done my practice run ins I had a tailwind, but now I had a pretty stiff headwind. I smoothed out some of my run in to help with speed, I needed all the speed I could get for this one.

The film crew was all ready and the light was perfect. I had done a couple run ins that felt like enough speed so I gave them the signal that I was going and pinned it.

As I was nearing the take off I could feel that my speed wasn't right, I wasn't going fast enough. It was too late to try and stop by the time I knew, so I just pumped really hard and popped the jump. Too short. I hit the wall below my landing target and rolled to the ground. I had so much dirt in my mouth I was spitting thick mud! I felt pretty good except for where my bike had hit me. I had a pretty good cut. Damn, off to the hospital again. Another shot for the crash reel.

The film crew packed up and headed home. It was really disappointing to see them leave without the footage that we were trying so hard to get.

I'm off to build a bigger run in for my wallride. I'll get it next time!

Matty

This past week I have been attending Interbike. It's a huge event that thousands of cyclists attend. All the cool new gear and bikes are on display. It's a rare event that gets almost everyone who works in the bike industry together.

The expo centre is huge. It would take probably 15 minutes to walk a circle around the room, it's massive.

I think a common trait of cyclists is an appreciation of the outdoors. It's an important part of bike riding. Also cyclists seem to appreciate healthy living.

That's why it is so confusing to me that Las Vegas is the site chosen for Interbike. The trade show is in a windowless hall. The lack of windows makes me feel sick and it's almost impossible to stay oriented. To get to the hall, you must walk through casino after casino, full of blank-faced fat people smoking and playing blaring slot machines. The air is recycled and oxygenated and scented with some kind of synthetic "fresh air" scent. It's seriously gnarly.

Interbike can still overcome and be a fun time. There are some great bike film premieres and it's fun to see everyone again. It's just that vegas is such a synthetic tourist mess. I hope that we can have Interbike somewhere else one day. Until then... I guess we'll all just keep going there and making the best of it.

Wow, this is really negative blog post. Too many days off my bike! I am heading home now and I'm going for a ride. then I'll feel better.

Matty

I write this as I sit on the plane flying back to Canada from Iceland. The passenger sitting beside me is a big fellow and I don’t have much room to get comfortable. Although I could really use the sleep, my discomfort gives me a chance to look back on a great trip with some awesome friends.

Our Iceland trip had all the aspects of a great adventure. We had challenges, some bad luck, and we had some amazing fortune. There was solitude and mountains and weather and there was crazy dancing and party crashing. We had mechanicals galore with our big diesel van and my bike performed flawlessly. Water flowed in the doors as we crossed deep fast glacial rivers on the way to remote trails. We patched and cursed at the tires on our van. We were the first bikes to touch and slash unsuspecting hiking trails and we rode through the steam of hissing geysers. The sun peeked through the clouds when we needed it to and the rain poured down, turbocharging the green of the moss for us.

We played some serious practical jokes and had epic laughs. It’s hard to describe the comedy but anyone who has been on a real adventure with great friends understands how funny even the simplest jokes can become.

We had an interesting discussion about the trails in Iceland. They aren’t built for biking. There are hike a bike sections on the climbs, and there are some corners that just don’t work. But the landscape overcomes these imperfections. Being out there in those amazing hills, feeling like you are riding on a different planet… It’s so special that the trail seems less important. It’s more about the mountains. There are glorious sections where the trail flows and there are natural berms and jumps, and those sections are what you remember when you are sitting in the hot springs.

Sterling shot really amazing photos. There will be magazine articles about our trip with all-time pictures. It’s exciting to go out and shoot images that will share the beauty of that place with people who read the articles. We rode all the trails we could but I feel like we barely scratched the surface. There are some real epics that we didn’t have time to hit. We were teased by the sight of the trails on opposing ridges disappearing into the horizon. I absolutely have to go back and explore those places.

Iceland is a tough place to score good conditions, it’s way way up there on the planet. Some of the trails we rode are only open and rideable for 3 weeks of the year! Go too early and they are super soft and muddy with the snow still melting off them, and a week too late and they will be covered up again. I feel so lucky that we had the weather and conditions that cooperated and we had the crew that we did. So stoked.

Keep an eye out for the photos and story to run in your favourite magazine in the next few issues.

Matty

We saw the trail from kilometres away. It was just a faint line on a massive mountain of shale, steam vents shooting skyward to accentuate the hints of trail. That was our first day in Iceland. I had been thinking about riding it since I saw it 4 days ago.

I couldn't imagine the trail being any sicker. The little ribbon snaked its way up the ridge and ended way, way up there. For anyone who loves mountain biking, it was exactly what we dream about.

We were told that we were the first bikes on Blue Mountain, but the trail looked like it was built for riding. Andrew, Joe, Sterling, Mitch and I were totally freaking out - the sun was shining, the trail was fast and flowy, and we were in the most beautiful landscape any of us have ever seen. Every roll in the trail, every time we were treated to a different view we stopped to stare. Iceland is pretty damn cool. The climb was long but the temperature was perfect and the views kept everyone from noticing the grind. The trail down was even more ridiculous. It felt like we were the first riders ever to shred on the moon. Totally nuts.

When we got back to the trailhead we were completey out of energy. Crashes, hike a bikes, long days in the saddle had all added up to make us all feel pretty beat.

Luckily for us there just so happened to be a perfect natural hot spring pool - right beside where the trail ended! What a day!

The only thing that would have made it better was seeing a gnome or two. Maybe tomorrow.

Matty

We encountered some serious adversity today. This was my third day here and today was our day for difficulty. I think I'll make a list to show what happened. Our goals versus our problems.

Goal:

1. get up early and go for a ride, get some photos.

Problems:

1.The hotel staff didn't wake up to open the kitchen for breakfast. Since there are not even any other buildings for at least 60 km in the opposite direction, we had no choice but to wait.

2. It was pouring rain. The sun barely showed itself through the thick clouds. Pretty hard to shoot photos with no light.

3. We got a flat on our van while trying to get to the shooting location, the rough Iceland rocks tore our tire to shreds.

4. The tire iron didn't fit the lug nuts on our van.

5. We had to search through 6 different tire shops to find a tire that would fit out ford 4x4 van.

6. The North Atlantic Ocean was especially cold today.

So the tally is 1 to 6. By the looks of it, we should have had a pretty bad day. But things were awesome. We rode an unbelievable trail that rivaled yesterday. It was just singletrack through neon green moss. Iceland continues to impress.

The last point of adversity on my list is that the North Atlantic ocean was really cold today. Since I knew I was coming to Iceland I have been planning to swim. (actually I was hoping to surf but a body surf would have to suffice) I am not sure when I will have a chance to swim in the North Atlantic again. So today I went for a dip. It was ridiculous. I had an overwhelming feelin that if I stayed in the water I would die. I have never felt water that cold. I had an instant headache and earache. I am glad I survived, and now I know what it feels like to swim in the North Atlantic.

I have included a shot of the landscape we rode yesterday. When you look at the shot, remember: YOU CAN RIDE ANYWHERE. Feel free to paint an imaginary line of where your own line, that's what I was thinking.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures.

Matty

My main fear was that I was going to burn my face off in a steam vent. The corner we were shooting photos on was a little off camber and if I went off the trail high-side then I would probably fall into the bubbling geyser that was shooting hot steam 10 metres into the air.

But everything went well. The photo we got was really cool because of the steam and there was a sweet corner on the trail. The mountains in Iceland are crazy perfect for mountain biking. They are almost devoid of vegetation, and they are just really smooth shale rock that is totally perfect for riding. There are all different colours of rock, the moss growing on the rocks is white and neon green, and you can ride almost anywhere you can see. Add to all this the fact that there are geysers of steam rising out of the ground pretty regularly and it all adds up to feel quite like you are riding on another planet. It is really unbelievable.

My enduro is the perfect bike for the riding here. It is definitely all-mountain, we are actually riding THE MOUNTAINS. It's amazing, there is a sweet ribbon of singletrack made by hikers but because the soil is so perfect and because there aren't plants growing, you can just ride anywhere. I love the way I can just use the command post to drop the saddle, flick the switch on the fork and then feel like I am on a long travel bike.

I can't wait to see what we find tomorrow - hopefully more epic trails. Since I didn't see any gnomes today I will keep my eye out for one tomorrow.

So stoked! I'll try and get some pics posted tomorrow of this stunning place.

Matty

I am sitting on the Toronto airport now, waiting for my flight to Iceland. Last night was my little sister’s wedding so I am feeling really tired, I was up late dancing and then woke up early to get on the plane. Although I’m tired I am really excited because I think this Iceland trip is going to be amazing. I am meeting with photographer Sterling Lorence, writer Mitchell Scott, and riders Andrew Shandro and Joe Schwartz. The other guys are a day and a half ahead of me because I had the wedding to attend.

They have been sending me text messages about how great it is and Sterl sent me a phone pic of sweet looking singletrack that they rode today. I can’t wait.

I usually travel with a demo 8 in my Dakine bike box, but for this trip I brought my new Sworks Enduro. For the first time ever I didn’t have to haggle with the airline about my bike box being overweight! I have been doing a lot of research into the trails and terrain that we are going to ride, and from the shots I have seen Iceland looks like a trail riders’ dream. I also found that there are gnomes in Iceland. They are really hard to see but I am going to keep an eye out while I am there, I really want to see a gnome because we don’t have any in Canada.

5 more hours to go! I’ll update here as soon as I can.

Matty

The past few days I have been filming in Kamloops for Lifecycles. The theme of the shoot is dust. Dust in the air, dusty corners, dusty trails. Well August in kamloops is the right place for dust! It has been pretty tough because when it is so dry in Kamloops it is impossible to do any building because the dirt is so dry. Fortunately I came across a massive water tank last week so I have been filling it up in the back of my truck, squishing my truck suspension flat and driving to the filming area with the water. It has been really helpful. Last night there was a crazy lightning storm. There were flashes every 5 seconds for over an hour, it was the most lightning I have

ever seen. So today there are a bunch of new forest fires burning in the Kamloops area and the sky is really smoky. The smoke gives the sunlight a really reddish glow so maybe tonight we will get some really cool footage in the evening. We are heading out now to go shoot a trail this evening, We'll see how it goes!

Matty

This week in whistler was some serious sensory overload. I am pretty used to having my senses bombarded - every time I ride my bike. Usually the overwhelming feeling goes away when you stop and take a break on the trail. At Crankworx there is no escape. There are people everywhere, the trails are busy, the village crowded, there are a hundred friends in the lift line, the announcer is going off with race commmentary... I don't want to sound too negative, because the riding, the spectating, the socializing, the partying, everything is really really fun. It's just hard to get a break from it.

Some really cool stuff happened at Crankworx. I was in a photo contest for the first few days. I was shooting with John Gibson and we had a great time. We were a two man team, which was simple but also a lot more work. We made a really cool slideshow that told the story of one day riding the bike park. We shot everything from waking up, riding all day to going to sleep. We didn't win but the slideshow was cool and it told a good story. I would like to do a contest like this again.

The Specialized truck brought my new Enduro to Whistler! I am so stoked. Right after I built it up I took it on a sweet 3 hour loop. That bike really is amazing. I have ridden the new enduro lots now, but I was always just borrowing one. Now I have my own and I can't wait to get out on some interior BC epics. I have some rides that the bike will be perfect for. I'll bring my helmetcam along and you can check the video here.

Now I am home and preparing for another film shoot. This time it's with a production company from Rossland.

Keep it pinned!

Matty

Whistler has been great. The cool thing about Crankworx is that there is something here for everyone, so it's like a big annual reunion. I get to see friends from all over the world who I have met through biking. I have been riding the park with everyone from world cup racers to the top freeriders to endurance athletes and even some good budies from back home. It feels like a big birthday party.

This year at Crankworx they are having a photo contest called the Saint Deep Summer Photo Challenge. It's a contest for photographers, they shoot for 3 days and make a slideshow of their images. I have been shooting for the past two days with John Gibson. We have been getting up early and staying out late for the best light. It has been really fun because Gibby is a fun guy to hang out with and we have a similar vision for how we want the shots to look. I hope our slideshow shows how much fun we had making it, because it has been a really good time.

The coolest thing that happened yesterday was Kyle Strait winning the dual slalom. He beat Brian Lopes in the final. I am really stoked for Kyle, I think it's sick because he was joking around and having fun the whole time while Lopes was super serious. Kyle is amazing to watch ride DS. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the final race because the evening light was good, so Gibby and I were out shooting for the photo contest.

OK I'm out, gotta go shred!

Matt

Epic riding today! I am just sitting down after a really sick day of riding the bike park with some of the gravity team. My fingers are so tired from holding the bars that typing hurts!

I got to Whistler two days ago for a media camp. We are here to ride the park on the new long travel bikes, and then stay through till the Crankworx.

Trond Hansen, Sam Hill, Darren Berrecloth and Brendan Fairclough are all here. The reason that today was so insane is because Trond, Darren, Brendan and I all got to ride together. We were doing laps, filming each other with a POV camera. The things that I saw were ridiculous! We were all riding in a train, and everyone was going crazy. Massive whips, scrubs, yelling, seat bouncing take-offs, high speed manuals, roosting dirt all over the place. I think we got some really good footage but more importantly we all got to ride together and had a wicked time. I hope to get a lot more riding in with the team, I really learned so much because all of those guys pick different lines and ride differently and it really expands the way I see the trail. Stoked!

check here for the helmet cam footage of our runs!

Matty

This last week was amazing. Once again the Anthill Films crew came to Kamloops to do some shooting. I have been having a lot of fun working on my segment with these guys. This time Thomas Vanderham came along too, Thomas is a good buddy of mine and we ride together as much as we can.

Since the temperature in Kamloops was about 20 degrees too hot we decided to go do some shooting at Sun Peaks Resort. It's a short drive from Kamloops and the increase in elevation makes it quite a bit cooler. I like riding there in the summer.

We filmed the bike park for 4 days and got some great shots. Sun Peaks is a downhillers paradise, the trails are great for going really really really fast. So that's what we did!

One of my favourite shots I got to do was a berm slash where I sprayed the camera with dirt. The filmers put a cover on the camera and then we found a suitable corner to spray some sun peaks soil. It worked out really well, when we reviewed the footage the screen went to black from so much dirt! Check out the shot of the camera lens here.

I'm off to Whistler now for Crankworx, unfortunately I have to drive through Vancouver to get there ( the really long way) because of all the forest fires burning in BC have so many roads closed!

Keep an eye out here for some of my updates from Crankworx.

Matty

Recently I was filming my segment for "Follow Me" in Kamloops and we ran into some really weird issues. We lost a bike for a couple minutes and when we tried to get it back it had fallen into the hands of one of the worlds' slimiest residents. A bike pirate. I could tell the long story here but just click on this link to see the story with maps and pictures of our misadventure.

www.anthillfilms.com

We had to change our filming plans because of the pirate and so right after this we took off for Sun Peaks resort to film some seriously high speed bike park action. Stay tuned for the Sun Peaks segment story dropping soon!

Matty

The last few days I have been coaching my camp at Sun Peaks. It has been a really good time, we have definitely had a mix of weather. My campers definitely had a chance to work on their mud riding! It rained hard for a couple days, but when the clouds cleared we had epic conditions - soft dirt with a few nice puddles for splashing each other. Couldn't ask for better dirt.

One of my favourite things about riding in BC is that you can see all kinds of wildlife. This is definitely the case at Sun Peaks, where you can see animals right from the chairlift. Yesterday I saw 3 deer and 6 bears in the bike park! Pretty awesome. My campers were pretty excited about it too.

The Anthill film crew is coming back to Kamloops to film some more next week, so I am off to do some digging!

Matt

This trip to Utah has been amazing. I am here to ride the new Enduro and Stumpjumper, and the bikes are so sick! The ride today was awesome, the highlight for me was when I beat Mr. Ned Overend to the top of the climb. I was blocking the trail, panting and grinding in my granny gear - and he was casually talking to some other riders… and I didn’t tell him we were racing… but I arrived before him so I was pretty excited about that.

I have been lucky enough to ride my bike all over the world. I have ridden trails in Africa, Europe, Asia, Central and South America and all over North America. The descent that we rode in the Wasatch national forest was one of the smoothest, fastest, flowiest trails I have ever encountered. I was on the new Sworks Enduro and it was perfect. Definitely one of the best trails I have ever ridden. I am definitely coming back to ride that one again. Watch out for the helmetcam footage that I shot on my V.I.O. camera.

I am headed back to BC soon to do some more filming with Anthill for “Follow Me”.

We shot this interview last time the Anthill crew came to shoot. ( Jason can you insert the video here? I think you have the vid. Let me know if not.)

Enjoy the long daylight hours and ride till 10!

Matt

I'm back on my bike! After some involuntary time off, I am back shredding.

My back is feeling really good. I still have some aches but nothing that keeps me from riding. I rode my Demo 7 at Sun Peaks resort a couple days ago and it was awesome. The lifts hadn't opened to bikes yet but the guys at the resort wanted me come up there and do some filming before they opened. Man that was a good idea! The trails had all been raked clear of rocks and braking bumps and all the berms and lips were buffed up to perfection. The winter frost had softened up all the hard packed areas and the dirt was amazing. I was riding with some of my bros from the Bicycle Cafe in Kamloops, we had a great time. There was so much dirt flying in some of the berms that I felt like I was in a motocross race!

Right after the Sun Peaks session I flew right to Utah to test Specialized's new rigs. We hit the weather just right, bluebird skies.

There are two bikes here that are completely blowing my mind. There is a new Stumpjumper and a new Enduro. I haven't been as stoked on changes to a bike since the Demo came out in 2004! The bikes are amazing. I have had more time riding the new Enduro and it is so awesome. The bike climbs really well but where it seriously shines is once you point it downhill. The bike feels so stiff and solid that I totally forget I am riding a carbon bike that I climbed the mountain on. I found myself popping off roots and rocks and jumping the bike as comfortably as an SX trail. I am really excited to get one of these bikes and do some really epic rides with serious descents.

Stay tuned for tonight, I am going to ride the new Stumjumper right as soon as I am done typing this!

take er easy

Matt

Hey everybody, another update here to let you know how my season has been. A couple weeks ago the Anthill film crew came out to Kamloops to do some shooting. We spent 4 days hiking around to my different trails and stunts to put the finishing touches on them, and to decide how the crew would film them.

We got everything ready and decided to shoot a trail that evening. This particular trail parallels a gravel road for about 150 metres. In that stretch there are three really nice burmed corners into a big step down gap that I built. We decided to film it from a truck driving on the road beside the trail. The trail was a blast to ride. Coming in hot to the three berms on my Demo 7 and ripping through them felt like the coolest run in to the big step down! The line felt so sweet. The footage looked really great too.

The next day we had another trail to shoot with a medium sized hip jump on it. It seemed like a simple line. I decided to ride the line and warm up while the cameras were getting set up. I did a few run-ins to the jump to get my speed right, and then went for it. I made a big mistake. I had forgotten to account for the fact that it was a brand new jump, and so it was still quite soft. 

The jump pulled at my tires as I went off. I was flying through the air very nose-heavy. NOT a good feeling. I held onto the bike to try and ride it out but when I landed I couldn't save it. I hit the ground hard, taking a huge impact to my head and shoulders.I rolled over at the bottom of the landing and tried to catch my breath. I knew I had crashed really hard, so I was trying to do an inventory of my body to see where I was damaged. The film crew told me I had been unconscious  for about 6 or 8 seconds and I had some pain between my shoulders. I was off to the hospital.

At the hospital they told me I had a concussion (obviously) and they said that I had broken a spinal process in my back. They told me that this bone is the part that sticks out from my vertebra that muscles attach to. It is the "bump" that you feel on your back when you feel

your spine. I had to take some time off the bike to heal up. I am pretty shaken up from my crash. The seriousness of that kind of injury is scary. The doctor told me I need to relax for a while before I can ride again, so it looks like I will have a few days fishing. I learned something valuable from my crash. I must always make sure I acknowledge every aspect and risk involved in riding a certain line, even if it seems easy compared to more difficult lines. Healing time for me, I'll let you know how it goes.

Matty

This week has been crazy! I am going to be filming with the Anthill crew this year for their new film, "Follow Me". Darcy and Schramm came to Kamloops to look at some stunts I had built and to talk about my segment in the movie. I am really excited to start filming with these guys. It is the same crew as I filmed with last year for "Seasons" minus one person. I have found and built some really cool lines to shoot, When we start filming I'll get some pics posted up here. Below are a few pictures from our days in Kamloops preparing to film. This week I am off to shred some Swiss singletrack and eat some cheese, check back here for more pics and stories!

My friend and teammate Darren Berrecloth came through Kamloops yesterday and called me up. Darren and his girlfriend Megan were in the area scoping for some good filming terrain, and decided to take a break from hiking and cruising backroads to go for a ride with me and my girlfriend Nikki.

We decided to do a shuttle run of Kamloops' finest singletrack. Darren definitely approved. The bit of video we got shows us goofing around on some jumps on the trail. Afterwards we decided to drive up to one of my favourite lakes where we did a bit of fishing, had a big fire and camped out. It was awesome to have Darren come out to ride and hang out in Kamloops. Stay tuned for when I visit Darren on Vancouver Island and we go some riding and salmon fishing there!

Matty

Hey, Matt here. I just got back from a quick trip to Utah. I went to Salt Lake City for one of Specialized's new concept stores. The shop is called Bingham Cyclery, and it is awesome! There is a huge showroom with a bunch of big garage doors that open to make the shop seem like it's outside. The snow was persistent again in Utah ( seems like it's like that everywhere this year) but we rode some really fun jumps that were nice and dry. I had a really good time at the i street jumps, we had a really big group session and everyone shredded hard. I am looking forward to heading back to Utah to do some more riding soon.

Thanks to all the guys from Bingham who showed me their jumps and good times!

Matt

Hey guys, Spring riding has definitely arrived! After a late winter, the snow and ice is gone from some of my low elevation trails, and I have been riding every day. I'm really happy with the way my shoulder feels, I dislocated it late last season and then worked really hard over the winter rehabbing it. It feels better than ever before, I can't wait to start filming with the Anthill crew! www.anthillfilms.com I just did an interview with a really cool web-zine, check it out here http://trapdoorsun.com/sports/matt-hunter.aspx Some early season photos of the riding in Kamloops.

Get out and shred! Matty

February 24. Looking out the front window into a world of white, there is a blizzard happening. It doesn't look like I will be riding any local trails any time soon! I can only imagine the singletrack under 2 feet of snow.

I remembered some old VIO helmet cam footage I shot of my favourite trail in the summer, and dug it up. It's hard to get excited about watching helmet cam footage in the summer, when you can just go shred and see it for real, but right now it sure gets me going! I thought I'd post it up here for everyone to check out. This is my favourite local trail, Rio Escondido. Shot in summer 2008 with my VIO P.O.V. helmet cam. Check it out!

Matty

I love living in BC. The riding is amazing, the mountains are big and there is always something to do outside. Unfortunately the winters are really long and I start to really miss my bike after a while. Skiing can fill the void for a while but then singletrack dreams start to wake me up when February rolls around. So I came up with a plan. I knew of an area in BC's interior that has some really warm days and very little snow. The mighty Fraser river flows nearby and warms the valley, and the mountain has a perfect West face that gets a lot of sun. This mountain in particular also has the largest scree slope I have ever seen. I rode it last year for a shot filming for Seasons and it was an amazing descent. Unfortunately the only way to the top is to hike it - and it takes about three hours, but these are desperate times.

So I called a couple of friends who I knew were also itching to ride their Demos, we packed up the truck and it was on. We had to take our bikes apart and tie them to hiking packs, and the

climb took us about 3 hours. The following photos tell the story of our trip. It was awesome.