THRICE: Matt Cordova

Features

Words and photos by Robin Pearson

Whenever new footage of Matt Cordova comes out, I get stoked. He’s one of those riders who not only goes big and has great style, but also has a deep bag of tricks. To be honest with you, I don’t mind if he dips into that bag or not – he’s just good to watch on a bike whatever he does.

The first time I met Matt was about a year ago at his local trails, F.O.D. in Southern California. Unfortunately he was recovering from an injury so wasn’t riding, but I was stoked on how welcoming he was. Staying in touch, fast forward to this year and I found myself in the area again, so I gave him a shout and we ended up hanging out at Pat Casey’s house. Pat’s place is pretty ridiculous… There’s a huge spine mini ramp, a whole landscape of trails, an amazing house, Pat’s lovely wife and kid, another baby on the way, three dogs… Pat has it dialled!

Showing up there and finally watching Matt ride in person was a treat, for sure. Everything he did looked rad, so shooting photos was a pleasure too, especially with the surrounding scenery at Pat’s house. It’s not all about the riding though – hanging out with Matt was also fun because he’s such a gent. When we shot these photos he was stoked, grateful and keen to do something with them. Then, when we went our separate ways, he hooked me up with locations for several other spots worth visiting in the area. What a guy!

PAST

What’s been going on?

Just over a year ago in December 2014, I had a pretty bad crash and was out for five and a half months dealing with a broken jaw and teeth, which wasn’t very fun. When I healed up from that I went on probably one of my favourite trips to date – the Demolition camping trip to Colorado. It was pretty cool being able to show nine of my favourite riders and good friends the parks I grew up riding, then watch them find new lines, it was a rad experience! After that, somehow I was blessed enough to get an alternate invite for X-Games dirt. And then rode the Vans US Open. So it wasn’t a bad way to end the year after having such a rough start with my injury.

It was pretty cool being able to show nine of my favourite riders and good friends the parks I grew up riding, then watch them find new lines…

"My lookbacks suck" he said. No Matt, you're wrong.

PRESENT

What’s happening now?

I started this year off with getting picked up by SE Bikes and getting the bump up to the pro team on Demolition, which I cannot thank both companies enough for the opportunity. Right now I’m working on a DIG trails feature with Andrew White and Mike Mastroni. Also with my bump up from Demolition came the chance to make a signature seat (which will be out in March), so I’m working on a seat promo with Nathan Sykes, which is almost done. I’m really happy with how it’s shaping up. I’ve also been lucky enough to be able to film a little bit for the Vans BMX video too – stoked to see everyone’s part in that, its going to be nuts! Other than that, I’ve just been riding heaps of trails and bowls trying to be on the bike every day having good times.

How sick does this look? Matt Cordova aka MC aka Motor Cycle!

FUTURE

What’s next?

As of now there have been talks about another Demolition Colorado camping trip (crossing my fingers for that). Also planning on doing a few random small trips with some friends. I’d like to start working on an edit for SE Bikes as well. Other than that, it would be rad to be back at the US Open and getting an invite for X-Games again.