Video: Victoria’s Hidden Gems With Mark Matthews
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We’ve wanted to find out more about Mark, and what better way than to get up incredibly early, jump on a boat and sail across the waters to Victoria, British Columbia, to spend some days with Mark to see what built him into the rider he is today and ride some zones that have a personal connection to him with some freeride history.
Our first stop straight off the boat was the incredible Jordie Lunn bike park in Langford, and what a fantastic job they have done there. Sitting at the bottom of the bike park as you drive in, you are met with a masterpiece of a pumptrack that you could spend hours lapping or for as long as your legs last!
An easy and quick 15-minute pedal provided us with some top-tier trails to descend on for all levels. We were lucky to have these unique conditions where it had been so dry and dusty for so long that a layer of the wet stuff just sat upon deep brown pow, and we couldn’t have asked for anything better!
The Jordie Lunn Bikepark is a place close to Mark’s heart as not only were Mark and Jordie great friends, but they also spent a lot of time digging, building huge jump lines and wild features for fun, progression and video segments.
Mark couldn’t resist a quick flow through the dirt jump beside the pumptrack before heading to the next zone. We planned to check out Jordie’s insane and iconic tree roll, but unfortunately, after wandering the woods for hours and Mark promising “it’s close” haha we had no luck due to new housing and access to certain areas being blocked off.
After losing ourselves in the forest of never-ending freeride relics, we headed out to Zone 2 known as “Joe’s Berms”, for some fast fall line singletrack, where we were greeted with beautiful fall colors and mesmerizing Arbutus trees native to Vancouver Island and finished day 1 on a high.
Day 2 brought us the birthplace of Mark’s freeride career, with his first big jumps lines being built over 12 years ago behind his parents’ old house. The spot wasn’t huge, but the terrain was this perfect wave that lent itself beautifully to big senders that utilized the downslopes.
“I had a blast riding a handful of locations that have significance to me all over greater Victoria. Between my old jump lines and the Jordie Lunn bike park, I rode a fun variety of new and old lines. It’s always awesome to come back!” – Mark Matthews
It’s crazy to see that the spot is still going after 12 years, and thankfully, Jordie Lunn took it over 5 years after Mark moved away from Victoria and replaced the dirt takeoffs with some well-crafted wooden booters to help prolong the life of the spot and of course, more air time!
Thanks to Mark for showing us some zones that are personal to him that shaped him into the rider he is today and some freeride history.
