I
f you’re an MTBer and have
the spectacular Woburn Trails
in your back yard, it’s almost
a given you’ll become fairly
proficient at riding a bike and shoving
it around in the air. For 22-year-old
Matt Jones, that proficiency has
escalated dramatically over the past
few years, as the trajectory of his
career path starts to resemble the arc
of the steep dirt up-ramps he’s built
most of his life.
With a ticket to compete at every
stop of the 2017 Crankworx
Slopestyle series, the likeable kid is
emerging as one of the UK’s most
promising slopestyle stars. However,
a metaphorical spanner got thrown
through the spokes at the opening
stop of the Crankworx World Tour
in Rotorua, New Zealand, when he
crashed in practice and broke his
arm. We caught up with Matt as he
prepared for the long flight back
home to find out what happened, as
well as where he came from and his
thoughts on a range of topics.
Thanks for the chat Matt.
Obviously your 2017 season has
got off to a pretty average start.
How are you feeling?
I’m pain free, but I’m pretty gutted
to have started the year like this. It’s
the second Crankworx in a row that
I’ve crashed out of, so I’m hoping
that I’ve got them all out of the way
now. My level of riding is the best it’s
ever been and I wanted to showcase
it at Rotorua. I’ve just got to remind
myself there’ll be other opportunities
in the near future.
No doubt. What happened out
there?
On the last day of practice, I hit the
first dirt-to-dirt hit after the drop-in.
In the finals I wanted to 720 it, then
Double Flip the next jump, so there’d
be two big tricks back-to-back. I
wanted to land the 720 before the
finals, so I’d be completely confident
heading into the two runs.
I don’t know what I did wrong, but I
got out of shape in the air, jumped
off the bike and slid down the
landing ramp, but I must’ve slapped
the ground hard with my hand and
crushed the end of my radius.
Words: Simon Makker
Did you know straight away that it
was broken?
I remember sliding down the landing
and thinking I’d gotten away with it
pretty sweet. I went to pick my u