Matt Jones
The trails were at their absolute
peak about four years ago, but they
got completely flattened, which was
just heart-breaking after the amount
of work we’d put into it and what
was on offer there.
But you’ve got them back up and
running again now, yeah?
Yeah we’ve built two lines that
are more trailsy and flowy, and a
hand-built freeride line that’s so sick
to ride on my carbon Marin enduro
bike. At about the same time the
trails were bulldozed I’d just finished
building my slopestyle compound,
so the objective for Woburn
changed to just having fun trails to
ride. There isn’t a very big digging
crew now, and because they’re
always threatening to knock all the
jumps down again it hasn’t changed
much over the past couple of years.
You mentioned your slopestyle
compound just now. Tell us a bit
about it.
The line is a flat drop into a big
jump, mulch jump, turn around
on a wall-ride and there’s a mulch
quarter-pipe and an option of a
boner log as well. For slopestyle
practice it’s perfect and has
everything other than a whale-tail.
There’s a big hedgerow down
the side of it which helps cut the
wind out massively. Admittedly,
having a place like that is quite
high maintenance with the plywood
features and that sort of thing, but
it’s well worth it for what I get out
of it.
Having the Woburn trails and your
slopestyle compound at your
fingertips must’ve played a huge
part in your progression. From
the outside it seems like your skill
level has really stepped up over
the past two or three years.
£ Easily one of our
favourite shots of Matt
from Farm Jam
Oh, cheers. I put it down to better
support from sponsors and that kind
of adds to wanting to give back - if
that makes sense. There’s more of
a reality now that I’m a professional
sportsman, not just a guy who likes
riding bikes.
I spend more time focusing on
the sport and not just on having
a fun day out on the bike; there’s
more emphasis on rewarding and
progressive days when I’m riding.
Sure, you’ll still have good days
and s**t days, but overall, it’s like a
rewarding give-and-take situation
that I find really motivating.
When was it that you thought,
“Yep, this is me” and tried to focus
your energies on becoming a
professional rider?
I left school at 17 and had a gap
year before I went to university. Most
people use their gap year to travel the
world, but I used it to focus and ride
bikes, and prove to my parents tha